Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a leopard gecko that i have had for about 5 years. He has always looked healthy and maintained a good appetite. I moved away for about a year leaving him in the care of someone else. When i returned he seemed like he had lost some weight and did not look as sharp as he used to. After spending a little time with him i realized that he now seems very disoriented. When i used to feed him he would "perk" up at the sound of the crickets and when they entered the tank would promptly devour them. When i feed him now he still seems to hear the crickets and become more active bjut he does not go after the crickets. He almost seems blind to me in his behavior. Has anyone else experienced this type of behavior? is there anything i can do? i purchased some emergency suppliments from my pet store as i was very worried about his weight and over all appearance. any insight or suggestions would be appreciated!!!

thanks very much
-geeko

Well after searching around for some info i came across some articles that mention that improper lighting can cause eye problems in leopard geckos! This is upsetting to hear as i have always wanted the best for my gecko, awhile back i "upgraded" his lighting situation with a rather expensive setup that the pet store suggested. Now i come to find out that geckos don't even benefit from UV lights.

on the bright side of things tonight i fed him some live crickets, after turning off all lights, and after walking in circles and acting completely disoriented still a cricket wandered into him and when he felt it touch him he snaped it up! this was very good to see as i haven't seen him eat anything except the suppliments i had to force on him in months.

Theres absolutely no need to have a UV light in your leopard gecko terrarium. Actually very bright light such as UV light incandescent tube can hurt your gecko eyes.
I hope that helps... and it´s good to know that he still has appetite...
please keep us updated...
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4.7.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 AFT
0.2.0 Homonota Darwinii (Talus & Gracilis)
0.0.1 Hemidactylus Turcicus
0.0.1 Tarentola Mauritanica (Pickles)
0.1.0 Cham Caliptratus (Clotilde)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever (Cafu)
1.0.0 Black cat (Felipe)
0.0.1 Acanthoscurria Musculosa
0.0.3 Eupalestrus Campestratus
0.0.1 Gramostola Rosea

Well, I'm on the pro UV light debate, because my geckos respond by eating better and growing faster after I changed to a UV light... now I am talking a 40W snake light bulb here, not some fluorescent monster. Definitely feed with the least amount of light possible in the room, dark is best, but we all want to watch; something like turning on a hallway light and then closing the door all but a crack might be in order to monitor the geckos eating for a few feedings.

OK, can you answer some questions for us, these are usually what we like to see provided when I question is asked on just about anything, so don't worry, it is not a hard test:

Enclosure size
Current and former lighting source
UTH or Heat source
substrate
Did you change any of these when you reacquired the gecko?
Do you notice anything in the eye, or a milky color to them?

I believe you answered the normal food is crickets, dusted with vitamins and such and did that occur throughout your time without the gecko?

I'm sure it is something simple like too much lighting, but to be on the safe side, let's rule out everything else. Good luck and tell your gecko happy hunting!
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Hey thanks for the replies!

Enclosure size : 10 gallon aquarium

Current and former lighting source : currently i disabled my lights after reading that the unit i have is to much. Previous to this setup i had one heat bulb in a porcelain fixture. the fixture i disabled is a hood that holds two normal bulb style lights(one heat light and one night time heat light) and one long florescent bulb(UV)

UTH or Heat source :there is a heating pad located under the tank near his hide rock

substrate: originally i had a bark like substance, i used this for the majority of the time i have had him. At some point my sister bought some sand style substrate that the pet store suggested. we used this for a few months but then a friend of mine told me i shouldn't be using the sand and to switch to paper towels. currently the tank is lined with a couple paper towels. i want to use substrate that is gecko friendly but paper towels don't look that nice.

Did you change any of these when you reacquired the gecko? : not that i can remember

Do you notice anything in the eye, or a milky color to them? : other than the weight loss, he actually looks ok. his eyes are clear.

thanks for your help guys!

If he doesn´t start to gain some weight you should take him to the vet or at least take a stool sample(too rule out parasites).
As for the appearance of his cage, I use tiles. It´s very easy to clean and theres some real naturalistic colors out there.
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4.7.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 AFT
0.2.0 Homonota Darwinii (Talus & Gracilis)
0.0.1 Hemidactylus Turcicus
0.0.1 Tarentola Mauritanica (Pickles)
0.1.0 Cham Caliptratus (Clotilde)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever (Cafu)
1.0.0 Black cat (Felipe)
0.0.1 Acanthoscurria Musculosa
0.0.3 Eupalestrus Campestratus
0.0.1 Gramostola Rosea

Thanks for the info, that helps a lot. I wouldn't be against a trip to the vet, but right now I'm think it is more your lighting situation and a trip might be stressful in itself. For a 10 gallon, I usually suggest a 40W for the daytime and the UTH for the night time. Unless s/he is living in the basement, you might have too much heat with all those bulbs. Either a 40W incandescent or we use a 40W UV Zoomed bulb should be enough to get your temps correct in the daytime, UTH at night. (Unless the heat goes out in your house like ours did last year, then violate the warranty on the UTH and turn them both on. )

Check your temps, but I would lose the night heat lamp and stick with just the day light and have the UTH on at night. Everything else is probably too much. Like I said, unless you have him in the basement or something, but I get away with that setup in "arctic" Minnesota 100% of the year.

As the other poster said, tile is another good option, I am in the paper towel camp because I like the easy cleanup. (If the gecko was on sand for a while, take a look at his poos, if you see any sand, usually brightly colored if it was from the pet store, then a vet trip is in order because he's eaten too much and might not be able to get it all out.)

Also, I apologize if you mentioned how long he has had to settle into his new space, but moving can be a stressor and he might need a little time to bounce back. Readjust your heating/lighting and keep us updated. I think he'll be just fine.

Good luck!

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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock