I think i am getting lazy on my husbandry. Since summer I have only been using the uth for heat . We have ac in the house so the air in the cage is about 75. the uth hot spot is 95 degrees. at night i do turn on a 25 watt red bulb. it is a 20 gal long tank. Should I have another heat source during the day? I have a moist hide on the warm side along with a dry hide. a hide also on the cool side. Calc no d3 in a dish and a water dish. My girl is acting strange, not eating or pooping and kind of hanging out during the day.
Leopard Gecko: husbandry help please...leo off food
- Thread starter sajane
- Start date
cricketsnieceandrepsitter
New member
Do you have a good thermometer? Maybe 95 is too hot if she is hanging out and not in her hide if you mean the ground.
cricketsnieceandrepsitter
New member
Maybe that's why. Put a low bulb on the hot side to see if it helps. But I think you will have to lower the heat mat temp so that is does not go higher. My families gecko won't stay on the the hot side if it's more than 92 or 93.
I never use any kind of heat for my leopard geckos besides the UTH. I have no AC. This means that in winter, the ambient temperature in the room is in the low to mid 60's. In summer it can get into the 90's and in the spring it's in the 70's. Many of them do brumate in winter but they are fine in spring and summer, when they hang out on the cool side.
Aliza
Aliza
cricketsnieceandrepsitter
New member
That can put them at risk for fatty liver not eating for a long time. Maybe you should try to make them eat.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Sarah Jane ~
Hello! What size is the heat mat? Recommend that it be about 1/3 the length of the tank and nearly as wide. For a 20 gallon LONG I recommend sizing up to ZooMed 30-40 gallon size.
Does she have access to daylight from a window (day/night cycle), yet not in the direct rays of the sun?
What substrate do you use? What do you feed her? Any chance she might be impacted?
What is the air temperature in her hot spot? Recommend that it be no warmer than 85 F.
How long has it been since she ate? Is she loosing weight? RH variation throughout the tank? Pictures very helpful
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I have 2 zoomed 10gal size heat mats.yes she is in my room with a window,away from the cage. I use slate rocks positioned over kids play sand. She eats gut loaded crix. She has meal worms in a dish but has never liked them. I put dubias in and she perked up a little a few weeks ago and pooped but now back in her funk.air temp has been room temp about 75 degrees.at night she has a red bulb and air gets to 80 degrees near it. She was alittle chunky she still looks good weight wise.i ve had her for 3 years, since she was a baby.will post pics tonight.
sorry about the multiple posts. I was ill in the hospital in may, when i got home i noticed she was "off". no eating or pooping for a couple weeks. then , 2 weeks ago some crix and a dubia and a really nice big poop. now nothing again. usually she is a really good eater and could pop down 10 crix by tong feeding at a time. now she just closes her eyes.
Easier said than done. I actually do try assisted feeding when enough time has gone by but it rarely works. These geckos have been doing this for years and are quite healthy (I keep an eye on the liver as well as I can see it through the abdominal wall). I somehow suspect leopard geckos aren't as easily prone to fatty liver disease as is thought, just like they don't drop their tails at every loud noise, but I may be wrong.
Aliza
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
What is the humidity in the hot spot and in the rest of the tank? Does she have access to a cool end of the tank during the day? Reason I ask is that there has been some serious discussion on another thread about leos not eating because it is too dry. Maybe you have seen that thread: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...4-very-picky-leopard-gecko-15.html#post362250
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cricketsnieceandrepsitter
New member
I asked. I did not know how to explain it in detail.:coverlaugh: When the environment (temperatures and humidity) becomes unsatisfactory, they can go into aestivation. This is how they protect their bodies from further dehydration that high temps and dry air can cause. As ectotherms they require a varied temp gradient for healthy body funtioning. They lose water when the air is too dry via respiration.