I got my Leo 2 weeks ago and he should be 3 months old now. He isn't eating like he should. I will feed him and he takes him a few days until he will eat it. So, since then I realized his tail has gotten smaller compared to the day I got him. I am very worried and scared. I don't want to lose my Leo and if I have to take him somewheres I will. Please help.
Gecko isn't eating
- Thread starter LeoKeeper
- Start date
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Hi ~
Please share a photo of your leo.
For starters, I suggest covering 3 sides of his vivarium with paper towels or brown paper sacks to increase security.
Is the food the proper size for him?
Please share more info:
Other thread: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ng-issues-/80139-feisty-gecko.html#post457551
Please share a photo of your leo.
For starters, I suggest covering 3 sides of his vivarium with paper towels or brown paper sacks to increase security.
Is the food the proper size for him?
Please share more info:
- What size enclosure?
- What type thermometer?
- What the warm end/cool end ground temperatures are?
Other thread: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ng-issues-/80139-feisty-gecko.html#post457551
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IHaveNoIdea
Member
What do you feed him? You might want to make him start eating, by offering him something gecko's love - waxworms. When he starts to eat well, switch to crickets or small roaches.
JessJohnson87
New member
The only problem with feeding wax worms until they start eating is that when it comes time to introduce healthy food, they will hold out for the wax worms. I've encountered this with different species of lizard that I would feed really delicious treats to and they would not eat their normal food. Steak is really expensive to be feeding a monitor lizard twice a week :shock:
IHaveNoIdea
Member
Yeah, well we are not talking either about a monitor lizard or steaks, so price isn't a problem here. I know there is the downside you mentioned, but at least he will put on some weight. Crickets can be slowly introduced.. 4ww, 1cr.. 3ww,1cr.. 2ww, 2cr and so on. My gecko had some issues at the beggining at eating as well, but this helped.
CWilson13
New member
My male has a decreased appetite as well. Primarily this is due to the onset of winter and his age, but if winter has arrived for you it could contribute as well. Like Jess said, wax worms are really not a good idea long term. Especially since they have little to no nutritional value. Since he has only been with you for 2 weeks, another possibility is that he is not fully adjusted to his new home yet. Sometimes it can take a very long time for them to become acclimated to a new environment. This process takes even longer if he has frequent interaction with you or other people. If you could share some photos as Elizabeth suggested, we might be able to offer different options though 
JessJohnson87
New member
Cory, he shared pictures in the other thread that Elizabeth linked.
I was only giving an example about how animals will starve themselves for the good stuff. A healthier alternative to wax worms would be hornworms or silkworms, if you can get them small enough. They usually bring a leo back from a hunger strike.
I was only giving an example about how animals will starve themselves for the good stuff. A healthier alternative to wax worms would be hornworms or silkworms, if you can get them small enough. They usually bring a leo back from a hunger strike.
IHaveNoIdea
Member
I understand, Jess. I was mentioning warworms, because for example in my town nobody even knows that something like hornworms exist. Ww you can get everywhere.
Plus, I wasn't telling LeoKeeper to make them his gecko's staple. Just that they might help him start to eat.
Plus, I wasn't telling LeoKeeper to make them his gecko's staple. Just that they might help him start to eat.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Leos can literally become addicted to wax worms very quickly! Then one will really have a problem getting a leo to eat anything!
IF a leo needs to put on weight, increase the healthier bugs and worms.
Feeding a leo waxworms is like us eating ice cream.
JessJohnson87
New member
Outside of the States, it can be hard to find hornworms. Here they're considered a pest to tomato and tobacco farmers, but you can breed and sell them as a feeder to reptiles and birds.
CWilson13
New member
Ahhh just found that link -duh Cory- Thanks Jess.
Because of the feistiness thread, I definitely would recommend leaving the little fellow alone as much as possible for a while. The lack of eating combined with his attitude could be from stress. If you can get hornworms I HIGHLY recommend them. My male, even with his lowered appetite, still loves them. Mulberry Farms is who I get mine from, they even gave me ones that were barely 1/4in for my female. But there are lots of online feeder suppliers, maybe even some near you so you don't have to order online and hope they all arrive still alive.
Because of the feistiness thread, I definitely would recommend leaving the little fellow alone as much as possible for a while. The lack of eating combined with his attitude could be from stress. If you can get hornworms I HIGHLY recommend them. My male, even with his lowered appetite, still loves them. Mulberry Farms is who I get mine from, they even gave me ones that were barely 1/4in for my female. But there are lots of online feeder suppliers, maybe even some near you so you don't have to order online and hope they all arrive still alive.
IHaveNoIdea
Member
Leos can literally become addicted to wax worms very quickly! Then one will really have a problem getting a leo to eat anything!
IF a leo needs to put on weight, increase the healthier bugs and worms.
Feeding a leo waxworms is like us eating ice cream.
Mine did not get addicted to them. But he actually did get addicted to superworms. Feeding him ww is not like us eating ice cream. If you check out the nutritional value of waxworms vs for example mealworms, there is not such big a difference. I'm not saying there are healthy, I'm just saying that claiming what you claimed is a bit overexaggerated. I don't wanna argue with anyone here of course.
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There are many reasons your gecko isn't eating. One of mine didn't eat as much as it usually did when it are at all, which went on for a few weeks. Turns out that the heat mat wasn't on. As mentioned above, you could try feeding your gecko a waxworm or two to tempt him or her to eat. Not too many, though, because waxworms are addicting, fatty, and have little nutritional value. Is the leopard gecko on calcium sand? Was it on a loose sobstrate before you got it? If yes to at least one of these questions, your gecko may be impacted, though there could be many other reasons.