Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My daughter and I inherited a 3 year old female leo about two years ago, and she only eats about once a week (at most twice). She always stays in her cave. We thought she was blind for a while because she seems to need to get really close to prey to see it. Very fussy. I often have to position the prey in front of her snout several times in order to get her to eat. About a year ago we purchased a male leo and he shares her cage. Cage is an ExoTerra 18"x18"x18", 100 watt ceramic plus 50 watt red light, Cobra small heating pad under one side of cage, one cave (not over heating pad), one semi-cave (over heated pad), and climbing rock/branch under the ceramic bulb (about 83 degrees F at this basking spot), and calcium sand substrate. I think the habitat is fine because the male gecko is doing VERY well for one year now in this habitat. He is a very active, voracious hunter, and the picture of health. I doubt she has parasites, because he is so healthy and they have shared the cage for a year now. She acted this way prior to sharing the cage, so I doubt it is a dominance problem. Her tail is not as fat as his, but doesn't look horribly thin either, so maybe I shouldn't worry about her? (She eats about one twentieth of what he does). Diet is crickets and superworms, vitamin dusted once weekly. Any ideas??? Here is a picture of her:

well, being that she's on sand, is it possible shes impacted? Is her stomach really big? If you suspect it, take her to a vet right away.
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

I'm sure it is possible, but seems unlikely to me. Her abdomen doesn't appear swollen and her stools seem normal. But just to make sure, I am going to put her in a separate cage with paper towel substrate and give a higher temp for hot spot for a while to see what happens.

Thats a good idea, very nice gecko, lokos like a bold normal

It seems like the hot spot in your tank is WAY under temp too. My leos were doing the same thing until i upped their hotspt to around 90* they are fatties now, and they eat everything. Also, the male may be doing fine because he adapts better to cooler temps.
My concern is that keeping one male and one female in an 18x18 tank is going to stress the female to death. Even if you do not see this(because they usually do this at night), the male is going to breed with your female almost incessently. This could not only cause intense stress on her, but also injury, and egg binding. I have always told people that if they want to keep a male with their female, they should keep a ratio of 1:3, so that one female is not taking on such a large 'job'.
I, at one point, had 9 females with my one male. Thankfully, i have sold my colony and cut back to only 2 females, who get along quite well.
Good luck with your girl. I highly highly suggest cage carpet or paper towel over sand as wll. Even thugh it is sold for reptiles, it is extremely harmful. Even the calcisand is a rotten product. I kept my beardie on it for years until i saw her poo out bloody purple sand. It is cage carpet all the way for her now, and after a year and a half, she is finally recovering.

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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-Ernie
0.2 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.1 crested gecko- Jubeh
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 mentally retarted whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
2.0 bettas
0.0.2 goldfish-fishwad and The Don
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

this one

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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-Ernie
0.2 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.1 crested gecko- Jubeh
0.1 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
1.0 mentally retarted whites tree frog- Sifaka
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
2.0 bettas
0.0.2 goldfish-fishwad and The Don
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

thanks all for your input, I appreciate the advice. I will get back to you once I have implemented some of the changes.