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i have a 6 month old leo gecko who suddenly stopped eating. his tail is getting thinner and he is not showing any signs of impaction except not eating. he hasnt pooped in a week and a half either please help

Well if he wasn't losing weight I wouldn't be worried but since he's losing weight I would start to watch him more. What do you feed him? What is the substrate? Is it housed with any other geckos?
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Katie F.
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he is housed with another female who is smaller than he is. his subsrate is calcium sand and i feed him giant mealworms and normal sized mealworms.

Take out the sand! use paper towel instead, at leat untill he gets better. just because hes on sand i would go ahead and just assume hes impacted. either that or he has some sort of parasite, has he ever been to a vet?
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Calcisand is known for commonly causing impactions. Remove all your leos from it. For right now seperate him from the female and put both of them on paper towels. It sounds like he is probably impacted, this can be fatal if its not seen by a vet really quickly, i would get the soonest appointment with a good reptile vet that you possibly can. If you explain that he is impacted they will probably rush you in on the same day.
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Not eating, not pooping and loosing weight are all signs of impaction.... It would be a safe bet to say it is impacted but you also should not rule out a parasite infestation..... A trip to the vet is what I recomend......

With all of the post on this and many other sites, it just boggles my mind that people still insist on using calci-sand or any sand for leopard geckos.... Especialy for hatchling and juviniles..... It has proven time and again NOT to be the substrate of choice for leos...... When are people going to learn????

Whats the point in owning them if they don't look nice.

*innocent blink*

Disclaimer: Please note the dripping sarcasm.
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people will learn wen pet stores stop saying that sand is the natural and obvious substrate i had several shops tell me this.

I agree, alot of people never go online to research before they buy a pet so they do what the petshop tells them to (put leos on calci-sand) and then when they run into a problem they go online only to find that the petshop's advice is wrong.

Almost every petshop I've ever gone to has sand as the substrate in leo tanks. I just now went to a petstore and taught the lady how to tell the difference between male and female geckos, needless to say most petstore employees know nothing about how an animal should be cared for so they make something up.
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
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"A herper's life is never dull" - ME

thanks everyone. i will take him to the vet and change my subsrate. i was also wondering how much this will cost at the vet. i have the money but im just curious?

A fecal is usually around $15 to $25.
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
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"A herper's life is never dull" - ME

First of all, before i say this i just want to state that this comment is NOT directed at the person who started this chat. This is a general comment in response to the part about "people will learn when petstores stop saying sand is good...etc...etc...". Now that that is out of the way...

Its no excuse. Petstores are usually not good care and thats a whole different issue but if someone doesn't research a pet before they buy it or at least research it afterwards then they shouldn't have one. Not knowing something that simple about reptile care was an ok excuse several years ago before more was known about reptile care but not anymore. Good care information is out there and if people don;t look for it that is their own fault. I know its confusing because their is conflicting information and im not just talking about sand necessarily, because that is a controversial issue, but simply animal care in general. I worked at a petstore for years and its so frustrating to see people get animals without any research. Or, even more frustrating have the evidence shown to them and then still choose to ignore it. Im glad to have found a palce where people actually care about their animals (this forum) and take the time to research them and their care.

My rant is over.

Sorry
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You may want to bring a fecal sample with you from your female. If you cant get one from your male because he isn;'t pooping. If he has parasites its likely that she has them too, this will be an easy way to tell.

good luck
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Thanks again! I separated them and went to the vet yesterday. he pooped last night. the poop was full of sand. i put reptile carpet in there tanks instead of the sand and the male is eating chiken baby food with calcium powderand water mixed in. he is doing a ton better!

Im really glad to hear that. Not enough people update us on these types of situations! Its awesome your leo's are doing better. Good luck in the future
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