Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My leopard gecko was sick for a while, but has finally got back into the swing of things and was eating again. The tank he is in right now is a 10gal and has little in it-a cave, water dish, calcium dish and mealworm dish. I put in his other cave that sits up against the glass a while back and now i'm regretting it. He LOVES that cave. Spends most of his time in it....... I took it out a few days ago (while he was basking on the other cave) to clean it and noticed that since i've put it back i haven't seen him out of it at all, even late at night (i'm a night hawk)! Theres still the same amount of crickets and mealworms there were a few days ago and he's not basking anymore. I want to take it out, this time for good. Is this mean? Its just that when i took it out to clean it, he appeared almost aggitated.....searching the spot where it was, walking back and forth along the glass for a while. I don't want to stress him out but if he isn't coming out to eat he's never going to gain back any weight. so do i leave the cave in and hope he comes out or remove it and possibly stress him out again resulting in not eating..... which is the lesser evil here?
Its almost as if he's afraid to come out cause i might take it away again. And getting him out of it is quite a chore....he blocks up his legs, pinning himself inside (funny to see actually).
He really can't afford to go much longer without eating. He's thin enough as it is.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Red

I seriously doubt removing his hide will induce him to eat. You need to address the health issue that is causing him to be anorexic.

His initail problem was impaction from calcium sand but he pooped it out and after that he began pooping normal again. I did have to give him his own water bowl cause he wouldn't drink from the one i had in the 10gal. Once i did that he ate and drank just fine. The behaviour change came as a result of removing and returning that cave. One thing i didn't consider was if the temp had anything to do with his not eating. After removing the cave to clean it i moved his light up off the screen and screwed it to the top of the unit his tank is in. This raised it up a bit. The temp strips said it was Ok but a digital one showed it was lower than normal, so the light is back on the screen. When all of this started i began giving him a supplement for malnourished/dehydrated lizards by syringe and i've started that again. Upon returning from work tonight i found alot of poop so he's eaten a cricket or two. He was also sitting on top of his cave under the light.

Red