My adult leaopard Gecko hasn't eaten in 3 weeks!?

Question

I moved my leopard gecko about a month ago but the last time she ate anything was about 3 weeks ago. She stopped eating crickets a while ago. She normally eats meal worms but lately I have only been able to buy superworms. She will look at them and then walk away. She doesn't show signs of impaction. She still drinks plenty of water, and she doesn't show signs of weight loss. Her cage ranges from between 75-85 degrees. What could be causing her lost appetite?

Answer 1

Okay, this IS going to BE long, but YOU asked...

This insect is too large for your Leopard gecko.  In rare cases, superworms have actually been known to EAT their way OUT of a gecko (uh huh - ask your vet).

There is no such thing as "I can only get..." when it comes to insects.  They are readily available for order on line, and in quantity.

Are you gut loading the insects (I'll post a recipe at the end of this)?  Are her nutritional and lighting needs being met?

She may have internal problems you aren't aware of at this point in time.  She could actually have been injured by her prey food.

Three weeks is an incredibly long time for no food, and no weight loss.  I can't think of a SINGLE scenario where this would be possible.  Leos go down fast, and hard.  Are you sure her body's not just bloated, and her tail is thinning?  Fat reserves are stored in the tail.  (Or is it perhaps the situation one of your posters queried, and there are insects roaming her enclosure that you just aren't seeing?  This already means they are not gut loaded, and a bad source of nutrition.)  Loose/abundant insects can stress a gecko (they crawl on her/bite her when she is not hungry, etc., and can put her off eating entirely).

You didn't mention how her habitat is set up, or your feeding habits.  These are things we must know to answer your query in a helpful manner.

You didn't mention age, or how long you've had her.  "Adult" can mean anything from a year on!  Leos, with proper care, can live over 20 yr.!!!  There are just SO many factors to caring for these adorable creatures - it'd take a novel to cover it all.

Assuming the worst, and that she is in fact NOT eating: as most of your posters have suggested at this point - TAKE HER TO THE VET.  Immediately.  You have no time to lose, if this problem has been going on and on for weeks (first she went off crickets, and then...)

What substrate are you using?  (Please don't say sand.)  Sand is a perfect medium for baterial growth; parasites, and mold.  NO lizard should ever be kept on sand.  Leopard geckos reside on hard packed earth in the wild, and nature didn't design them to deal with ingesting sand.  They become impacted easily when kept on sand, and this results in costly vet bills, and even death.  (Oh, I know you will read lots of contradictory information on this fact, on line and from breeders: but ask your vet.  And yes, let's say your friend's gecko did fine on sand for 22 yr.  (Scenario - right up till it ingested enough just ONCE to impact it, and it died!)  It is simply not a good idea to keep your lizard on play sand or Reptisand.

Though it may not be the ideal "aesthetically pleasing tank" you dreamed of before you got your gecko; the best things for HER are the simple plain basics.  (Is it her home for her, or for you?)  Aged newspaper (a week or older, so the ink has dried and fumes have evaporated) is the best substrate for a Leopard gecko.  Or plain white paper.  You CAN use reptile carpet (be sure the nap is short so she can't snag a toe and injure herself), but this needs frequent disenfection/airing, and is high maintenance (and how would you like to drag your delicate toes and belly over that all day?).

She should have a good UVB light (here we go - 'can hear a whole room full of people inhaling to speak objections at once...I'm used to this.  I give educational lectures!!!).  Since she's a noctural animal; you will find a ton of contradictory statements.  Well, in the wild, these lil darlins are opportunistic feeders (all wild lizards are!).  They have to attack prey when its there and easy to get.  If you pay attention to your gecko; you WILL note, even though it's noctural for the most part, that it has brief active periods during the day.  It will emerge to drink, or move from one 'hide' to another.  In the wild, these little dashes from here to there result in EXPOSURE TO SUNLIGHT.  It IS part of their health requirement.

You are already providing the animal with a day cycle, with SOME sort of light.  So?  Why not use UVB, and let it get the added benefit of extra vitamins, and richer colors?  I mean... you don't keep it in the dark ALL the time, do you?!!

She will need a basking light, as well.  UVB strip lights don't produce as much heat as many other light sources, though they do produce some.  You can research that, and save me a ton of typing.  And the placement of a UTH heat pad under the tank on the hot end, with a rheostat for temp. regulation.  And you'll need to make sure these temps. are accurate, so using a strip thermometer is a BAD idea (they can be inaccurate up to 20 degrees).  Use a good digital thermometer, or a therm. gun.  Read the temp. ON the floor, where the animal lives, and ON the perch/rock, where it basks.  Allow the UTH pad and the lights to come to full heat (say, give it an hour, with them on, and check it out).  All this should be done long before the animal is ever put IN the habitat.  

Once you have the 'hot' end set up; then work on providing a cool end.  The animal will need a moist hide (if you don't have one, the links I paste below will get you started) on both ends of the tank: warm and cool.

Keep it SIMPLE - to keep HER happy!  The more you put in there for YOU (the fake plants/rocks/climbs/etc.) - the harder her life becomes, especially when trying to catch prey items which can slip into tiny crevices; run up plants; etc.

She will need a water bowl (keep it towards the cooler side), and a small bowl of calcium powder available at all times.

Now, it just occurred to me, since you said "adult" and she seems fat and fine... that she may have produced eggs, and is eggbound.  This is serious, and requires vet care immediately (it takes two weeks to produce and lay the egg)!  You can tell this easily, by looking at her...

Geckos have very thin semi-transparent skin on their tummies.  DO NOT BREAK AN EGG WHILE HANDLING HER.  Gently lift her from the cage (though you might easily see this while she's just standing there), and look for something on her left side (if she standing; right side if you have turned her upside down) at the lower quadrant of her tummy, closer to the vent end of her, which is about an inch long and just over 1/4" wide, and appears very white (trouble is - it can darken with infection, too).  You may see, closer to her tail, a white area, but this is normal, and is usually calcium stores or white parts of her fecal matter showing.  Geckos can have a single egg, so that may be all you see.  However - if there's a duplicate white area on the left side (holding her belly to you), and higher - about mid body?  She's carrying eggs for sure.

A female adult gecko doesn't need a male present to produce eggs.  They will be infertile, but she can still do this.

That's about all the general information I can give you, without seeing the animal.  I would STRONGLY recommend that you get her to a vet ASAP.  IF she's producing eggs: this is VERY hard/depleting on a female.  She can produce up to twenty eggs in a single laying season, and if she's not in prime health; old enough; and of good weight with reserves - she can die.

She can't pick up the phone and call.  Please take care of her.  She has no one BUT you.  YOU put her in the tank.  Call the vet.

Here's the gut loading recipe:

GUT LOADING CRICKETS for REPTILES:

The number one problem:

Dried up and malnourished pet store crickets and mealworms. These food items are essentially useless. A dehydrated and unfed cricket contains almost no nutrients at all; refrigerated mealworms are even worse. A lot of the variety in nutrients found in wild insects is actually in the stomach content - usually plant material. We need to duplicate this to provide the best for our reptiles; without the risk of illness/disease/parasites which can result from feeding our pets wild insects.

Please note that wax worms, while fattening, are not nutritious.

Basic Dry/Staple Cricket Food:

Equal amounts of dry Iguana food, dry dog food, chick starter mash, oatmeal (you can add dry baby food wheat/rye/barley, etc. as well; even shredded wheat - no sugar).

Grind these items together.  Place in a small lid/bowl for the crickets to eat.  Store the unused portion in the refrigerator or freezer, until needed.

Supplement daily with one of the following: sweet potato, bananas, zucchini, oranges, carrots, strawberries, assorted squashes (acorn, yellow, etc.), grapefruit, green beans, apples, kale, spinach, cactus pads, and just about any other nutritious item you can think of (do not use white/yellow potatoes - these are starchy and only good if used as a moisture source during shipping, and NEVER use Avacado - it's poisonous to most animals).

Provide the dry food and kale at all times (kale is readily available during the winter months, too), rotating the other food items through in succession. The key is variety, and to provide an assortment of varying nutrients. What you are trying to do is offer your reptiles crickets with guts 'loaded' with fresh foodstuffs.

The crickets should be gut loaded for 2-3 days prior to offering them to your reptiles.

Also, provide fresh clean water in a lid/bowl, adding a sponge or folded paper towel to prevent drowning.

  

Don't offer more crickets than the reptile(s) will consume within: 1.) a few hours if it’s a lizard, salamander, frog/toad, or 2.) a few minutes, if it’s a water turtle, so you know the crickets will still be full of the good stuff when eaten.

Be sure to remove any uneaten crickets so that they do not soil your pet's environment/water or bother your pet, once it is full.  Crickets CAN turn the table - and feast upon your pet!

I wish you the

Answer 2

go to the doc now!!

Answer 3

kiki is righ the best thing to do is take her to a vet she probably does have a parasite who knows?

have you been dusting the superworms in vitermans and minerals?

that is crushal that she get vitamans take her to a vet that would be the first thing i would do?

Answer 4

When I bought my baby leopard gecko she was septic, which means she had a  full body infection.  She didn't eat or drink on her own for 2 1/2 weeks and she lost a lot of weight; her tail was pencil thin and she had muscle loss and that's even after I had been force feeding her a high in fat wet senior cat food that was prescribed by my exotics vet.  I don't see how your lizard hasn't lost any weight, it doesn't make any sense....are you sure she doesn't have loose crickets or worms in her cage thats shes eating?  Because if she wasn't eating then she would have lost weight especially after 3 weeks.

There are multiple reasons as to why she wouldn't be eating; something internal or stress.  I would without a doubt take her to an exotics veterinary clinic.  We won't be able to help you here, there are too many possibilities on whats going wrong with her, and we can't fix her.  Take her to the vet and make sure you ask if they have a specialist that can assist with leopard geckos, it's an important question.  If they aren't specialist then they can't help.  Good luck.

EDIT: She could have parasites, it's not abnormal but if she did then that would be more of a reason for her to be thin because they feed off the lizard and strip them of all nutrients.

EDIT: The only way she could be not eating and show no signs of weight loss is if she's egg bound because that would give her stomach a full look, but her tail should still be getting thin.  They shouldn't have thin straight tails, they should be thick because thats where they store all of their fat.  Lizards still produce eggs even though theres no male, some lizards pass them and some reabsorb them.  But if for some reason, they're unable to do so the eggs just stay in the body cavity and cause problems and then death if you don't fix it.  If she's egg bound then the only thing that'll help her is a vet visit.

Answer 5

I say take her to a vet.  She could have eaten something that she can't pass or may have gotten some sort of parasite (very rare).  When you move a gecko they may not eat for a few days but 3 weeks is a long time. Please see a vet

Answer 6

i wouldnt be able to help you on this one but the onlyone i got is go to a pet store and ask someone who is in the reptile department whats wrong.

Answer 7

I agree with the other 2 who said to take her to the vet.  My daughter volunteers at a local reptile rescue center and we have adopted 2 leopard geckos.  You can't always tell when they have an impaction or a parasite...although appetite loss is a major symptom.  Also, don't try the superworms anymore...they are much too big for leopard geckos.  I feed them to my bearded dragon, but a leopard gecko can very easily choke on them or that may actually be what's impacting her!!  I would definitely call the vet ASAP..the longer you wait, the worse it will get.

Answer 8

one thing that could help is bee pollen, it is inexpensive, but i not sure where you can get it in your area, bee pollen is an apetite stimulant for reptiles and has lots of good stuff in it. But she is probably not eating from a parasite or something bad, take her to the vet right away.