Leo refusing to eat

Nyte · #1 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 11:50 AM

I have a leucistic leopard gecko, about 3-4 years old, female. We got her in September at MARS from a reputable breeder. She did great at first, but then just kinda stopped eating. This was about mid october. At first I thought she was perhaps going through a brumation of sorts, as she is a retired breeder. But now she still doesn't eat on her own, and is starting to get quite a bit thinner than I like. She will drink on her own occasionally, from droplets on the sides of her enclosure. I have been getting her to take some apricot baby food on occasion. At this point my thoughts are to get some of the baby food into her every other day, and perhaps once a week get her some Jump Start. Anyone have any other ideas, or comments on this plan. I have tried everything else I can think of, and the husbandry is right on. All my other leos eat great and are thriving.

Thanx
Brian
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Shadrach · #2 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 03:39 PM

Nyte I too had a girl go off feed for quite a while last year. One question when she does get something in her does she throw it back up? Mine did? Anyway I finally took her to the vet and he started her on Baytril orally and after 10 days of oral Baytril she started eating on her own again. One suggestion if you are goona force feed baby food get some chicken and rice baby food this will help add back some of the fat reserves she's lost. Also you can blend some crickets up in it too to give her all the good stuff they contain.

Oh yeah one more question what type of food items are you offering? I know Constrictor_BO has a female gecko that he took in as a rescue and couldn't get her to eat crickets. One day he was feeding some snapping turtles some meal worms and saw her going crazy he threw in a few and she gobbled them right up so it may just be finding the food item she wants.?
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Nyte · #3 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 05:26 PM

Shad-

No, she doesn't throw up what she eats, and actually she still poops now and then, which confuses me. I keep mealworms in a dish for her, as the breeder she came from fed them exclusively. I tried to offer a few crickets, which she also ignored. I will try the chicken & rice formula as well, thanks. She doesn't have a problem with parasites or internal infections, and I truly think that to put her on baytril now would do a lot more harm than good, especially with her starting to show some emaciation.

Thanx
Brian
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Shadrach · #4 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 07:05 PM

I don't know Brian my girl had no fat left in her tail at all and after putting her on baytril to clear up what ever she had going on she started to eat? But if you think nothing is goin on inside her as far as infections then baytril may not be the best way to go. Maybe you could get the vet to give you some liquid B12 to stimulate her? Also try some yogart sometimes they will eat this on their own. The plain yogart is usally what they will go for, if they will eat it. Just place a dish of it in the tank with her and see if she'll take any of it sometimes they do sometimes they don't.
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Constrictor_BO · #5 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 07:14 PM

The problem has to be one of two things Illness or stress. There are so many things to loook for. You said the husbandry is right on. Tell us the temps and type of heat anyways. What are you using for substrate and how many geckos m/f are in the tank together? And also how big is the setup? Give us all the statistics, we might see something you have possibly overlooked.

Is she in a tank with other geckos? If so get her out now. If she is sick you dont want it spreading.

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> She doesn't have a problem with parasites or internal infections </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

How did you come to this conclusion? did you take her to the vet and run a fecal? If you have tried different food items and still no eating I would take her to the vet and have some tests ran to find out what is going on with her.

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Nyte · #6 (**permalink**) 01-27-2003, 11:19 PM

As far as the setup, she is currrently in a 10 gallon tank, with a UTH on one side, and a 60 watt light during the day. She is on bed a beast now, though I have tried her on paper towels and newsprint. I have my other gecks on bed a beast and they love it. She is seperate, and has been since she stopped eating. She seems to just want to curl up under her half log on the cool side and sleep 90 % of the time. The only time she goes to the warm hide at all is right after I get some food into her. Now just last night she seems to have dug herself a little cave at the back of teh half log, essencially blocking the front to it from inside. When I take her out, she is curious, moves about checking things out, climbing, and eventually looking for a dark place to curl up. She is alert and active, doesn't get dark or show any other signs of stress, and is used to being handled, according to the breeder. Is it possible she is just going into some kind of extended brumation? I didn't lower her temps or anything, as I am not planning on breeding her. As far as acclimation I have left her completely alone in her enclosure for a couple weeks at a time just thinking that maybe it was an acclimation/stress issue. As for the parasite/infection issue, yes, I had her and a fecal to the vet, and the fecal came back clean, and she showed no signs of infection according to the vet.

Thanx
Brian

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Constrictor_BO · #7 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 12:02 AM

What are the temps in the cage. If she is pretty much staying on the cool side it might be a little warm in there and she is trying to avoid the heat.
If she has been checked out by a vet and nothing was found, I dont know. Maybe someone else will come along with something that might help. Just keep trying. Maybe concider moving one of the smaller females in with her and see how she acts then.
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Fyre · #8 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 01:15 AM

where is her enclosure located? do ppl walk by her a lot? is she any where near a lot of noise?
try secludeding her for a bit. also see about getting some newborn pinkies toss one of them in there with her. uhmmm it could very well be an extended brumation. but i think its something else.also try lowering the temps. if she is a retired breeder i think she might be a tad bit older than you think, as this almost sounds as if she is on her way out [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]
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Shadrach · #9 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 02:43 AM

One more thing this may be a long shot but if she was a breeder and housed with other gecko's were any of them male? If so I know Constrictor_BO's went off feeding when she became gravid and this was about the time last year they started to breed! And don't believe for a moment they need a cooling down period because his didn't have one.
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Constrictor_BO · #10 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 03:10 AM

Actually Shad, mine went gravid around March but that dont mean some dont do it earlier. I dont think the cooling cycle is that important, at least not to mine it wasnt. But I dont think this is the issue with Nyte's gecko. There is something else going on other than that but I just cant put a finger on what.
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Nyte · #11 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 09:17 PM

Ok, temps, warm side sits about high 80's or just into the lowest 90's on fluxuation, grading down to about 72 on hte cool side in the day, drop that to about 82-68 ish at night. The breeder I got her from, Billie, from Harford Reptile Breeding Center (I hope that doesn't cause a problem to post), told us when we got her that she was 3-4 years old, and I have no reason not to believe her. I have dealt with her before, and never had a problem. I don't think she is to blame in any of this, at least not through any intentional, knowing acts on her part. Once in a while she will go to the warm side, though mostly after she has gotten some food in her, as though to digest. Yes, at the breeder's she was kept with other geckos, in a colony I believe, so most likely including a male. She has not been in wiht any other geckos since about mid october, and is showing no signs of being gravid. She is alert, curious and active when you take her out. She is mellow, doesn't seem to favor any limbs, shows no obvious soreness in any location. When she poops it looks good and solid. When you spray the enclosure, she drinks a bit from the surfaces. Other than not eating, and showing the associated weight loss, she seems perfectly healthy, if a bit lethargic when in her enclosure. I will deffinatelly try the yogurt, chicken & rice babyfood as suggested here, and perhaps the pinkie mouse, if she won't eat that, I have a female beardie that absolutely loves pinkie mice. I have heard that few insectivorous lizards can resist wax worms, could this be worth a shot, though my question is do they perhaps have a different, appetizing smell to the animals, as she looks at mealies moving, even licks them now and again, but then moves on...

Anyway, thanks for all your help, and perhaps we can all keep brainstorming and figure this one out.

Brian
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