Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female that's starting to loose weight. Now I know it's winter and that some leos just stop eating, but I've been keeping tabs on her for about a month.

I've had her for a year and while never being a great eater she's always had a plump tail and a chubby belly. For a short while I had her housed with 3 other females until I noticed she stopped eating(she lost her plump belly). She did hit a growth spurt and lengthened out a bit beforehand.

She's eaten a 6-9 mealies on her own and maybe two crix over the past month. I hardly see any poop, mostly urates, but when she does poop it's usually dried out by the time I find it. So I haven't gotten a test yet.

I didn't want to force feed her and stress her out. She's still got weight on her tail, so I'm not desprately worried. I just don't want her getting worse.

She's on paper towels, always has a bowl of mealies and her temps are fine. I still have some wormer on hand...but I wanted to wait and see if she started eating on her own first.

Any suggestions?

You note her being in with three other females as being a possible trigger. Stress could have done it, and parasites could have done it. Just two possibilities that come to mind, though sheer stress seems unlikely

>>I've had her for a year and while never being a great eater she's always had a plump tail and a chubby belly. For a short while I had her housed with 3 other females until I noticed she stopped eating(she lost her plump belly). She did hit a growth spurt and lengthened out a bit beforehand.

Some sub adults do get that gangly teenage look - growing longer than wide. Once they get their full length though, they usually get pretty stocky if they're eating well and their temps are right (88-90 on warm side at belly level) etc.

>>She's eaten a 6-9 mealies on her own and maybe two crix over the past month. I hardly see any poop, mostly urates, but when she does poop it's usually dried out by the time I find it. So I haven't gotten a test yet.

What's the consistancy? Does it look like dried powder or was it formed? I wouldn't worm her without doing a fecal first though unless the other females were positive for something. Do you know how they are doing?

If you can get a fresh (not dried out) sample to your vet, she/he's got an excellent chance of finding any problem organisms. More importantly, they'll recognize which organisms are not likely to be a causitive agent.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
-----
Andrea A.

What I wrote was:

>>You note her being in with three other females as being a possible trigger. Stress could have done it, and parasites could have done it. Just two possibilities that come to mind, though sheer stress seems unlikely

What I meant was that the stress of being in with three other leopard geckos could easily have caused her to stop eating. Once she was separated though I would have expected her to have recovered already if that alone were the cause.

Maybe I shouldn't post while watching The Two Towers.
-----
Andrea A.

when i have housed more than two geckos together i have noticed this same thing(unless they have been muliply housed from day one). females will stop eating and lose weight and before you know it they look like poo. i stopped housing anything more than two together. i belive it is the stress... but it seems to take alot to bring them back if they have gotten too thin. i would suggest a vet visit, to rule out any parasites. the only thing that i can suggest (if its not parasites) is make sure her temps are around 90 give her room to do her thing and hide... offer her some waxies or silkworms (try and get her to eat... anything)....i would try not to force feed her because alot of times force feeding causes more probs than anything with the stress and all. try not to bug her... nice , dark and warm.. a happy environment and be very patient. you might try one of the appitite stimulants.. like nutribac or something of that sort...... it wont hurt her. good luck and let us know how things go
-----
-robin struck
Geckoheads And Geeks

n/t