Thin Tail?

[NimbusPrime]

I have a 4 - 5 month old tangerine female and to me, it looks like her tail is getting thin, but her belly seems kind of big, not swollen, but healthy, or at least I hope.

She's eating great, moving around, and just shed today. She lives in a 10 gallon currently with one tank mate, a male high yellow. They don't fight (not that I have seen and I monitor them closely and check them for wounds or any other signs of bullying daily). I make sure she gets her fill of dusted small crickets (with calcium powder twice a week and a vitamin supplement daily) as well as a few meal worms twice a week. Though, the last couple of days, since I noticed her tail thinning out, I've been giving her a few extra meal worms.

Enclosed are pictures of her and her tank mate, a male high yellow who dropped his tail about two months ago and is coming back strong. (He's also about to go into shed so he looks really really dull in this photo. And sorry for this crappy quality, but its all I have :/ )

My first though was that she was constipated but I don't know. Her prey size is small, and the tank stays at 85-90 degrees all day and night on the hot side and in the 70's on the cool side, and she's passing stool regularly that's dark drown with white urea that's not runny.

So what should I do? Should I even be worrying? Am I doing something wrong?

 

[sausage]

The only two things i can recommend are to have them checked by a vet for parasites and the second would be to separate them.
shes clearly thinner them him, although as you said shes not unhealthy body wise shes just clearly not eating enough to store excess fat in the tail. as iv said this could be because of parasites or im afraid its more likely due to bullying and food aggression from the male.
bullying isnt always physical, body language and warning signals from the other one can also make her feel uncomfortable or frighted not to eat properly.

do you use a UTH as if not this could also play a part in it.

 

[Ozy]

Personally I don't think a 10 gallon is big enough for ONE leo, let alone TWO. And why are you housing a male and female together?

 

[SC Geckos]

Personally I don't think a 10 gallon is big enough for ONE leo, let alone TWO.

A larger enclosure can be better as far as filling it with a whole bunch of decor, but a 10 gallon if set up properly and be absolutly fine for one gecko.

And why are you housing a male and female together?

Because some people don't know any better. Its the more experienced keepers jobs to (help) educate new people in the hobby as to what they need to change and why. (IMO)
Some reasons why your two geckos should not be housed together are:
With a male and female housed together they could reproduce when that is not your intention.
The male can stress the female if he tries to mate with her and he is not ready.
If they breed before the female is ready it can cause alot of health issues for the female.
They can bully each other for prime spots in the enclosure or for food.
If one gecko gets sick it can be passed to the other very easy when housed together.

 

[NimbusPrime]

@sausage: I feed generally feed them separately, and if not, I monitor them closely while they feed and my female has not had any aversion to food. In fact, just as I was feeding them this morning she struck, missed, and bit the male on the nose! (I checked him right away and thankfully he's not hurt) I do use a UTH, so no worry there.

@Ozy: I know its not big enough for when they're adults, but these guys are currently juvies and have a 29 gallon waiting for them. I tried placing them in there already, but the extra space really stressed them out, so I'm waiting till they get a little bigger. I'm housing them together because I have read that it is okay to house a male and female as long as you are cautious and watch for signs of bullying or food aversion by one of them, which is what I've been doing.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

1. I would get a fecal to the vet asap to check for parasites and separate them until you know for sure. As others have said - if she does have something going on both your geckos can be affected which can cause double the vet bills and double the heart ache.
2. Keeping female leopard geckos together is not recommended but can be done. Keeping males and females together 24/7 365 IMO is NEVER ok.
3. Stress burns calories. Even if she is fed separately dealing with stress of a dominant cage mate can make her lose weight.
4. Geckos kind of breed like rabbits. Keeping males and females together can encourage a female to ovulate and start laying eggs before she's big enough to handle the drain on her system. This can result in a seriously sick female and unhealthy or deformed baby geckos.
5. Even as juveniles you need at least 1 warm and 1 cool hide for each gecko. This would mean you need 4 hides in your tank so the geckos can hide, rest and digest alone if the want or need to. Once they get to be 20g or more I think this is a tall order for a 10 gallon. If you have a 29 gallon why not just put one in it now? All you would need is another UTH and you can make hides out of food boxes and Tupperware until you can afford what you want.

I hope everything works out! They look like nice and very pretty little geckos!

 

[katie_]

I would also have to agree that stress probably plays a huge role in their problems.
A vet visit wouldnt be a bad idea, but seperating them and providing them with an aproppriate set up (if not all ready) will probably solve the problem.

 

[NimbusPrime]

Alright, advice duely noted.

Could I split my 29 g and put them in there? That way they each have their own space and I don't have two more tanks.

I will call my local vet and see if I can get an appointment in.

 

[SC Geckos]

I will call my local vet and see if I can get an appointment in.

Just make sure it is an exotic vet and not just a dog and cat guy. Im sure you know this but I figured I would say it anyway just in case.

 

[NimbusPrime]

Just make sure it is an exotic vet and not just a dog and cat guy. Im sure you know this but I figured I would say it anyway just in case.

I know. There is a specialist in my town that I already know.

 

[NimbusPrime]

Update: I just set up the 29 g and put them in there and they seem interested and not nearly as stressed by the space as the last time I tried to move them. They now have four hides and a lot more space to get away from each other. I'm going to monitor them closely for the next couple of days and see what happens. If my female does not look any better I will split the tank so they can each have a side to themselves.

 

[katie_]

If theyre still together they will still be under stress, whatever size tank.
I wouldnt wait for the female to get worse to seperate them, shes already very very thin

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I have to agree with Katie on this one. If you have a 10 and a 29 gallon set up why do you want to keep them together if you know one might benefit from some some solitary living and extra space?

 

[NimbusPrime]

Update:
She's doing much better! Her tail is nice and fat now
Thank you ALL so much for your wonderful advise.

 

[katie_]

Its been just over a week. I find it very hard to believe that that geckos tail is 'nice and fat' now.

 

[SC Geckos]

Its been just over a week. I find it very hard to believe that that geckos tail is 'nice and fat' now.

+1
Not very likely in that amount of time.