Gecko hungry but loses interest in food for months at a time.

Trebuchet

New member
Hello. I have a female leopard gecko, about five years old.

When I first had her she would eat regularly, but I fed her canned crickets sometimes when we went on trips and she got conditioned to eat off a spoon (she would only go after them if they moved). For a long time she'd only eat that way, but eventually she started eating crickets and that sort of thing on her own. More recently, in the last year or two, I have had a lot of trouble finding things she will eat. She was on crickets for a while and mealworms, but then she refused everything and got stuck eating waxworms for a while. She went through another period of fasting, and then when I gave her a night lamp she seemed to get hungry again. She then started eating superworms, and the flies of calciworms. Now she is refusing to eat again. She seems to be hungry, but only goes after food half-heartedly and gives up very easily. Needless to say she is not interested enough to catch crickets. I have been leaving a bowl of superworms in her tank, but I haven't seen her eating in months, and I am going away to college very soon and want to figure this out before my parents have to take over gecko-duty.

She has a five gallon tank with a white light on during half the day, and a red light that I turn on at night (but I have been leaving it off during the summer because it has been very hot). The temperature ranges from high 60s to 90s during the day/night.

In her tank she has a coconut, cave, rock, and wooden block. I have wondered if she might be too cold, but then she never goes very close to the lamp when it's on.

She has a reptile carpet and no sand or substrate that could impact her. When she first "fasted" I tried soaking her and everything for impaction but I don't think that had any effect. Her weight seems pretty stable, but she has no pooped recently. However, she did shed her skin last week.

Here is a video where you can see how she acts around food (a calciworm in this case).

 

Mardy

New member
The good news is that the gecko looks healthy, with a nice plump, proportional tail. But a 5 gallon tank really isn't ideal for her, and you likely don't have proper temperature gradient or proper belly heat for her. I would recommend getting a 20 gallon tank, they cost $20 from Petco during their $1 per gallon sales. Then purchase an under tank heating pad, one that would cover 1/3 of the tank. And if you want peace of mind and risk free heating, purchase a thermostat to hook the under tank heating pad to, one like Hydrofarm thermostat. Set the thermostat to 90-95 degrees. This will allow you to have proper belly heating for your gecko, 24/7, and she'll thrive better in a 20 gallon long tank.

If your room has a window and the tank gets indirect sunlight, you can skip the day light. The red light is only required if you want to view the gecko at night, or if your room temperature drops below 70 on a consistent basis. At which point a ceramic heat emitter may work better to heat the air temperature. Either way you'll want to test your terrarium temperature so the gecko gets proper warm side / cool side gradient.

In your list of hides I don't see a moist hide, make sure you provide a moist hide for her. Stuff the moist hide with wet paper towels or moist coco fiber, and leave it on a spot that's warm.

Lastly check your supplement routine, your gecko should be supplemented with multivitamins like zoo med reptivite with d3 or repashy calcium plus. At 5 year old your gecko should only be eating every 2-3 days, so dust feeders with the multivitamin at each feeding, you'll end up dusting 2-3x a week and that's plenty for an adult leopard gecko.

If you could, take a picture of her belly. But do check up on your husbandry, and provide her with a larger tank if you could. This is just for reference (link here), in case you would like to see an example of how to setup a 20 gallon tank with hide placement and such.
 

cricket4u

New member
The worm is too small, she's struggling to see it and the fact that it does not move enough does not help. Try an appropriately sized cricket. Also if my eyes do not fail me, the worm is a very small butterworm? That's the same problem my geckos have with the phoenix worms.

Edit: I don't see any orange, I guess it is a calciworm. The look different from the phoenix worms, but perhaps it's just due to size.
 
Last edited:

Trebuchet

New member
Thank you for your quick response! She actually has a ten gallon tank, my mistake, but thanks for letting me know about that sale. If I can get a bigger tank I will be able to fit the moist hide and all. She has never had trouble shedding without one, but if I can get one in there I will.

Also we used to have an under the cage heater (zoomed), but then it melted off and started to catch the floor on fire. We have a little one now not in use, but that thermostat sounds like a good idea! Thanks!

I'll get a picture soon.
 

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Thank you for your quick response! She actually has a ten gallon tank, my mistake, but thanks for letting me know about that sale. If I can get a bigger tank I will be able to fit the moist hide and all. She has never had trouble shedding without one, but if I can get one in there I will.

Also we used to have an under the cage heater (zoomed), but then it melted off and started to catch the floor on fire. We have a little one now not in use, but that thermostat sounds like a good idea! Thanks!

I'll get a picture soon.

Please post pictures of your whole leo as well as this 10 gallon tank. A 20 gallon LONG tank (30 x 12 x 12) is the bare minimum for a leo. It is strongly recommended for a leo to have a cage 4x the total length of the leo. So if a leo measures 9 inches long x 4 = 36 inch long tank.

Have you ventilation between your tank and the shelf the tank sits upon? Some UTHs come with sticky "feet" to elevate the corners of the tank. A must!!! Lack of ventilation is a good beginning to starting fires.

The Hydrofarm MTPRTC from Amazon is a good thermostat recommended by many reptile owners. That will prevent your heat mat from overheating.

The moist hide 24/7 also keeps your leo properly hydrated. The UTH is very important, because leos depend upon belly heat for digestion.

Try some hornworms or silkworms. They are just about guaranteed to spark a leo's appetite.
 
Last edited:

Trebuchet

New member
The worm is too small, she's struggling to see it and the fact that it does not move enough does not help. Try an appropriately sized cricket. Also if my eyes do not fail me, the worm is a very small butterworm? That's the same problem my geckos have with the phoenix worms.

Edit: I don't see any orange, I guess it is a calciworm. The look different from the phoenix worms, but perhaps it's just due to size.

Yeah, it is a calciworm. I don't think the size is the problem, because I have tried the same thing with a medium (mealworm sized) and large superworm on a spoon and she does the same thing: stares into space, looks interested, starts getting ready to eat it, and then changes her mind.
 

cricket4u

New member
Yeah, it is a calciworm. I don't think the size is the problem, because I have tried the same thing with a medium (mealworm sized) and large superworm on a spoon and she does the same thing: stares into space, looks interested, starts getting ready to eat it, and then changes her mind.

The feeding response is obvious. Make a video with a cricket so I can see her reaction.
 

Trebuchet

New member
Please post pictures of your whole leo as well as this 10 gallon tank. A 20 gallon LONG tank (30 x 12 x 12) is the bare minimum for a leo. It is strongly recommended for a leo to have a cage 4x the total length of the leo. So if a leo measures 9 inches long x 4 = 36 inch long tank.

Have you ventilation between your tank and the shelf the tank sits upon? Some UTHs come with sticky "feet" to elevate the corners of the tank. A must!!! Lack of ventilation is a good beginning to starting fires.


Here are some pictures. Also I had the tank propped up 3/4 of an inch off the floor, but the UTH melted off and fell onto the floor where it proceeded to melt the carpet. But now I know to check for that and put it on a less flammable surface.

Here are some pictures. She looks about 9 inches.

DSCN2506.jpgDSCN2508.jpgDSCN2516.jpgDSCN2517.jpgbelly.jpg


Make a video with a cricket so I can see her reaction.

Will do.
 
Last edited:

cricket4u

New member
Here are some pictures. Also I had the tank propped up 3/4 of an inch off the floor, but the UTH melted off and fell onto the floor where it proceeded to melt the carpet. But now I know to check for that and put it on a less flammable surface.

Here are some pictures. She looks about 9 inches.

View attachment 24868View attachment 24869View attachment 24870View attachment 24871View attachment 24872




Will do.
Your gecko needs an enclosure of 36 inches long minimum.
 

Mardy

New member
Here are some pictures. Also I had the tank propped up 3/4 of an inch off the floor, but the UTH melted off and fell onto the floor where it proceeded to melt the carpet. But now I know to check for that and put it on a less flammable surface.

Here are some pictures. She looks about 9 inches.

View attachment 24868View attachment 24869View attachment 24870View attachment 24871View attachment 24872


No obvious signs of impaction or ovulation, so it's likely down to husbandry or supplement routines What do you use to supplement/dust feeders with? With your current setup, she's pretty crammed in there. At the very least you'll want to provide her a moist hide. You can cheaply make one by using a tupperware container and use moist paper towels inside. Replace that coconut hide with a moist hide, she outgrew that coconut hide long time ago.

A moist hide isn't just for shedding purposes, but it's also to keep the geckos hydrated. I would never recommend using a basking light on a 10 gallon tank, nor a 20 gallon because it dries out the enclosure. Plus you are forcing the light onto the crepuscular leopard gecko as there's really no shading, no place for the gecko to shy away from light other than to hide inside a hide which by then without an UTH she won't get proper belly heat. So the current setup needs to be improved, a larger tank, an UTH, a moist hide, etc..

You said the gecko started to not become interested in food a year or two ago, could you tell the period of time when she did this? Was it last spring when she did this also? Or was it randomly throughout the year?
 

cricket4u

New member
Definitely follow the recommendations Mardy has posted. I just did not want to repeat the same information. She does appear to have just a bit of extra folds and chances are she is not very well hydrated.
 

Trebuchet

New member
We've found a bigger tank and will take your suggestions for the moist hide, heating and all.

Some good news--She has been going after the crickets we got. I put them in a separate tank with pretty much nowhere to hide. I think she has trouble finding them when they're in her tank. Hopefully with her tank improvements she will stay interested in them!

Also--I think the last time she lost interest was over the winter. I don't know about the other times.

Thank you!
 
Top