Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Got a new leopard Gecko last week and ever since she only ate 1 cricket 2 days after we got her then she didn't eat at all. She drinks and lays in her water bowl and seems to prefer tbe colder side than the warm one (but that is I tink a preference in the hide boxes, I will change the hide box in the hot side to the same as in the cold side to see). For susbstrate I had peat moss but I removed it this am because she didn't seem to like it very much (throwing out the dirt in her hide box to lay on the glass). She also seems to be loosing some weight in the tail (not sure) and the pet shop that had her fed her about 30 crickets once a week (that is also their recommendations wich I don't personnaly like) and was fed the day before I got her.
Sorry for the lenghty question but I tought I would give as much info as I could.
Thanks in advance,

dito

PS: is she a regular leopard gecko? has a pinkish background with brown spots and is her hind legs normal or under weight (tail also) dont't know her age

you need to get that gecko vet attention ASAP, i would bet 100$ she has some sort of worm
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Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

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sig edit - oversized logo

also forgot to mention that there is no reptile vets in the region (live in northern BC, canada) and I don't know where the closest one is. One vet in town does see them in emergencies but doensn't specialize in them. (Also I just put one in there right now (middle of the day) and she ate it(ponced on it to be correct) (maybe she's used of being fed in the day at the pet shop) so I'll continue with day time feedings for now and gradually change her to night.

get that gecko a fecal exam!!! even a regular vet should be able to do the microscopic float to look for paracites. He may need to call or chk a book for dosages on meds, but Dan is right, that leo is sick. She is skinny, dull in color, etc. And I hope your are not feeding crix on that substrate you have in there. What is that?
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~25
Holdbacks: 1.0 SHCTB- nice surprise! and 0.1 jungle
Available:
1.0 SHCT, 0.0.1 aberrant m?, 0.0.1 pastel F?, 7 month male circleback tang

She ate my last 2 live crickets today(will get more tomorow morning)and I just put some mealworms in right now (didn't see them yet and I don't know if she will eat them she was on a cricket only diet at the pet store)

the substate is peat moss wich I read in several web sites that it was a good susbstrate for them but I only kept it in there for a few days cause I didn't like the look of it (too powdery once it dried out under the heat) but she didn't eat at all during the time it was there. now i have paper towel in the bottom of the tank and it will stay like that (as far as I'm concerned its the safest way)and I called the local vet and he will do a fecal for me as soon as I get a "fresh" one

also do you tink her coloring is due of sickness or its her coloring? she is active during the night and sleeps the day(a bit stressed in her new home but improving every day, also not used to being handled)
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Dito

You should NEVER have a leo on loose substrate i.e. sand (calci sand is the worste), dirt, walnut shell. The best things to use are reptile carpet (although I had problems with my leos getting their teeth caught on it when hunting), NON adhesive shelf paper which can be found at wal-mart, papertowel which is extremely cheap, or tile which is a bit more expensive. I personally use shelf paper.

Now on to your question! Leos tend not to eat much when you very FIRST bring them home, but I agree that you ought to take a fresh poo sample to the vet and get it checked out. Leos from Petstores are known to carry parasites such as coccidia but are usually easily treated if caught soon enough.
There is ALSO the possibility of impaction. Can you get a nice picture of your leo's stomach for me? This too is sometimes easily treated if caught soon enough. Impaction is usually a result of being kept on loose substrate such as what you have it on.

If ya need more help or answers, email me at leogeckogirl@gmail.com

-Rien

Thanks for your help but I'm just off the phone with a reptile spec. (vet) that I found 1 hour drive from here (youpie). And he said to warm up the tank a bit and to insulate 3 sides of it because of the cold weather outside here making the glass of the vivarum very cold (very common problem in this area he said)

all in all he said it sounded like her metabolism is slowed a bit...one side of the tank is 85 degrees but the other is only 78 degrees during the day and during the night one side is like 78 and the other 75 wich a lot of people said it was good but he said to cold and that the cold side of the tank should be around 85 and the warm side around 90

probably forgot to mention that she was interested in food but to lazy to go catch it and she licked a meal worm and probably didn't like the taste cause she turned around and started looking at a cricket (the end of her tail started shaking really fast, really got excited then the cricket moved out of her sight then she went back into hiding) and her defecations are all normal looking so if in a few days she still isn't eating to bring a fecal in for examination but he doesn't tink there will be anything
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Dito

People are trying to help you, your gecko is sick and underweight, it has a bacteria or worms, these are problems that can be solved. You should take it to the vet and get a fecal, it is probably cheap and will help you. She looks pretty, but she doesn;y look good.