Lazy Leopard Gecko?

JTB

New member
Hello,

So I've had my leopard gecko, Speckles, for just under a year now (although I have owned a leopard gecko previous to this) and so he's about a year and a half old. Before I ask my question, here's a run down of his enclosure: 60x45x30 Exo Terra, 30cm long canopy with 7% UVB bulb, Arcadia Deep Heat Projector on a Habistat Digital Dimming Thermostat (day hotspot temp: 30.5*C, night hotspot temp 25*C), cool end temps reach ~19*C at their coldest, and it's a fully bioactive enclosure.

Recently (as in increasingly over the past few months) I've noticed Speckles becoming increasingly inactive. Of course, now he isn't really growing and so isn't quite as enthusiastic about feeding; it's also winter so brumation seems to be kicking in. However, unless I get him out to hold, he hardly moves whatsoever! The most I ever see is him moving under the heat when his night temp kicks in, but that's it.

I'm a little bit worried about keeping his weight down. As of yesterday he weighed 110g and whilst he is a very large gecko, this does seem a bit much. He doesn't have the 'indented spine' of an obese lizard, but he does have many 'bubbles' - the usual two behind his fore limbs but also two smaller ones on top of his hind legs, which I haven't seen before.

I would like to know what other people do to get their geckos active? I've tried leaving crickets in with him - and I have seen him run to grab one - but silly me didn't silicone his background in, so you can imagine what happens most of the time. His diet consists mainly of black and brown crickets, but he also gets mealworms, morio worms (rarely), wax worms (very rarely), and has once eaten a pinky mouse.

Thanks for your input; any questions just let me know.
 

Leo844

New member
The easiest way for a leo to lose weight would be to hold off on some feedings, and when you do feed, only protein based foods (crickets), and no fat based foods (mealworms). I'd keep him on crickets, and reduce his feedings. How often do you feed? I had a similar problem with one of my Leo's, but all I had to do was scale back a bit on her feedings. It took a little while, but her fat bubbles did go away.
 

JTB

New member
I feed him every fourth or fifth day, i.e. leave three or four days between each meal, depending on how hungry he seems. The various species of crickets make up his main diet, so I'm already covering that front.

I'm actually certain that he's now in brumation, as last night I went to feed him and he did the typical brumation behaviour of looking really excited and then deciding that he wasn't interested. Apparently this is common behaviour for leopard geckos in brumation; have you ever seen it? Could this perhaps why he's became increasingly inactive and has put on weight, despite being fed relatively little?
 

Leo844

New member
It could be brumation. My adult leo, Leah, brumated for a short amount of time, but she didn’t put on excess fat before hand, but she was very lazy and not interested in food also, so it is likely. I would still offer food, but don’t worry too much.
 
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