Worried Mom, would love some advice

[kyhomegrwn]

I am a new leopard gecko owner and have learned so much from this site, hoping you can put my mind at ease. We bought our little guy from a reptile show six weeks ago for my son and I can't believe how much I love this guy. He eats voraciously every night about 5-7 crickets. He gets waxworms once a week. His warm side is between 90-95 and cool side around 75 and I promise you I have all his hides and supplementation right. I am an obsessive over-achiever when it comes to husbandry.

So here is the deal, two nights ago he stopped coming out to his feeding rock. I had to get him out of his moist hide. He ate but tonight he is so pale he is white (he is a temper albino) and I can tell he doesn't feel good. He is pooing once day and I am giving him a daily soak. I think he is getting ready to shed, but I didn't anticipate him being so lethargic and sad. Can you shine any light? Should I leave him alone and not feed him? I am lucky enough to have an awesome Rep Vet, should I take him just to be sure? Sorry so verbose and thanks for any help!

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF. It sounds as if he has all the classic symptoms of shed-itis. It's not unusual for some geckos to be low energy before they shed. Pretty soon you'll have an active and much more brightly colored gecko. You can find an article here about geckos not eating:

http://www.geckotime.com/my-gecko-is-not-eating/

I will have a sequel coming in a few weeks.

Be prepared for the fact that when your gecko gets bigger, it won't want or need to eat every day and will "let you know" by a seeming decrease in appetite. It usually happens when they get to 30 or 40 grams.

Aliza

 

[kyhomegrwn]

Thank you so much, what a great article! I am so relieved. He is an awesome little friend and we want him to be happy and healthy. We are excited to see him bust out his new colors. Thanks again!

Dani

 

[bjleemkuil]

Be sure to post pics of this little guy when he's done! =) Welcome to the Forums!