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Leo still not eating.

Can any one help me with this one?

I have a female leopard gecko that had a partial obstruction which has now passed. She was also treated for parasites at the same time. She still refuses to eat much and is begining to lose weight fast. I have no idea why she will not eat. Her temps are fine (82-85 in the warm end) and she plenty of water. She is on a substrate that there is no way she could possibly ingest. I am completely clueless as to why she will not eat. Any suggestions out there? Hopefully you guys are more usefull than the people at kingsnake.com (whom i have some choice words to describe) who would rather yell at me for using calci-sand than help me.

Any help or ideas would be great,
Thanks
Ktulu
 
I'm no expert, but I'm curious.   How long have you had her?  Do you know her approximate age?  Have you made changes to her diet/enviorment?  Is she getting the proper photoperiod?  When was the last time she shed? Does she get gut-loaded live food? Is she active or does she spend all her time in a hiding place?  Does her skin look normal or does it seem dark &/or dull?
Obviously there are waaaay to many reasons why she may not be eating, most have to do with stress &/or illness, enviromental factors or just normal seasonal anorexia.
I read your previous post about her impaction, so naturally she's been under stress and may just need time to recup.  I also read where she had a "sore" or something on her mouth. The mouth sore could be stomatitis and could be serious, so keep an eye on it.  Symptoms of stomatitis, besides mouth lesions, can be lack of appetite, eye infections, loose teeth, tiny bruises.
I remember running across a website once that might be helpful to you.  It was Dr. Gecko, but I don't recall the exact URL.
Hope you can figure something out...I'd hate to hear she couldn't be helped.
(and sorry for all the questions!
smile.gif
 )
 
First thank you for replying,

i have had her for a little over 2 years, and thats about how old she is too. the only change in enviroment would be the removal of the calic-sand but i think she would have adjusted by now its been about a month. she was getting gut loaded mealworms and silkworms as a treat, they are both still available but she eats neither. He activity level is around normal though it has declined since the impaction, but she is more active now than she was when she had the impaction, but still less active than normal if that all makes sense. she has been sheding on her normal ~4week basis and her skin seems to have close to normal color much brighter than it was when she had the impaction. The sore in her mouth has been healed for about 2 weeks now with no signs of it anymore. Its not stomatitis as my vet comfirmed that it was not and she does have any of those other symptoms but lack of appetite. i looked at Dr. Gecko before and its a good site for genral problems but did really offer any help that i have not already gotten from my vet. im thinking i may want to bring her back yet again to the vet but i would hate to stress her more for no reason. I guess i can wait as i am supposed to call the vet later this week with her weight and i can see what he thinks the next best course of action should be.

Thanks,
Ktulu
 
Well, darn! Sounds baffling. Obviously you've had her long enough to know her very well (and good that you got rid of cali-sand!) and aside from the lack of appetite she sounds fairly healthy. Maybe you could offer a different food..crickets, fruit, greens?
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]He activity level is around normal though it has declined since the impaction, but she is more active now than she was when she had the impaction, but still less active than normal if that all makes sense.
grinning....yes, that actually makes perfect sense!

Glad to hear the vet confirmed no stomatitis. I, too, would hold off on stressing her out further by another trip to the vet, but certainly talk to your vet. I wish I could offer even a shred of help, but it sounds like you're doing all you can. I know it's so frustrating when you want to help an ailing animal and just nothing seems to work. Keep us posted on her progress, my fingers are crossed!
smile.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LunaC @ April 20 2005,9:12)]Well, darn!  Sounds baffling.  Obviously you've had her long enough to know her very well (and good that you got rid of cali-sand!) and aside from the lack of appetite she sounds fairly healthy. Maybe you could offer a different food..crickets, fruit, greens?
yeah i know she seems healthy but she is losingweight. right now she still has enough fat on her tail im not overly concerned but before too long she will be getting quite skinny
i have tried feeding her every insect i have available to me so far i have tried crickets, butterworms, silkworms, waxworms, and mealworms all to no avail. As for fruit or other plants leopard geckos are insectavours and do not eat plant materials.
 
try forcefeeding. Blend a cricket "paste" and add some electrolyte supplement. Put a dab on her nose. Geckos hate to be dirty and will usually lick this nutritious cocktail right up!
 
Let me ask a few questions.
Is her tail straight and have no kinks in it?
All the toes are straight with no kinks?
It is able to hold its weight off the ground with it's legs, or when it moves does it slide it's belly on the ground?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SunPitcher @ April 21 2005,4:16)]try forcefeeding. Blend a cricket "paste" and add some electrolyte supplement. Put a dab on her nose. Geckos hate to be dirty and will usually lick this nutritious cocktail right up!
i would prefer to aviod the stress of force feeding until she gets thin enough that it is necessary, she still has some time before i would consider that, i have tried hand feeding her which she just turns away from, so right now i just leave food available for her and hope she takes some.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (elgecko @ April 21 2005,4:25)]Let me ask a few questions.
Is her tail straight and have no kinks in it?
All the toes are straight with no kinks?
It is able to hold its weight off the ground with it's legs, or when it moves does it slide it's belly on the ground?
her tail and toes are straight and she is still strong enough to be active and move normally, but i would prefer to take care of this problem before she gets bad enough that those symptoms appear. she is still fairly fiesty, though any interaction with me (i.e. handling, me trying to feed her, any interaction) does seem to drain her of her energy and as soon as i am done she hides and sleeps for quite a while. I get the feeling that she is weakening slowly but not to the point where drastic measures need to be take.
 
  • #10
Its your choice, but I would start feeding her now, before she doesn't have the energy to lap it up. You dont move her using this technique, just put a dap on her nose.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SunPitcher @ April 22 2005,12:01)]Its your choice, but I would start feeding her now, before she doesn't have the energy to lap it up. You dont move her using this technique, just put a dap on her nose.
thats what they told me to do with the mineral oil too and she just wiped it off on her hide.  Plus as soon as i open the chage and stick my hand in there she runs.  This is probably a result of me having to give her the mineral oil and also the treament for parasites was given every three days so i had to keep picking her up to do that.  She also do not like the sight of a syringe(sp?) because of all that.

p.s. it will be quite a while before she gets that weak that she cant lap it up. She is still quite fiesty which i figure is a good sign i am just worried that she wont eat.
 
  • #12
Exactly how long has she not been eating? It could be a growth spurt. Mine stopped eating and pooping entirely for a while a few years ago when he hit a growth spurt. At least, the guy at the pet shop told me that's what was going down. Anyway, mine started eating again soon afterwards. I have no idea why they do that.

EDIT: Do you only feed her mealworms and silkworms? Try crickets also.. I feed mine every other day. Every other feeding is crickets and every feeding between that is mealworms. He never used to eat mealworms, but I recently got him to and now it's half his diet. I always dust the crickets, but I don't dust the mealworms because... well, I don't even know why I don't. But anyway, I also keep a dish of cricket dust in there so he can lick that if he needs extra nutrients. Man, how do they know they need more of something? It's amazing, really.
 
  • #13
actully she just started eating somewhat yesterday. she cleaned out the silkworms in her cage and took all but one mealworm that was in there. still not eating normal amounts but atleast its a start. i put more of both worms in and she didnt touch any today but i guess i will see if she eats agian in like 3 days which is normal for her. as for crickets they scare her and stress the crap out of her, always have she woudl never eat them.
 
  • #14
I see.. well, it's good that she's eating now. Keep us posted.
 
  • #15
actully yesterday i got her to eat quite a few (12) mealworms the only catch is now i have to hand feed them to her or she wont touch them. Maybe she is just spoiled now, but i guess interaction with my gecko isnt a bad thing, i just wish she wasnt so spoiled.
 
  • #16
LOL... I dare not hand-feed mine. Last time I hand-fed him a mealworm, he lunged at it, got the mealworm AND my finger, didn't realize he had my finger (he's not aggressive), thought it was all mealworm.. so he pigdogged and shook violently, trying to kill it. I lifted him off the ground a little to try to get him to drop off, and after a few seconds he did. Got a small but deep gash on the side of the tip of my left middle finger. Man, that bloke has some serious jaw pressure!! Took a while to stop the bleeding. There's still a very slight scar if you try really hard to see.

I handle mine alot... usually when I sit on my bed and watch TV. He climbs all over me and all over the bed.. but I have to watch him, or he'll go behind the pillows over the back of the bed or walk off the side of it. I swear he has no depth perception. I never wash my hands after I handle him, but that's just because I know he, as an individual, doesn't carry salmonella, since I've not washed my hands countless times and never got sick.. but I still highly recommend that people wash their hands afterwards if they're not positively sure by experience.

*cheesy narrator voice*

CHILDREN, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!! .......But you can try it at WalMart or McDonalds or whatever if you want.
 
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