Long story short, my sister has had a leopard gecko for... a few months now. I want to say she got it in November of last year...
Well, long story short, as I've had many reptiles myself, this guy/gal is acting pretttty odd for a leo, imo.
It all started off well.
He's been in ten gal. With that reptile carpet on the bottom. Has two hides. A water dish. And a wet paper towel (off in the corner, not in a hide) changed daily/every other day (they were told it was cheaper than the moss and did the same thing as it so...).
Not sure on the bulb they use... They have a heat mat, but they always seem to only use the light. (I honestly have the same one and it never seems to give off any heat :I) All I know is that it's a purple/black light, and does produce a pretty good amount of heat. (They have a stick on thermometer but you can hardly read it :/). And the leave it on alllllllllll the time. It's never been cut off.
When they first got it, it was taking out crickets like THAT! They then moved it up 2 months later... from tiny pin-heads to medium/small... And it did good. But then, it just stopped. I told them it might have just been intimidated by the size, so they went back to smaller ones and- nope! Won't even bat an eye at the tiny ones, and acts afraid of the bigger ones.
All it eats now is mealworms. We tried not letting it eat for three or so days to see if hunger would take and he'd get back on the crickets... but it just isn't happening. (I should note they never and never have powdered the crickets/meal worms).
He'll eat, maybe 10 or so mealworms a day/every other day. But that's it. And he won't eat out of a dish, only if you put it down in front of him. (One at a time though. Put more than one? It goes right back into his hide.).
On top of that, they never mist.
He's been shedding great up until that last two times I've been told. And both times I had to help him out by pulling it off myself. (The skin was already dry to the point that soaking wouldn't even help but we fixed him up.)
They hardly take him out because he 'flailed' one time and scared my sister. So now he just sits in the one hide under the heat all day and night... He NEVER leaves. Ever. Not at night. Not in the day. He just 'sleeps' all day/night long. In the same hide.
I've been trying to take him out now that I've been over more often... And it walks really strange? It won't pick its head up... It's not dragging it per se but it's clearly touching the ground. And it pulled it's front legs when walking almost under it's sides... As though it's pushing itself with it's back legs but still moving his front legs a little to walk too and- not sure if this is making sense. I should probably post a video somewhere...
But yeah. It just comes across as odd. He's not skinny by any means. Or fat either! Just by looking at him you'd never assume there was something 'off' about it. The tail is pretty plump, it's honestly a mystery... When he's out, other than the walking he seems pretty a-ok...
I only PRAY he walks this way because he's always cooped up in his hide but never leaves...
He drinks too. Anytime you wet the paper towel after he eats and put him on it... he drinks quite alot. (Not alot in the sense that that seems off, but I've never seen mine so... yeah...).
I should also note he sheds about every 2-3 weeks? He'll be 'pretty' for about a week. Turn 'dull' for about a week and a half, and then shed again.
His poop seems okay too...
She also got her's at PetSmart.
It was with a big group and was the biggest of them all. We were told it was a bit pissy than the others but she wanted that one. I highly doubt it misses it's 'friends' and needs another (she's 9 btw...) but it 'being pissy' did kinda make me wonder what that meant...
But yeah, was wondering if anyone had any ideas, or if there is anything that could possibly 'improve' what ever this little bud has (or doesn't have) other than what I KNOW already needs to be done (like the mealworms at the least being powdered...)
But yeah... any thoughts? I'd definitely appreciate it...
Edit:
Trying to upload pics from mom's potato...
Note! Please excuse water stains... just washed his bowl out and... yeah. That's why he's in the coconut, and not his usual hide in the rock... (I also moved lamp over too as they've always had it over his rock hide due to it getting cold)
Well, long story short, as I've had many reptiles myself, this guy/gal is acting pretttty odd for a leo, imo.
It all started off well.
He's been in ten gal. With that reptile carpet on the bottom. Has two hides. A water dish. And a wet paper towel (off in the corner, not in a hide) changed daily/every other day (they were told it was cheaper than the moss and did the same thing as it so...).
Not sure on the bulb they use... They have a heat mat, but they always seem to only use the light. (I honestly have the same one and it never seems to give off any heat :I) All I know is that it's a purple/black light, and does produce a pretty good amount of heat. (They have a stick on thermometer but you can hardly read it :/). And the leave it on alllllllllll the time. It's never been cut off.
When they first got it, it was taking out crickets like THAT! They then moved it up 2 months later... from tiny pin-heads to medium/small... And it did good. But then, it just stopped. I told them it might have just been intimidated by the size, so they went back to smaller ones and- nope! Won't even bat an eye at the tiny ones, and acts afraid of the bigger ones.
All it eats now is mealworms. We tried not letting it eat for three or so days to see if hunger would take and he'd get back on the crickets... but it just isn't happening. (I should note they never and never have powdered the crickets/meal worms).
He'll eat, maybe 10 or so mealworms a day/every other day. But that's it. And he won't eat out of a dish, only if you put it down in front of him. (One at a time though. Put more than one? It goes right back into his hide.).
On top of that, they never mist.
He's been shedding great up until that last two times I've been told. And both times I had to help him out by pulling it off myself. (The skin was already dry to the point that soaking wouldn't even help but we fixed him up.)
They hardly take him out because he 'flailed' one time and scared my sister. So now he just sits in the one hide under the heat all day and night... He NEVER leaves. Ever. Not at night. Not in the day. He just 'sleeps' all day/night long. In the same hide.
I've been trying to take him out now that I've been over more often... And it walks really strange? It won't pick its head up... It's not dragging it per se but it's clearly touching the ground. And it pulled it's front legs when walking almost under it's sides... As though it's pushing itself with it's back legs but still moving his front legs a little to walk too and- not sure if this is making sense. I should probably post a video somewhere...
But yeah. It just comes across as odd. He's not skinny by any means. Or fat either! Just by looking at him you'd never assume there was something 'off' about it. The tail is pretty plump, it's honestly a mystery... When he's out, other than the walking he seems pretty a-ok...
I only PRAY he walks this way because he's always cooped up in his hide but never leaves...
He drinks too. Anytime you wet the paper towel after he eats and put him on it... he drinks quite alot. (Not alot in the sense that that seems off, but I've never seen mine so... yeah...).
I should also note he sheds about every 2-3 weeks? He'll be 'pretty' for about a week. Turn 'dull' for about a week and a half, and then shed again.
His poop seems okay too...
She also got her's at PetSmart.
It was with a big group and was the biggest of them all. We were told it was a bit pissy than the others but she wanted that one. I highly doubt it misses it's 'friends' and needs another (she's 9 btw...) but it 'being pissy' did kinda make me wonder what that meant...
But yeah, was wondering if anyone had any ideas, or if there is anything that could possibly 'improve' what ever this little bud has (or doesn't have) other than what I KNOW already needs to be done (like the mealworms at the least being powdered...)
But yeah... any thoughts? I'd definitely appreciate it...
Edit:
Trying to upload pics from mom's potato...
Note! Please excuse water stains... just washed his bowl out and... yeah. That's why he's in the coconut, and not his usual hide in the rock... (I also moved lamp over too as they've always had it over his rock hide due to it getting cold)
