For the past four months all my female leo has eaten is her own skin when she sheds, which is about once a month. She is still at a healthy weight, though she has lost some, but I'm more concerned about her not getting the right nutrition. She still drinks water and is defecating on a regular basis. Her activity level is still high as well and she seems to be in no pain. Her stool seems normal. There's no discoloration or bugs that I can see, nor is it soft or smelly; just small due to the lack of food she's ingesting. Her cage temp is about 85-90. I have a humid hide in her tank, but she seems to have no interest in that either. Before she went on her hunger strike she was eating about 6 or 7 mealies a day. Now when I offer her food she ignores it only wants to come out and play. If anyone has any idea as to what I should do please let me know. Any help is much appreciated.
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All my leo eats is her own skin. What should I do?
Replies (4)
Exactly how long has it been since she last ate? As far as eating her own skin, that's normal when the leos shed they eat the shed to try and salvage some of the calcium. To you dust your food that you offer her or have a dish in the tank that has some reptical (or simular, but Phosphurous free or at very least at least 2:1 calcium to ph)?
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Thanks, Briggzer
Oh yeah, and try offering some mealworms but crush their heads if you still have a baby leo. see if they eat those overnight!
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Thanks, Briggzer
The last time she ate was in the begining of April. And yes, I do dust her food and she has a dish of calcium powder in with her. It's getting to the point where she's trying to eat her bedding, which she can't since it's a soft astroturf blend, but still....
Leos stop eating for a reason, it could be that the husbandry is not right, stress, and it might be that it has internal parasites, you won't be able to see 'bugs' in their stool, occasionally tiny worms will be pass out along with their faeces, but that only happens when they are heavily loaded with parasites; you really don't want that to happen, because its fatal.
You'll need to collect its stool, keep it fresh and take that to a reptile vet to get a fecal done. Hope this helps.
