African Fat Tailed Gecko Won’t Eat!!!

[Bender the Skink]

Emergency!! Aft has barely ate anything in 2 weeks!!!

I have an adult male AFT, and he hasn’t eaten much at all in the last 2 weeks! He shed about 2 weeks ago, and he still had some shed stuck on him. I had to leave so I left him with a local pet store for a week. They said he didn’t eat much and they forgot to soak him to get the shed off. For the past week i’ve been trying to get him to eat and to get the shed off him. So far all he has left is a little bit of shed left on his toes and his deformed tail (it dropped off a long time ago and grew back. Also all I’ve seen him do is just sit in his hide (which is right above the heat mat) all the time. I don’t know if hes eating because he’s cold (I have a heat mat and UBV light but I don’t know if its enough for the winter of where I live), or he’s uncomfortable from the shed. If anyone knows anything about why he’s not eating, some other methods to get shed off (besides soaking and rubbing it), or some ways to make it warmer I would be glad to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Herpin Man]

You need to get the shed off the toes ASAP, or they could die and fall off. Moisten the skin by putting the gecko in a container with wet paper towel for a half hour or so. CAREFULLY remove the skin with a tweezers. A steady hand is necessary. Don't expect the gecko to necessarily like it.
As far as lack of appetite, it could be a number of things, and since you didn't give any details as to how you are keeping it, one can only guess. Make sure that it is warm enough, humid enough, and has secure hiding spots. Offer a variety of insects; I find that even my most finicky fat tails come to life when I offer dubias.

 

[acpart]

I have a bunch of leopard geckos and AFT's. Some of them are hungry all the time but a number of them are hardly eating because it's winter. Even though they have heat, the decreased ambient daylight time lets them know it's winter. Get the shed off, keep offering, and unless the gecko seems to be losing weight (even a regrown tail can get fatter or skinnier), don't worry.

Aliza

 

[Bender the Skink]

I almost have all the shed off, even on the tail. Although he is still not eating. Also, for informatipn, I keep him on eco-earth dirt , could that have caused impaction? The cold side thermostat is right at 70, and I don’t know what temperature the warm side is at but whenever I take him off of there he feels pretty warm. The humidity says 55, but I also provide a humid hide. I always provide him clean, distilled water and it seems like he has been drinking/sitting in it. I have a white UBV light on for 12 hours on most days. I’ve always had it like this, but when it hit winter he got less and less motivated to eat, on some days he would only eat 4 crickets. Then when I dropped him off, he hasn’t eaten only but 1 cricket in an entire week. Although the people watching him threw in mealworms, crickets, and dubia roaches and there were still a lot in there when we got him. My AFT won’t eat unless there is only 1 thing in the cage because it confuses and scares him. But I think I got it all out and I panned through all the dirt. Could he have gotten use to the taste of dubia roaches, or all the insects that were in there or something could have shocked him and made him too scared to eat. No matter if I coat my crickets in Calcium and put it right in his face or right in front of him, he will only lick it (like lick it a lot, more than anything else, like he wants to eat it) or watch it and do nothing. I’m so worried that he will get hurt or that he is sick. Thanks for any help!
And one last thing, how big does a heating pad have to be/ how much of the cage is it supposed to cover?

 

[Bender the Skink]

Just an update on this situation. He still hasn’t eaten anything but that 1 cricket since November 27, that I’ve seen ( I feed him crickets one at a time so his cage won’t be full of them). Although the people who cared for him over thanksgiving threw in a ton of different insects like mealworms, crickets, and possibly dubias. I’ve gotten out all of the crickets, I keep on finding mealworms occasionally in the dirt, and unless dubias aren’t really small and burrow, then I’ve gotten them out. The one thing thats conserning me a lot is that I haven’t seen his tail get smaller the slightest. I don’t know if its because he’s been eating maybe mealworms or other bugs that could have hidden in the dirt and those bugs have been surviving off of dead ones or his droppings. Or he’s not as warm as he should be and not diggesting his food. The width of his tail is a little bigger than the size of my finger, like when I lay my finger over his tail I can see the ridges of his tail. My finger is wide by a little over 1/2 a inch. It seems like its always been that size, probably because since his tail grew back. Thanks for any help or information.

 

[acpart]

If the tail isn't getting smaller, it means he's not losing weight. I have a number of geckos who don't eat much at this time of year. He's probably fine.

Aliza

 

[Bender the Skink]

Ah, thank you so much. I’ve been getting so worried about him. I just have one last question, how long have you seen a gecko go without eating during the winter? Thanks!

 

[acpart]

Ah, thank you so much. I’ve been getting so worried about him. I just have one last question, how long have you seen a gecko go without eating during the winter? Thanks!

My record? Six months. My 12 year old leopard gecko, Oskar, frequently would go the winter without eating. He would lose 20 grams and gain it back in the summer. Fortunately, he's still eating this season and weighs a healthy 85 grams.

Aliza

 

[snake_boy]

Same thing happened to me. My gecko has been eating a whole lot less since winter care around but he is fine! As long as he isn’t losing a lot of weight he’s probably okay.