Hello I was hoping someone could help me out with my leopard gecko, Cheese. Cheese is a little over a year old now, and it seems he's been loosing a lot of weight. He doesn't eat much. He'll have four or five meal worms a day, and wont eat any crickets (it seems he is too lazy to actually hunt them.) when he was younger we got them for him, but he seemed to always go for the meal worms in the tank and ignore the crickets altogether allowing them to just grow larger, and I stopped feeding him them because not only wasn't he interested, but I know they have a unhealthy tendency of biting the little guy. I don't use a black light at night anymore because I learned that it may be very bad for their eyes, but I know he sees them because he'll look at the meal worms and walk away. I was thinking maybe keeping a night light close by in case he can't see in the food in the darkness. The other odd behavior he's been having is trying to escape the tank. He's never been this curious before and I'm worried he might be stressing out over something I don't know why he's climbing up the door. My Bearded Dragons are on the other side of the room I don't think he would notice and if he did I don't know why he would be interested. If your wondering about the setup I have him in a large tank with a ceramic/flourecent light during the day and I keep the ceramic on at night and close the flourecent. The tanks is one of the large reptzilla ones. He has a waterfall I clean every two weeks, a hiding place I keep looking into the tank so he doesn't stress about people in the room, a water dish, and a log. I use sand substrate I monitor and clean closely (I know the risks, but I got it before doing some research and he seems to have settled in with it after a year) I would appreciate any help or expertise. I am just going to take him to the vet soon if no suggestions work

I would definately take him to the vet and have a fecal done to check for parasites.

Also ditch the sand immediately and switch to paper towels or something of that matter, he could be showing signs of impaction.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Weight loss can be a sign or illness or temperatures that are too cool. Since illness could be an issue, I would toss the sand and get him on paper towels. This will allow you to monitor his stool without having sand clump it.

You should also consider the sand being the issue. Impaction will also result in an animal losing weight. There is another reason to get him off the sand and on paper towel until he starts gaining weight back.

If there is any light at all in the room at night, he can see fine. When I say light, I don't mean an actual light being on. I am referring to any sort of ambient light from a window, etc. They have eyes like cats and can refract the smallest amount of light.

An animal that is trying to escape from their enclosure could be from simple curiosity all the way to the tank being to warm, to cold, or to small.

I would make the following adjustments/suggestions:

Drop the sand. While some leopard geckos will live their entire life on sand in captivity without issues, others will not. There is no point in placing the leo in a situation where his life is being gambled with because sand looks nice. (In your case, even if just for the time being, the leo should be placed on paper towels until his weight loss issue is resolved.)

I would definately get a fresh stool sample to the vet for testing. He could have a parasite.

I would get a digital thermometer with a probe. If the Ceramic Heat Emitter is on all the time, the temps are not fluctuating much at all and that could be an issue. (Creating an environment too warm for him to escape from.)

I would also add a hygrometer to his tank to make sure the waterfall isn't creating too much humidity. (Which can cause an upper respiratory infection.)

Welcome to HC! I see you are from beantown. I grew up in the South End.

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.:: Rich ::.

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Thank you so much for the quick advice!!! I'm definetly going to get rid of the sand. It's been making me feel uneasy lately at any rate, and I know it can cause respiratory problems as well if I it gets wet for any reason (water dish etc), and some of the worms escape sometimes and use it to hide so I know paper towels will make it easier. I don't think i'm ever using sand again because I wouldn't want to risk it. If there is a better substitute than paper towels I would gladly appreciate the advice again. I don't mist the tank because of the waterfall, and I have a hygrometer and the read is good, but that was a very good suggestion, also I didn't even think about the constant temperature because it would drop naturally in the winter with the ceramic on, but now that spring is here i will keep a close eye on it thank you so much! Is there anything to look out for in terms of respiratory problems? SOUTHIE!!! That's Awesome! I grew up near Cambridge. Are there any good vet recommendations you can throw at me? You guys are pros Thanks a million!!!

I use Dr.Dyre at the VCA Animal Hospital on the Quincy/Weymouth line. The JP Animal Hospital has an exotics department. (They at least had one several years back.)

Herp Vet Connection:

Connie Orcutt, DVM
Tracy Ritzman, DVM
Angell Memorial Animal Hospital
350 South Huntington Avenue
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Tel: (617) 522-7282
Fax: (617) 522-4885

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.:: Rich ::.

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Thank you much again! I really appreciate the help.

If you want something that looks better than paper towels you could try bits of slate or try a piece of lino. That way you could have a few pieces so that when you're cleaning one you can just put in the other

They are telling you to use paper towels while you are having issues.
It is easy to keep track of his feces and poses no threat to to your leo.
Once he's recovered from whatever is wrong, you can change it if you wanted to, but to what I'm not sure, I don't keep Leopard Geckos.
Hope it all works out!
And Welcome to HC!!

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<3 Tessa

0.0.2 painted turtles (Mo and Squirt)
1.0.0 yellow bellied slider (Jebidiah)
0.0.1 Three striped mud turtle
0.1.0 Amelanistic corn snake (Rose)
1.0.0 Hog Island/Colombian Boa (Kah)
0.1.5 Colombian Boa (Jasmine) and her new babies
1.0.0 Suriname? Boa (Kayne)
0.2.0 Cats (Lilly and Reese)

what sort of supplements are you giving him, if any? Do you have a calcium dish? What ARE your temps? Simple changes can make the world of difference, but I do agree he should be looked at by a vet and should have a fecal done.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I have an appointment for later on this week for the doc to take a look. My temps range from 87 the highest and 85 average during the day and 76 at night. I'm planning to get a timer for the lights soon. I was wondering if there was a switch that turns the lights on and off by temp. i do not have a calcium dish, but I can add one if you can tell me how to do so. I have just been adding it to the meal worms. Do I just add the calcium to a dish and if so how much? Thanks for the suggestions he's just on paper towels now and he is eating much better . I'm thinking that keeping the ceramic light on at night was a large part of the problem because he was used to the fluctuation in winter. I wish he would allow himself a better diet selection I don't know why he limits himself to just the mealworms and how healthy that really is for the little guy.