Leo won’t eat? Help please!

WizardLizard

New Member
Messages
4
My leopard gecko Flitwick,

Age - 1.5 years
Morph - wild type (I think, bought from pet smart)
Size - slightly smaller than normal
Gender - male
Tank size - 20 gallon tall
Substrate - cocoa fiber carpet
Temps - warm side 95-80 cold side 80-70
Humidity - varies from 20-40
Food - mealworms, wax worms, and he has never liked crickets

for the past month and a half he wasn’t eating as often, or would try but then give up shortly after. But now he doesn’t want to eat at all, the last meal he ate was around 10 wax worms, I don’t normally feed him wax worms but I was just trying to get him to eat anything. He ate them then a few days later I offered him more, around 8 I think, he ate them but when I woke up he had thrown them up. Besides the not eating he is perfectly normal, comes out every night to run around and climb, he’s been drinking, no stuck shed except a few toe tips, he hasn’t lost weight, any ideas? I don’t believe he is impacted, since he has passed feces a lot and there are no bulges. I’ve dusted his food since he was a baby, I use a calcium/vitamin powder, it does have D3 however he only has a heat bulb not a UVB bulb. I’m at a loss (side note, his warm hide is not normally a box, I just swapped it out to make sure he wasn’t eating the moss that is on his normal hide)


image.jpg 1761FE7D-6F44-49EE-A17B-5CB831DD668D.jpeg 4AB40AC5-A290-4017-B895-9E704F9EBD41.jpeg 742C5598-974C-4EED-A45A-98CB411BBDD6.jpeg 8D9966BD-2004-4CD4-A206-A6E885DFCE65.jpeg
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
His tail looks nice and fat and he looks healthy. I have a bunch of leopard geckos and sometimes (often at this time of the year) they just don't eat much. Try to avoid feeding him waxworms, keep offering and keep an eye on his tail. If it starts getting skinnier it's worth evaluating a problem. Otherwise its just a leo being a leo.

Aliza
 

WizardLizard

New Member
Messages
4
His tail looks nice and fat and he looks healthy. I have a bunch of leopard geckos and sometimes (often at this time of the year) they just don't eat much. Try to avoid feeding him waxworms, keep offering and keep an eye on his tail. If it starts getting skinnier it's worth evaluating a problem. Otherwise its just a leo being a leo.

Aliza
Thank you so much! I will keep that in mind!
 

WizardLizard

New Member
Messages
4
His tail looks nice and fat and he looks healthy. I have a bunch of leopard geckos and sometimes (often at this time of the year) they just don't eat much. Try to avoid feeding him waxworms, keep offering and keep an eye on his tail. If it starts getting skinnier it's worth evaluating a problem. Otherwise its just a leo being a leo.

Aliza
Update.
he still has not eaten, and his tail is a little thinner, we took him to the vet and she tested him for parasites, that came back negative. She also gave us some medicine to help him pass his feces. He had a few big droppings but still doesn’t want to eat. He has no interest in food. He also has started to close his eyes more, the only time he opens them is when I pick him up. He has a red and purple spot on his genital region, he’s been licking that a lot. I cleaned his whole tank and laid down paper towel with a few hides and a water bowl. Just so then I can eliminate if anything in his tank is bothering him… no change!
Any guesses?
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
I wish I could be helpful, but it sounds as if you're doing everything you can and there's no particular problem. Will he eat if you hold him and poke a feeder at his mouth?

Aliza
 

WizardLizard

New Member
Messages
4
I wish I could be helpful, but it sounds as if you're doing everything you can and there's no particular problem. Will he eat if you hold him and poke a feeder at his mouth?

Aliza
Thank you, he does not, I’ve tried poking his mouth with the food, not interested I’ve also opened his mouth with the tip of my finger, (lightly) he opens his mouth and I put the tip of the worm in his mouth…. He ends up flinging them across my room
 

BLUSH50

Member
Messages
65
Update.
he still has not eaten, and his tail is a little thinner, we took him to the vet and she tested him for parasites, that came back negative. She also gave us some medicine to help him pass his feces. He had a few big droppings but still doesn’t want to eat. He has no interest in food. He also has started to close his eyes more, the only time he opens them is when I pick him up. He has a red and purple spot on his genital region, he’s been licking that a lot. I cleaned his whole tank and laid down paper towel with a few hides and a water bowl. Just so then I can eliminate if anything in his tank is bothering him… no change!
Any guesses?
HI careful with the cardboard under the bulb, it can burn his skin or catch fire with the heat bulb beaming on it. His skin does appear red however it may be due to lighting. Did he start eating?
 

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