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I have a leopard gecko which I have had for almost 2 years now. Although she looks healthy for the last 6 months she only eats one or two super mealworms a month.(She used to eat 5-6 every three or four days). She sheds all the time. After a complete shedding she will go maybe tree or four days and start shedding again. I know she is surviving by eating the shed skin because she does defacate a day or so later. Does anyone know if this is normal or do I need to do something? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That does not sound like normal behavior.

Could you give a complete run down of your set up?

-Tank size?
-Leo housed alone or with others?
-Substrate used?
-Temps? How is the tank heated? How are the temps measured?
-What other food items have you offered?
-How does she look overall? Any weight loss?
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

25 gallon tank heated with light bulbs on timer 16 hours daytime and red bulb 8 hrs at night. temps range from 83 at night to 85-93 in day according to location in tank. Gecko sand for substrate. I have had her since she was 7 weeks old in same tank and it was fine until now. She is by herself. Fed her crickets when she was growing but switched to mealworms when she got full grown. She looks fine and doesn't look like she's loosing any weight but she doesn't eat. I've always suspected that she has poor eyesight because I always had to really move the mealworms around manually before she becomes interested in them. I usually mist the tank once or twice a day but I was wondering if maybe it's too dry. she sheds ok and sometimes i give her sometime in an inch of water in the kitchen sink to help her with the skin over her eyes or on her toes. That's about all I have to offer. Thank you for your time. Tom

>>25 gallon tank heated with light bulbs on timer 16 hours daytime and red bulb 8 hrs at night. temps range from 83 at night to 85-93 in day according to location in tank. Gecko sand for substrate. I have had her since she was 7 weeks old in same tank and it was fine until now. She is by herself. Fed her crickets when she was growing but switched to mealworms when she got full grown. She looks fine and doesn't look like she's loosing any weight but she doesn't eat. I've always suspected that she has poor eyesight because I always had to really move the mealworms around manually before she becomes interested in them. I usually mist the tank once or twice a day but I was wondering if maybe it's too dry. she sheds ok and sometimes i give her sometime in an inch of water in the kitchen sink to help her with the skin over her eyes or on her toes. That's about all I have to offer. Thank you for your time. Tom

Well, if she's only just barely over 2 years old, that certainly eliminates the old age scenario that I put forth earlier. The only things I see wrong with her setup are the mistings and the sand.

You should be providing a humid hide, which she may or may not make use of. Misting should be unnecessary.

As to the sand, I personally prefer not to use it because impactions can happen. While an impaction would eventually result in the gecko not eating because her digestive tract would essentially stop, I don't think it would cause the frequent sheds, so that's probably not it, and therefore it's unlikely that the sand is the culprit (I'd still change to tile, reptile carpet, or paper towels, but I'm not going to harp on the point - that's your choice).

Given that I don't see an obvious cause for the problem, I'm left recommending a visit to the vet if you have access to a good one, but perhaps before you go to that step, you could post some current pictures here, and then people would be able to give their opinions on her relative health or lack thereof.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

You've had her for 2 years; did you get her as an adult or a juvenile? If as an adult, do you know how old she is? My understanding is that sometimes they can start doing super-frequent sheds toward the very end of their lifetimes. I don't mean to freak you out, and if she's only 2-3 years old, then that's not possible, but if you got her as an adult and don't know her age, she could be anywhere from 2 years old to 20 plus.

Regardless of whether or not that scenario is possible, as the other poster said, sheds that frequent are definitely not normal. There's something not right with either her or some aspect of her environment.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Do you have a moist hide in the tank? This is preferred over misting because only the gecko knows when it needs moisture. You should have at least two hides, one dry and one moist.

-Patrick

I would add a humid hide - im not sure if it will slow her shed cycles down to a normal rate - but it will ensure she has better, more complete sheds.

Take a tupperware container, cut a hole in the side and line the bottom with damp paper towels.

Also, if you havent tried offering "new" feeders i would recomend this. Leos like variety in their diet - sometimes they go off a certain insect because they are bored - so to speak. That happened to my guys with crickets and superworms for awhile.

Try offering roaches (they LOVE them!) or silkworms or butterworms.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

I've taken photos but don't know how to post them. Any help??

The easiest way is to upload them onto a site like www.photobucket.com and then copy the IMG link and paste it in the post
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

I have taken a couple of photos.The first is her tank. the second her after she shed. The Third before she shed. And the fourth her tank after I added a humid hide.

The images aren't showing up where should I paste the IMG in the image url or straight in the message???

>>I have taken a couple of photos.The first is her tank. the second her after she shed. The Third before she shed. And the fourth her tank after I added a humid hide.
>>

Do it as [i m g]http://url.goes.here/image.jpg[/i m g] (take out the spaces between i m and g).

I fixed one of them for you, didn't see the others:

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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

My daughter took the pictures for me and put them on her account on photobucket.com. To make it easier for me just go to photobucket and look at them from there. Her account name is sxybr258.

Also, I recently went to a pet store to buy wax worms. I am going to see if she likes those. When I was there though, I talked to a lady about why we were getting the wax worms. She said that it isn't the food its the lighting. She said I need to use florescent lighting. She said shes not warm enough. Is this true???

Any help will be appreciated. I'm willing to do anything.
Thank You

I really wouldn't trust generic pet store advice.....unless they are a reptile specialty store. Leopard geckos don't require any light whatsoever other than to stimulate a photoperiod. Besides, they are nocturnal, and light would be pointless.

If you need more heat, add an Undertank Heating pad under 1/3 of the tank. There should be a heat gradient in the tank (cold on one side and warm on the other). The cool side should be around 68-74 F and the warm side should be around 85-89 F.

Also, I wouldn't recommend a staple diet of waxworms....they call waxworms 'gecko crack" in the hobby because sometimes leopard geckos get addcited to waxworms and will refuse other food items altogether. And this is a problem because waxworms are very high in fat and are not really that nutritious. Crickets on the other hand contain lots of protein.
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1.3.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 California Kingsnake
0.1.0 Copperhead
1.1.0 Eastern Box Tutles