Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought an albino leopard gecko, and for the first couple of days he was eating a little but not very much well now he is not eating at all and hasn't for about 3 days. I am afraid that he may have eaten sand because when I first brought him home I had him in sand ( i know now that this is bad) and I was wondering if maybe he has become impacted because of that. Here is a picture of Phaedrus so you can see him

Look at her belly and see if you see a large dark spot. If so then she or he might be. I would take it to the vet to be on the safe side. We just lost our oldest leo to impaction. We didn't know she was impacted until it was too late. I would say the best bet is to take her to the vet. Is he or she still pooping?

I sure hope it isn't ... he should not be eating those, or breathing near them or living near them.

Sure, the sand *could* have caused the impaction, but there appears to be other husbandry issues.

A few steps:

1) Go and buy the Leopard Gecko Manual; read it several times
2) Get that leo into a small, clean, warm enclosure with nothing but papertowel substrate, a warm/dry hide, a warm humid hide, and a cool hide, water bowl and calcium bowl.
3) Keep an eye out for a dark spot on the belly.
4) If symptoms persist, see a vet.

Sometimes they just aren't hungry or don't like the food being given to them (such as black, dead crickets). Hopefully this is why he's not eating.

Regards,
Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

i have the same exact lookin gecko.I got one some one gave to me that looks just like that and maybe small.I had it since january and its still 3 inches small !! But it eats well.Mines didnt eat for the first month i had it.I started feeding it thru a syringe beef baby food mixed wit a lil gatorade so he wont dehydrate.Alot of people told me that wouldnt work.But i jus kept doing it jus put it on its nose and hell lick it up.If he doesnt just keep trying.The past March was the first time i seen him eat a cricket.Then he started eating alot so i added him in a tank wit 2 more young geckos.His clutch mate it about 3 inches bigger then him.I guess he was a runt but he turned out good.I thought he was goin to die but i made him survive.It really isnt hard and jus keep an eye on him.Leave him by himself in a tubberware with calcium dust and water.Get rid of trying to use those commercial pre-dead crickets they do not work.I kno they work sumtimes but not really good for them.They need sumthing to hunt.
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Jae from Jer'z

my reptile collection and their names..
1.0.0 normal ball python [1½ ft.] Jumangi
leopard geckos
1.0.1 tremper albinos [juveniles] Yoshi & Laly
0.2.0 albino [babies] Peatree & Little Foot
1.0.0 hypo [adult] Tigga
0.0.1 normal [seems pregnant] Queens
>jerzeslugger@aol.com

If all you have been feeding him is what I'm guessing is zoomed can 'o' crickets, that could very well explain why he isn't eating. Very few leos will eat anything that's already dead. I would suggest reading some caresheets (there's one on my website listed below) and making sure you've got everything down...if you got him from a petshop I highly doubt they gave you proper care information...obviously you got bad info about sand. Go read some caresheets and make sure everything is good, and come on back if you have any more questions about anything! Good luck and happy herping!!
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

Check with the store to see what they fed your gecko before you bought it.

Secondly if you don't already have a leopard gecko book go back to the store and get one or maybe just spend some time at the store reading one. Also there are many good one on breeders sites. Check above and see forum sponsors.

I think from your picture you are feeding dead crickets which I find leos typically won't eat long term. Also they look too large for your gecko. Your gecko would benefit from having calcium dusted food, especially at this age, to prevent metabolic bone disease. I like to dust the actual food and place some in a bowl just like the one your picture shows.

Be sure to see if your gecko is pooping. If it is then you are not dealing with an impact issue but maybe something else.

If this was my gecko I would try to get a poop sample to the vets ASAP to confirm there are no parasites. If it doesn't poop and won't eat I would take it to the vet for a general check up.

Just so you know I am only touching the surface on what you need for proper care of this gecko, you really should check out the care sheets and available books.

Good luck
Joyce

That little one looks a bit thin...(much like my Asia when I first got her)....Asia will eat about anything....But I find that gutloaded..(this means to FEED the crickets nutrionous food before feeding to you gecko) LIVE crickets (I use a calicum supplement called Leopard gecko dust) to dust crickets......when I had my african fattail (another type of gecko) years ago....I must admit I didnt read up on her first like I should have.....but you really need to research your pet....the pet store I got asia from gave me a caresheet.....saying to feed her only 3 crickets every OTHER day....When she would eat like 8-10 everyday....btw how are you heating his cage???...he needs ethier a light (w/ a dome) or a under the tank heating...theres ALOT you have to get for these guys.....temps in the cage should be about day=90 on warm side and about 80 or so on the cool......night can drop about 5 to 10 degrees....try not to go below 65 on ethier side.....not being warm enough can play a big part in them not eating...oh and someone else said something about the SIZE of the crickets...those are way to big for that little one....get her the small size (but not really pinhead) in the pet store...hmmm thats all I can think of right now...go look up (Leopard gecko caresheet) on google...or buy a leo book at the pet store....hope some of this helped.
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KRISTI Mommy 2 Autumn Rose (daughter) 2 1/2 yrs
Reign Michael(son) 6 months
Duncan (Budgie) almost 7 years
Asia (Juvie Leopard Gecko)
Russia (NEW Baby Albino Cornsnake)
OH, And Ron the geckos #1 FAN!!! (owned by BlizzardGecko)

I have a book on leopard geckos and have read it several times before and after I bought Phaedrus. In addition to the book I have several care sheets that I have also read. But on those care sheets there are some discrepencies. Some say do one thing and another say do another. So I figured I would post a comment and ask people that have had more personal experience. For as you can see this is my first gecko.

There is no dark spot that I could see on his stomach (although he was a little squirmish) I have fed it mealworms and dead crickets, but i have stopped feeding him dead crickets as of 2 days ago. I do dust the food I give him with vitamins since I have bought him. I use "zoo med's reptivite" reptile vitamins. In addition someone had suggested to me to try zoo med's leopard gecko food which consists of dead flies. He ate a few but that was about it.

I know some people say that when you bring a gecko home for the first time that sometimes they won't eat because of moving around and getting use to a new enviornment. Is this true? I know this may sound a little silly but could the problem be is that he was use to having "roomates"?

If he continues not to eat is there a way I can hand feed him? Or a special diet that he should be on since he is still quite young?

I would like to get another gecko to house with Phaedrus and I know you shouldn't have 2 males together but Phaedrus is way to young to be able to identify his sex so since he is young could I get another gecko about the same age and be ok with having to males together? The reason I am asking this is because if I am not mistaking the place I bought him from housed both sexes together because they came from the same "family".

Plus I wanted to thank everyone for their input. I appreciate you helping me out in my time of crisis