Worried about my leo :( she is starving herself!

[briannasaur]

I have one leo, meep. I got her jan 31st of 2013. She wasn't ever really a huge eater but for the past months she has refused to eat. I've tried wax worms, crickets, meal worms and super worms. I've tried sneaking them into her mouth but she just spits them out. While I've not noticed any change in attitude, her weight loss is evident and I'm scared - Pic from last July showing healthy tail and colors. - pic from tonight, looking dull and skinny

She lives in an 18x24x?? Exo terra tank on reptile carpet. Undertank heater and two lights (one daytime one night) 90 in the hot spot. 3/4 different hides. Calcium w/ d3 always available. Water dish

 

[tb144050]

Do you have any other geckos in the house? If so, are the others in the same room or even in the same tank? If she begins ovulating, she will go off-feed. This can last for a "small eternity".

-Can you check to see if she is ovulating?
-Can you weigh her today to start monitoring "weekly weight changes"? (usually done in "grams")
-Most people recommend using Calcium WITHOUT the D3 for the 24/7 available dish inside the tank....dust food occasionaly to "ration" the D3 intake.
-Does she have ANY history of wet/runny fecals and/or regurgitation after eating?

Hopefully it is just "ovulation-hunger-strike" and she will eat when she chooses. Let us know what you can answer from the above questions. If NOTHING has changed in her environment, I will cross my fingers that it is just a "seasonal influence" that has her on strike.

 

[briannasaur]

She has never been exposed to another leo directly, I have no others. Friends used to have two, but that was a long while ago. I do not know how to check if she is ovulating but I can begin to weigh her and switch it the d3 except for dusting. She has had liquidy poos before and one instance of regurgitation many months ago but other than that, no pooping lately vecause of no eating. She did wag her tail at a bug as if she was going to lunge but suddenly got disinterested and stopped

 

[briannasaur]

I just watched a vid on checking for ovulation and then went ahead with that. Not sure if I had bad lighting but i couldn't find a pink spot or white spot with reddish ring, her belly seemed pretty much all white from the "fat bodies" so that would also be a sign she could be ovulating

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Losing that much weight from an ovulation hunger strike isn't normal. If I were in your shoes I would probably take her to a vet and/or try to get her to eat something (even if it needs to be force fed) so you can get a fecal to test for crypto and other parasites. A vet may be able to do a cloacal wash to test for some without a fecal sample. Best of luck!

 

[briannasaur]

The local animal hospital (unsurprisingly) wants to charge me 56-87 dollars just for a fecal test when I was told those should only cost about 20-40 bucks.

 

[sausage]

how is she doing? have you tried making a slurry and dotting on her lips for her to lick off? i have nursed several geckos back to health by starting with a slurry mix?