Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I have three female leopard geckos all in the same cage. Yes, I have seen arguments for keeping them separate and housing them together and I believe that these three, while different in ages, are doing fine. One I bought off of a neighbor that couldn't take care of her, another is one I bought at a reptile show, and the third I got two days ago from somebody in my calc class that couldn't take care of her properly. The most recent one that I got is a little on the skinny side and her tail is fairly skinny too. You can't see bone in her tail but it is not fat like the others. She is alert and feisty when I pick her up and when I open the lid on the cage she usually perks up. I have mealworms, superworms, and large crickets in the cage. My question is that I haven't seen her really go after food - at least while the light is on. She did when she first got in the cage (I added more crickets last night to the few that were already in there) but almost seemed to lack the conviction to really chase after the crickets. She very well could be eating at night as I don't think this many crickets could easily be under their one hide, but I was just wondering if there is anything I can entice her to do to eat. I don't want to force feed her, but I do want her to gain some weight. Do leopards in captivity natrually slow down in the winter like other reptiles? Any advice would be appreciated. They do have an under the tank heater yet seem to prefer the rock that's against the side of the tank as opposed to the hide over the heat source (which the crickets love). Thanks so much!

~Katie
-----
2.0.1 Cornsnakes
0.2 Leopard Geckos (Cutie and Lily)
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
0.2.1 Pac Man Frogs(Gordito, Spud, and Diablo)
0.0.1 Giant Millipede (Mega)
lots of snails and fish...

>>Do leopards in captivity natrually slow down in the winter like other reptiles?
Sometimes, its more likely if the photoperiod is reduced and temp drops.

I would remove all food from the cage for a day, day and half. Then re-introduce food. Sometimes with my leos they seem to just become accustomed to the crickets in the cage and stop thinking of them as food. I find if I remove the crickets for a day or two and put some back, the geckos seem to think of it as new food and go right after it. It may be a way to tell if she is indeed hungry and eating. This is why many breeders don't recommend leaving food in with the leos for extended periods of time.
-----
Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

In addition to what Brian said, i would also temporarily remove her from the rest of the group
To make sure she's eating, and to rule out bullying. Doesn't have to be another tank, just a rubbermaid will do with all the necessities and warmth
good luck and keep us updated

I agree, separate her. I keep my leos in groups. But, I quarantine all my new acquisitions for 1-3 months to give them a chance to settle in, and this way if they are sick, they don't infect their cagemates. When you separate her, I'd recommend doing a thorough cleaning on the intial cage to reduce the chances that her cagemates pick up something if she does prove to be ill.

With really thin gecks, they sometimes get out of the habit of eating. Sometimes if you behead a feeder insect, squeeze out some guts, hold it with a pair of forceps and dab it on the geckos nose, it will start licking it and then will eat it. If you get it to eat this way, I'd limit it to around three food items in the first feeding. With geckos that haven't been eating in awhile, a big meal can prove stressful and cause them to throw up. By starting with small, servings you are giving her digestive system a chance to gear up.

Good luck,
Alice

I am a firm believer that housing leos together is a bad idea to begin with but if you must do it you must wait atleast 90 days before introducing a new animal to the rest of your stock..... Put aside the fact that fighting may occure, there is a chance of spreading an infection and or parasites.....

I agree, if you have to keep leo's together you should always have a quarantine period. Never just put leo's together, especially if they came from different places and you dont know their history that well.

I would definately seperate the smaller one until you can get her eating, having other leo's around might just stress her even more right now.

Try feeding some soft bodied worms, like wax, butter, or silk worms instead of mealies. these are easier ont he stomach and sometimes more tempting

Good luck.
-----
1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

Well...I separated her out even though she had been in her own tank for months. Now she's in a critter keeper on paper towels with a hide, water, and some mealworms that keep crawling away...She doesn't use the hide though. It's funny, in the other tank I though she might be staying out of the most popular hide because of the others but even when she's on her own she doesn't hide, not even when I come over. My baby (different leo) will at least run and hide anytime I approach the tank. I'm going to catch some crickets later to see if I can tempt her into eating those. Doesn't really seem interested in food but I'll keep her separated until she does. Yesterday she was licking water off of my finger and won't today so maybe she's getting less stressed/more settled. If it comes down to it I'll have my boyfriend play squeeze the guts out - I'm a little squeamish sometimes. Tried to feed her a f/t pinky mouse (smaller than half her head) to see if that interested her but she completely ignored it. Any other suggestions are welcome...I also put some calcium powder in with her too.

~Katie
-----
2.0.1 Cornsnakes
0.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and ?)
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
0.2.1 Pac Man Frogs(Gordito, Spud, and Diablo)
0.0.1 Giant Millipede (Mega)
lots of snails and fish...