He's acting weird...

Lala · #1 06-23-2010, 01:38 PM

Hi people

My fat tail is acting all weird a bit of yesterday and today. He normally ate about 2-3 crickets a day (large ones as he is about 3-4 years), but the guy in the shop, who I really trust as he knows his stuff, says he should be eating 4-6 a day. He was eating this amount when he lived there before we bought him. He has a hide with moss over the top which also falls down the back and there was a large log in the vivarium too which came as a package from the shop. They built these themselves and are a really good job. I often found that 3 or more of the crickets were hiding under the log so I took it out to give him more room as it took up quite a bit of the viv. After I took it out he seemed ok at first, then yesterday evening and all of today so far (18.35 here) he has just stayed in his hide, which would be in the cool side of the tank. Is he going to not eat for a few days like when he is put in a new home (I mean after I have moved the log and thus it might appear all new to him) or should I be worried? I was going to put pics up to assist with this query but in order to do this I would have to put the log thing back in and don't want to upset him further, if that's what is happening

Also, if you look down his back at a tight angle he has a sort of silver/grey colour to him. I was thinking is he maybe going to shed too as I think this would stop him eating for a day or so too?

Thanks for any help

acpart · #2 06-23-2010, 08:05 PM

If he's silvery gray, he's going to shed and may be a bit reclusive and not hungry for awhile. I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here in NEW England, it's quite hot and all my geckos are on the cool side.

Aliza

jeffmc2010 · #3 06-24-2010, 01:08 AM

Your leo is going to shed, possible that it is not hungry for a while, they will eat there shedded skin.

Usually the gecko is able to pull the shed off easily, but sometimes they have problems, especially if they do not have the proper humidity during shedding. You should always check your gecko after it has shed to make sure it was able to peel all the skin off. Leopard geckos often have problems with removing skin from their toes. If shed skin is not removed promptly from a toe it will become constricted, and as the lizard grows the toe will become constricted to the point where the shed skin can cut off blood flow to the toe. If this is not caught in time the toe can die and fall off. This is not a big problem, as it usually heals quickly, but I think they are happier with all their toes!

Lala · #4 06-24-2010, 06:17 AM

Hey guys

Thanks for the quick reply! Again today he is just lying in the back of the cool hide. We missed the last time he shed and he did have a little stuck to his toe but we got it removed very easily. I will make sure that the moss is always damp for him to ease his shedding and we will just keep a close eye on him. We will let you know how he gets on.

Lauren and Dave

Oh and we are in N.Ireland, the temps. of our tank is around 90 during the day and 70-74 at night and he also has a heat mat set to come on at night also, so I don't believe that it could be the temps. that are upsetting him.