Help my gecko has stopped eating!!?

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gex&cadbury

New member
I want no judgement into keeping my 2 geckos together i do not care that is not why i am here

We put our african fat tail and our leopard gecko in the same tank about 6 months ago but with a partition that reached a little less than the top, after about 3 months my african fat tail (male) kept climbing over and going into our leopard geckos (female) bed, we thought maybe this was stressing her out yet did not know how to stop him climbing over and so took the partition out (with the thought that it would be less stressful for her if she had more room to get away from him) now, my female leopard has just stopped eating for the past 3 weeks, she has shed twice, one 2 weeks ago and ones the other day. Now nothing has changed she was eating fine with him roaming around her space and she has plenty of hiding spaces, she also drinking and eating fine for the past 2 months or so however i cant understand why she would suddenly stop eating, i would take her to the vets but she seems to be a hot female and hates being picked up, this means i would not like to take her to the vets if avoidable as it stresses her out alot. now she did this a while ago before we put them in the same tank with the partition all of a sudden she stopped eating for a month or so, we tried feeding her a fruit ( i have researched this and leos DO eat fruit as long as they are not citrus and it does no damage to them) mixed with calcium, i tried dropping droplets on her nose so she licks them off and she eventually just started eating and would eat anywhere upto 10 mealworms a day (again we have tried her on crickets however she refuses to eat them) however 3 weeks on and i have just started dropping droplets of food on her nose. Can anyone explain what is wrong?

oh and i am guessing my female leo is about a year old now and i have no idea about my male aft as he was left outside the door of my local pet shop with his tail missing.

Please help?

Additional Details
we are using a insulation foam, sounds bad but its not its a blue under floor foam which is good because it keeps the heat in the hot places and keeps the cold in the cold areas, so cannot be substrate. And being a hot female I have looked that it may be unlikely that she is fertile xx
 
TheOneBlueGecko

TheOneBlueGecko

New member
Whenever you have one gecko that is not seeming to not eat or losing weight and there are multiple geckos in the tank one of the first things you want to try is to separate them. I cannot understand why you are so adamant against that.
 
Mardy

Mardy

New member
Whatever you are doing to your leopard gecko, it's wrong all around. Normally I would type a long response to help people who genuinely want to be helped. But since you came in with an attacking attitude, I won't bother typing too much.

First of all, it's wrong to mix the species

Secondly, your tank setup is wrong. Please pleeaaase study up on leopard geckos more, I feel sorry for that girl.

Third, one of the first things people try to do when their leo stops eating is to separate them from another. And this is another leopard gecko we are talking about. In your case, it's gonna be your african fat tail. Please do your gecko a favor and separate them. Don't want to hear it? Too bad.
 
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gex&cadbury

New member
Simple answer my geckos were fine i researched for months before i got my two geckos i have tried every kind of set up and tried putting them in different tanks but this is the way they were happiest, they get a full tank the substrate is correct will not cause impaction they dont fight they sleep together get along very well and seem to be perfectly happy its simple you dont like the thread you dont answer why would i ever intentionally upset my geckos in any way they are part of my family

Back to Theonebluegecko thankyou for your reply im just not seperating them because i tried it last time she stopped eating and it didnt work, my aft gecko stopped eating and just slept constantly atleast now he comes out and awake just aftger sunset, its not that i am adament against it, its just that i have tried it last time and prefer not to take her out the tank because as i said before she hates being picked up x thankyou for your reply i may try taking them apart but wish to avoid it if i can x
 
bwoodfield

bwoodfield

New member
Hey gex, if they're happy together what does it matter, they both have similar environmental requirements and they both belong to the same subfamily. My only concern is that african fat tail tend to be more aggressive then leopard geckos and there is a chance of bullying, but if they are getting along, que sara, sara. Also being that she is a hot female she may be the one doing the bullying.

What are your floor temperatures in the tank. The warm side should be 90-95. If it's not warm enough it will slow down their metabolism. With using the subflooring you could be blocking the majority of the heat from getting to them. My concern regarding using the rigid foam as a substrate is if it's not sealed it can gas out small amounts of hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, fluorine and chlorine.

Getting back to your original concern though about the lack of eating for the last three weeks. Leopard geckos can go through periods where the can stop eating or have a reduced diet. Our leopard gecko went through a similar period where she mostly stopped eating for almost 3 weeks. The main thing to watch to make sure her tail stays fat and that she is still pooping. If you notice that her tail is getting significantly thinner or she begins to look pale and grayish (not like right before they shed, it's a distinctive graying of the colouring) then I would suggest taking her to the vet along with a fecal sample (if she's pooping). If she looks healthy, has a nice fat tail, and is pooping I wouldn't be too concerned. Just keep giving her food, maybe hand feed her with tweezers to make sure the fat tail isn't eating it all on her, and keep an eye on her. If you're really concerned you can dab chicken baby food on her lips to lick off.

Being a hot female she can be a little more temperamental, as you have already noticed. Changes in environment, drastic temperature changes, being handled, etc can stress them out causing them to not eat. As you recently mentioned you took the partition out between the areas, a large environmental change. She also now has to share the tank all the time with the male fat tail, something else that can stress her out. If you're going to be keeping them together I would suggest just leaving them alone for the time being. Keep an eye on them for sure, but don't go poking around the tank or bothering her. Just feed them on a regular schedule, make sure they have proper temperature gradient and aren't fighting. If you start noticing that she is starting to get thin or sick you need to separate the two of them, and not a partition, in a completely separate tank.
 
Mardy

Mardy

New member
Unless you monitor them 24/7, and I know none of you do, you will never know what happens in the tank. They are nocturnal, that means they are active when you are snoozing. So how do you really know what happens when you are asleep for 6-8 hours a night? How do you know that male african fat tail isn't trying to get all rowdy with the female at night? How do you know he isn't staying with her and bugging the heck out of her, unless you can speak gecko language?

When you said you tried to separate them before and they stopped eating, that most likely had little to do with the 2 animals being separated. It most likely had more to do with changing environments than anything. Kind of like getting a leopard gecko shipped to you for the first time, how they are afraid and don't want to eat anything for a few days or up to a week or more. Same thing happens when you move them or change their environment. What you need to worry about is the fact that your leopard gecko is NOT eating while keeping the same environment. That's like a big red flag, the poor lil girl is trying to tell you something.

The simple fact is you can not monitor your animals at all time, we barely can monitor ourselves 24/7. She is not happy with whatever you got going there, so do her a favor, build a new tank and separate them. Don't put her in a temporary critter tote or anything small and expect her to thrive. Give her a good environment. If you are keeping her in the same tank, make sure you clean that tank out very well so the scent of the other gecko goes away, vice versa.

Different species of geckos are not like different breeds of cats & dogs. If you truly have done your research, you will find an overwhelming majority of people telling you to NOT mix species of geckos in the same tank. And if you base the notion that they are "happy" by how they sleep together, just imagine you are the geckos in a tank. With very limited places to go to, limited space, limited optimal hides to sleep in, and zero chance of escape or getting away from the other gecko. You don't want to smell the other gecko but there's nothing you can do, he poops and rubs his body all over where you are sleeping. What do you think you can do in that situation? Absolutely nothing, that's why you would just lay down and sleep. You may be stressed out, but you're so tired you just fall asleep. Not all leopard geckos are fighters that fight back when they aren't happy. But just because they are docile, it doesn't mean they are "happy".

And I posted in this thread because I care about your leopard gecko, she's ill and not well. Please do something about it.
 
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gex&cadbury

New member
Basically I have just split my 2 geckos up both in glass tanks, I do not believe that there was not enough room for them as the tank she was in previously was four foot by 2 foot and had roughly 6 or 8 hides and my aft just slept in the coconut throughout the day x last time she stopped eating we decided to film them throughout the night for many many nights and they did not fight she did not seem to be bothered by him i understand what you are saying about them being docile but i truely believe that there was no problems. I read through many many pages on the internet stating that so many had kept their aft and leos together and not one of them had a problem, i did consider it for a very long time before putting them together x

Also I would be worried about the bullying for food however my geckos do not eat the same food in the slightest, my leo she will only eat mealworms from the tweasers and my aft will only eat crickets they do not eat each others food, i have tried many times to make her eat alone and eat crickets but she refuses and i try him with mealworms and again he refuses, maybe she is just going through a stage, i do notice certain things with these geckos as even though i have only had them for under a year. I still worry like hell about them.
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Firstly, let me just say since you're new here, that your poor attitude is simply not acceptable on these forums. Secondly, you're nuts if you think a fat tail and a leo have the same requirements. Not even close. They're two completely different animals from completely different parts of the world and completely different requirements. Just because they may not look stressed doesn't mean that they aren't stressed. If you can't/won't accept that, there's not much anyone can do to help you. You seem to have excuses for everything already, so I have to assume that you've been to other forums prior to coming here and already been told the issues that need to be addressed and you just didn't like the answers that you got. Until you're ready to provide proper husbandry for the animals separately, you're going to continue to have on going issues. Period. Your "months of research" don't equate to years and years of practical experience. So don't come in here acting like you know everything, because it's more than obvious that you're way off base with your knowledge of these animals and their proper care. If you want help, check your attitude at the door and open your mind. Nobody here wants to waste their time giving advice to someone who has no desire to listen.
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
Quoting Ron Tremper:
..."MIXED SPECIES VIVARIA, In one study site harboring leopard geckos (E. macularius) in Pakistan (Anderson, 1964) the following geckos were also found: Hemidactylus brooksi, Hemidactylus persicus, Hemidactylus flaviviridis"..."In general, mixing species is not optimal for keeping leopard geckos if your primary interest is in having them as pampered pets or for captive breeding. Obviously, eliminating any extraneous source of stress or competition will tend to result in fatter, more perfect, and more reproductive geckos. Mixing species is also not recommended for begginers. If you do not have a few years of experience keeping the species (or related ones) you intend to mix, you should not experiment with this more advanced type of herpetoculture." ... END OF QUOTE, this is page 92 of Ron Tremper's bog book "The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos, twenty-seven generations of living art" ... You have "researched for months" this guy has researched and succesfully bred for decades!
Human beings and some apes have over 98% of similar DNA does that mean that because we are similar our needs are the same?????
Come honest and humble and you'll find many many people here to help you, but if you start by saying "I am doing everything right, do not tell me I am doing something wrong" what do you expect us to say???
We are more than happy to help if you are open to be helped….
First: Good that you separated them! Keep it that way
Second: Is she defecating???
Thrid: Have you weighted her? Has she visibly lost weight? How’s her tail looking?
Fourth: Have you tried different feeders? I know you say she doesn’t like crickets, have you tried roaches??
Fifth: Now that she is alone, how are her warm side’s temps??
Looking forward to some answers in order to help….
 
G

gex&cadbury

New member
i did not come into this with answers else where that i did not like but i have asked a question before and got bitchy replies about how my gecko will only eat mealworms and how they should not eat fruit blah blah blah that is the only reason it was not bitchy it was a statement simple.

Next she has been pooing fine and like i said has shed twice in the past 3 weeks which is also not normal for her she normally sheds every 5-6 weeks, i have not weighed her as i said before as she is a hot female i do not like to stress her out too much by picking her up. Her tail has never been fat even when we had her on her own before we got cadbury (our male aft) no matter how much she eats her tail has never got very large, unlike cadbury. However it has got a tiny bit skinnier, not an amazing amount, her tail also gets thinner and thicker as she wishes so i dont know whether to take that into acount or not. we tried her on crickets mealworms waxworms and locusts, she would eat the worms but not the locusts or crickets, she seams to take no notice if it jumps or runs too fast for her. the heated area is roughly 86 to 90 x
 
panthergecko

panthergecko

Active member
Also they could have mated and produce hybrids that eventually die off quickly!
I agree with separating since they are two species you've done right there!
If space or money is an issue keep them in a tub setup.
You may also read for years to prepare but experience is key!
I agree with Ethan and others in the fact that you did come on aggressive
good luck with your pets hopefully they did not mate!
 
xgodzillax

xgodzillax

New member
Food?

I would just like to add (since everything else was covered) you should try feeding her food that gets her excited, such as, brightly colored butter worms. if she is under weight or loosing weight you should give her a few wax worms. but being as wax worms are high in fat don't feed her to many. also meal worms are very high in fat and offer little nutrients such as protein and calcium, so you should feed less of those. I own three Leos and feed a diet of butter worms and crickets and only give wax worms as a treat less than once a month. sometimes I give them small meal worms, but not to often because I have heard story's about them chewing through the stomach lining.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
gex&cadbury ~

How long has it been since you removed the partition which had separated the AFT from the leopard?
 
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gex&cadbury

New member
possibly im not sure she doesnt seem interested in food at all i have tried mealworms waxworms this new med zoo leopard gecko food crickets and locusts but she just seams to turn her nose up at it all how would i know if she had eggs because as befor she is a hot female and so i thought they were in fertile? thankyou so much for helping
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
Just to confirm.... if she is a hot female wouldn't she fight the male?? I have never had one but I believe I have read that hot females do not accept any company...??
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
gex&cadbury said:
possibly im not sure she doesnt seem interested in food at all i have tried mealworms waxworms this new med zoo leopard gecko food crickets and locusts but she just seams to turn her nose up at it all how would i know if she had eggs because as befor she is a hot female and so i thought they were in fertile? thankyou so much for helping
Click to expand...

Live food is really better than those canned dried crickets any day. One thing you might try (but your AFT may beat her to the dish) is place several crickets in a shallow feeding dish with their back legs cut off at the knees to prevent the crickets from jumping out. This would be a good test if they were separated. Waxworms can be addicting for leos. Waxworms are like ice cream for some humans :D.

On the other hand, leos can go off food for seemingly LONG periods. Perhaps the bottomline line is whether she is losing weight.

BTW what are the temperatures in your set up? Leos like a range from 90-95 F on the warm side to low 70s on the cool side.

For leopard geckos: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...pard-gecko-care-recommendations-nutshell.html
 
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