What is my gecko doing?!

[Cyd]

Hello, I honestly have no idea where this should go. My 2 year old female leopard gecko went on a two and a half week hunger strike after we moved (started on March 15th and she finally ate a silk worm on April 1st). She has spent the majority of the time since we moved under her cool hide and only came out if I took her out (I do it almost every night because she seems to enjoy it). Outside of the cage, and if the hide isn't in there, she acts completely active and normal. About a week ago, she started kicking her moss until it completely covered the opening of the hide. Then tonight I was able to actually see her digging in it and tunneling through it. She has a vet appointment on Wednesday because I have no idea what to do and she's not eating again.

A few things about her eating/housing.

She's about 8.5" from tip of snout to tip of tail, and 63grams.

She eats a variety of bugs: Crickets, Dubia roaches, silkworms, and reptiworms. Crickets and Dubia are always dusted with Repashy Calcium Plus and she normally eats 5-7 of them three times per week.

Daytime temps: 85-90*F on warm side. She has a red heat lamp and a digital thermometer with a probe. 73-75*F and 35-40% humidity on cool side, monitored with a digital thermometer.

Nighttime temps: 80-85*F on warm side using an UTH with a rheostat. 71-73*F on cool side

One warm dry hide, one cool dry hide, and one cool moist hide. She's on ZooMed Excavator clay substrate, so no worry about impaction.

Last few poops have been normal.

She did have a tough/stressful shed when we first moved because her moss dried out faster than normal. It ended up being a complete shed with none stuck, though.

She gets muted light through the window during the day, but no direct light.

She's housed alone and as far as I know, she hasn't been mated. I've had her for almost 9 months.

I think that's pretty much it. Thanks for any help you can offer!

I'll post the video as soon as it's done uploading to youtube. That was the only way I could figure out how to post it...

 

[Cyd]

Here's the video.

 

[Palor]

Ovulating leos tend to stop eating, also leos love to dig and will dig out their hide boxes. You have a nesting female, even is she has not mated she is probably ovulating.

Also your video is private so we can't see it.

 

[the funky gecko]

Yes I agree with Palor, the only thing I can think is the gecko has eggs. If a male has been left with her un-watched it's enough for a pregnant female. But sometimes females will lay eggs WITHOUT a male. If thats the case then your gecko should lay only a couple eggs that won't hatch, afterwards you are free to feed it a feast!

 

[the funky gecko]

Oh and just in case can you post a picture of her underside?

 

[Cyd]

That's what I thought she was doing, but as far as I know she's never been mated and definitely hasn't been with a male in the last 8 months. I changed the privacy, so you should be able to see the video now. [MENTION=50951]the funky gecko[/MENTION], she HATES being grasped, so I can't hold her with my hand wrapped around her back. She thrashes around and gets really stressed, even when the vet tries it. I'll see if I can get my hands on something clear for her to stand on tonight. I usually have her walk from hand to hand above my head. Her belly was mostly white, but her gallbladder is visible as a dark spot due to her not eating as much.
If she is nesting, what should I look for as far as issues? How long does it usually take for a gecko to lay eggs?
Thank you for your replies!

 

[the funky gecko]

That's what I thought she was doing, but as far as I know she's never been mated and definitely hasn't been with a male in the last 8 months. I changed the privacy, so you should be able to see the video now. [MENTION=50951]the funky gecko[/MENTION], she HATES being grasped, so I can't hold her with my hand wrapped around her back. She thrashes around and gets really stressed, even when the vet tries it. I'll see if I can get my hands on something clear for her to stand on tonight. I usually have her walk from hand to hand above my head. Her belly was mostly white, but her gallbladder is visible as a dark spot due to her not eating as much.
If she is nesting, what should I look for as far as issues? How long does it usually take for a gecko to lay eggs?
Thank you for your replies!

I can't explain it in detail but I can try to think of it. So what you want to look for is two creme colored ovals at the end of her belly on the sides. Thats the most I can think of.

 

[Cyd]

I was able to get a good look at her belly. It's mostly white with no distinguishable Creme colored ovals, but she does have a purplish spot on her upper belly about an inch away from her shoulders and in her right side. There's a white spot in the middle of the purple, so I'm definitely taking her into the vet. I'm hoping it's just organs, but I want to make sure.

 

[the funky gecko]

I was able to get a good look at her belly. It's mostly white with no distinguishable Creme colored ovals, but she does have a purplish spot on her upper belly about an inch away from her shoulders and in her right side. There's a white spot in the middle of the purple, so I'm definitely taking her into the vet. I'm hoping it's just organs, but I want to make sure.

I think its Organs because my geckos have it. But just in case its good to check. Using a clear plastic container can you take a picture of her belly? You just need to get her inside quickly.

 

[Cyd]

Lola had her vet appointment today. She has fatty liver disease. It's in the really early stage, so her vet said she should recover in a few weeks. She is showing signs of nesting, but isn't ovulating yet.
Thank you for your responses.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Lola had her vet appointment today. She has fatty liver disease. It's in the really early stage, so her vet said she should recover in a few weeks. She is showing signs of nesting, but isn't ovulating yet.
Thank you for your responses.

Good that you took Lola in.

What does the vet think may have caused her fatty liver disease? Glad you caught it in the early stage!

 

[Cyd]

he's not completely sure, but he thinks it has something to do with her starting to ovulate, but something got messed up because she isn't with a male. She has to go on a diet and I need to change my dusting/gut loading to give her optimum nutrients. Apparently it's fairly common in unmated females and she should bounce back.

 

[LEOPARD1]

Sounds like my Females. They ovulate, get an attitude, tear shit up, won't eat and then all goes back to normal until......DAH DAH! She ovulates again:-( Wait until her ovulation coincides with a shed...MADNESS!

 

[Cyd]

[MENTION=51258]LEOPARD@1[/MENTION], funny thing is that she shed right before all of this started. It was a big ol' mess of bad. We moved, she had a rough shed, then started ovulating. All of this resulted in her not eating to the point of flooding her liver in fat and getting sick.

But, she seems to be on the mend and ate a few silkworms last night.

 

[LEOPARD1]

Thats good. I thought for the longest time I simply had "bad luck". It turned out I primarily have Females. I have a Wife and 2 Daughters so I should have caught on sooner, in my culture the men rule outside the home while the women rule in the home. I'm still amazed how I dont correlate the simplest things.

My Male LG eats, shits and sleeps, thats it. We were already outnumbered from the start!

 

[Cyd]

Life as a female is pretty rough. Lol

 

[Cyd]

Update on Lola: I feel like we're on a roller coaster. One day she's active and looks to be getting back to normal, the next day she's lethargic and dragging her belly. She's still spending all of her time in her warm moist hide and only comes out long enough to eat/poop. I have taken her out a few times to weigh her and look at her belly. She seems fairly active, walking from hand to hand and wandering around on my bed. I have a new hide on the way that will be her new warm dry hide. The other ones I have in there are more open and she's not ok with that. I want to see if she's spending all the time in that hide because it's warm and humid, or if she just wants to be warm.

I had her out last night and noticed the fat reserves in her belly are still huge and she has a small white spot in the middle, around where her belly button is. It's internal and shifts if her belly is touched. I'll try to post a photo tonight, it's on my boyfriend's phone. Any idea what it could be? She's only eating silkworms in the last two weeks or so. Poop is normal, urate is completely white and about half the size of the fecal matter.

 

[Cyd]

 

[dragonz]

was wondering if anyone has a answer to this.
got a new terrarium in March, then found the substrate and the heat pad were getting too hot. my female gecko started to stay away from it, fixed the temp. It's been at 86 to 90 f for a half month now, but she still won't use it. changed substrate to her old one, before the move today ( 5/7/15) but to no effect. now she hasn't eaten since last week, on the 29th of April.
two hiding places, been dusting bugs with calcium and recently multivitamin. She always has fresh water. Her poop has been very small and rare, but not green or anything. She hasn't been bred at any point.
greatly want a response about this. Did i scare her way from the warm side or something?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

was wondering if anyone has a answer to this.
got a new terrarium in March, then found the substrate and the heat pad were getting too hot. my female gecko started to stay away from it, fixed the temp. It's been at 86 to 90 f for a half month now, but she still won't use it. changed substrate to her old one, before the move today ( 5/7/15) but to no effect. now she hasn't eaten since last week, on the 29th of April.
two hiding places, been dusting bugs with calcium and recently multivitamin. She always has fresh water. Her poop has been very small and rare, but not green or anything. She hasn't been bred at any point.
greatly want a response about this. Did i scare her way from the warm side or something?

Hi dragonz ~

Let's continue right here: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...8581-female-leopard-gecko-acting-strange.html