shedding question

[ant]

hi iv had ernie my albino lg for about a month. he is about 3 yrs old and seems happy. he shed 2 weeks ago, and stopped eating for a few days, he is having the odd cricket again now but has lost a bit of weight and now he is shedding again. is this normal thanks

 

[Pinky81]

If you could feel this out it may help determine if there is a problem!!!

Thanx
About your leo:
- Sex
- Age & Weight
- How long have you owned your leo
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend)

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)
- When was the last time he/she went
C) Problem
- Please briefly descrive the problem and how long it has been going on

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size
- Type (ex. glass tank)
- Type of substrate
- Hides, how many, what kind
B) Heating
- Heat source
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)
- Method of regulating heat source
- What are you using to measure your temps
- Do you have any lights (describe)
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands)
- What are you gut loading food with

 

[ant]

About your leo:
- Sex male
- Age & Weight 3, unsure of weight
- How long have you owned your leo a month
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend)
pet shop (owned by someone else before us for 3 years)
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo every day
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. he likes being handled and still does
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. not that im aware of
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) it looks fine like healthy lg poo
- When was the last time he/she went he goes every other day so the day before yesterday
C) Problem
- Please briefly descrive the problem and how long it has been going on im just concerned about him shedding twice in 2 weeks and he has lost a bit of wieght since his last shed

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size 2ft x 2ft
- Type (ex. glass tank) wooden
- Type of substrate he is on lino
- Hides, how many, what kind 2, a cave and a plant pot, cave on hot side
B) Heating
- Heat source he has a heat mat and also a heat lamp
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) 29 degrees hot side but cooler on the cool side
- Method of regulating heat source his lamp is on a thermostat
- What are you using to measure your temps thermostat (need a new thermometer)
- Do you have any lights (describe) his heat lamp is red and he is in the living room so lights from there
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) no cage mates
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) crickets was 5 per day but less now i put 3 in 2 days ago and he has 1 left, and mealworms all the time which he doesnt bother with
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) worms in a dish and the crickets just put in vivarium
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) he has a bottle lid of calcium and i oat the crickets with a multi vitamin and calcium
- What are you gut loading food with the crickets and meal worms are fed with veg



thank you

 

[Pinky81]

everything up there looks ok! Here is a tip don't leave crickets into the tank for more the 20-25 mins. Crickets that are left in not only lose there gutload and nutrition but they can also injure your Leo but chewing and biting them. As well as the meal worms switch out that way what ever leo doesn't eat over night you can put into a gutloading bedding to replenish its nutrition and another little tub for gutloaded mealies!

SOme leos go on and off foods this time a year so don't be too worried, best way to know for sure how much weight is actually lost is to buy one of those table top gram scales....pretty cheap at target...and it give you an acutal number of grams instead of looking at their tail which can be misleading sometimes.

Good Luck!

 

[ant]

Thank you very much for your advice.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

The best kind of thermometer to get is a digital probe, attach it to the floor on the warm side. This will give you the most accurate heat measurement. They run around $10 at pet stores.

 

[ant]

Ok, thanks alot.

 

[Pinky81]

Good on ya Laney missed that one

 

[Dog Shrink]

A couple things I saw was if your tank is at 29*C that is only like 85* F which is too cool for a leopard gecko. They need a minimum of 88-95*F (31-35*C) to properly digest food. Low temps will def. slow down eating. Also keeping crickets in 24/7 with the leo can cause undue stress as the crickets can and usually will harass your leo, possibly nibble on him esp. if you don't leave another food source in the tank for the crickets. Shedding twice in 2 weeks isn't odd. Eros was steadily shedding every 2-3 weeks from 7 mos to 11 mos (slowed down right around winter slow down). I was trying to figure out what your substrait was, but don't know what lino is. Could you please explain in more deailt about that. You should also maybe consider adding a moist hide something like a tupperware dish with damp paper towels or damp sphagnum moss on his warm side to aide in shedding. Lastly you say that your tak is wooden... can you explain a little more on that? How is the wood treated etc? And 2x2 sounds a little small to me (but that's prob. just me). Would it be possible for you to post a pic of your set up please? Also to err on the side of caution since this is a mature gecko and he has been on a diet of crickets you might want to have a fecal sample done to make sure there aren't any parasite problems. Crickets ill-kept have been known to carry parasites, not saying you keopt them wrong but the guy before you (whether at the petshop or cricket farm) might have.

 

[GeckoDude31]

hi iv had ernie my albino lg for about a month. he is about 3 yrs old and seems happy. he shed 2 weeks ago, and stopped eating for a few days, he is having the odd cricket again now but has lost a bit of weight and now he is shedding again. is this normal thanks

Hello there! First, welcome to the forums! You will find this site to be a great resources for taking care of your leo. How much weight has he lost? I wouldn't be too worried if he lost a little weight. It is still in winter months and their eating does slow down a bit. Have you tried feeding him mealworms or superworms? If you are worried about him not getting any food down, offer the leo a wax worm or two, and see if he goes for that.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Crickets or any loose feeder left in the enclosure will eat poop, in addition to biting your gecko. It's an invitation for parasites. If he stops eating for more than a week, I'd recommend a fecal test to be on the safe side.