Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my boyfriend and i have had our leo for almost 2 years now and he has been perfectly fine.
a couple months back we changed his bedding from just plain newspaper to the orchid bark/moss bedding and he seemed fine, until about a week ago.
He hasn't eaten for about a week, and was having trouble shedding so i soaked him in the sink with lukewarm water for about 15 minutes and then helped him shed most of his skin except the stuff around his eyes.
in general he looks terrible. to make us feel worse, when i got home yesterday he was upside down.

i am not sure what to do now, or what could be wrong with him. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Loren

He may have an impaction from the substrate you used. Take him to the vet.

Im 98% sure it is impaction just from your description. Get that gecko to a vet asap.
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coheed196
1.1 raptor leos (dorito, sunshine)
0.1 beardie (scarlet)
1.1 veiled chameleon (cricket,penny)
1.1 panther chameleon (apollo, athena)
0.1 albino burmese (peaches)
1.0 pit bull (ajax)
0.1 pyrenees mix

And you might want to switch back to newspaper or paper towels.

-Patrick

i soaked him in warm water for 15 min. last night and rubbed his belly in a downward motion and when i woke up this morning there was a fresh poop.. i also changed his bedding.. does this mean that he is on the road to recovery.. i was also dripping water around his mouth and he was licking them up. is there any sort of food that he might eat i.e mushy food??

thanks!

Well if he was impacted a poop is a good sign but doesnt mean that he's healthy. Good to hear that you changed his bedding back. Paper towels and newspaper sure dont look the nicest but they are the best substrates. About his shedding problems, do you have a humid hide in his cage? If not that would really help with the shedding. As far as mushy food goes, I dont think there's alot of choices, silkworms and butterworms are good but expensive. Just monitor him closely and if he's eating and pooping he's probably fine.
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coheed196
1.1 het raptor leos (dorito, sunshine)
1.0 beardie (elmo)
0.1 veiled chameleon (penny)
1.1 panther chameleon (apollo, athena)
0.1 albino burmese (peaches)
1.0 pit bull (ajax)

Well it's a good sign but it doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. You can try putting some baby food in the enclosure, some leos take it but others don't even bother. This is not recommended as a staple diet but it's a good source a vitamins.

-Patrick

When my gecko was sick, I used ensure. She wasnt eating at all. I know that saved her life. just use vanilla and a dropper and let it drop on the nose. When she got better she started eating on her own.
Good luck