Concerned about leopard gecko - Paw Talk

JJobson · #1 02-11-2009, 10:15 PM

I was recently given a 3 year old female leopard gecko. She spent her entire life with another gecko, who was her sister. The other one passed away and a man gave me this one. When I first got her, she seemed very quiet and lonely. I could only get her to eat by hand feeding. Now she barely eats at all, even by hand. I am very worried that she is sick, or lonely since the loss of her sister. I am wondering if you think it would be best to introduce her to another gecko. I can order one in and have it in a few days, but I don't want to make any mistakes. My supplier doesn't have any bigger ones, so I only have access to babies.

jacko · #2 02-12-2009, 12:04 AM

you can take her to the vet first just to make sure, and ask for suggestion..

canadiancritter · #3 02-12-2009, 07:44 AM

What is your set up?
Substrate?Heating? etc...

JJobson · #4 02-13-2009, 10:32 PM

I use cage carpet as my substrate and I have paper towel in the corner that she uses to go to the washroom. She has a cave which is on the heated side of the tank. I keep it around 85 degrees on the hot side and 75 degrees on the cool side. It is heated by a heat lamp. I have a dish in there with calcium carbonate in it as well as a food and water dish and a piece of driftwood.

As for the vet, there is no herp vet anywhere near me. I have researched vet options before as I also have an iguana. The closest one is 7 hours away, so I won't be going there anytime soon.

Kendalle · #5 02-13-2009, 10:48 PM

really it shouldn't be depressed for loosing its roommate, reps really don't mind if they loose a cage mate often.

Has it pooped? if not you should put it in a small dish of water to try and get it to poo. (its good to do anyway)

what are you feeding? can you get any super worms or wax worms normally they cant pass them up.

also the food needs to be quite small if you have a small leo. If you feed to big it cant eat it and digest it well. Its like you eatting a whole pizza... you feel gross.

Kendalle · #6 02-13-2009, 10:50 PM

http://www.herpcenter.com/leopard-gecko-caresheet.html this could help you

hows your ig?

canadiancritter · #7 02-14-2009, 06:49 AM

If you only just got her she could be settling in still. If she doesn't eat for more than a week and start to get skinny that's when I would start to be really worried.

JJobson · #8 02-15-2009, 01:13 PM

My iggy is fine. He is just over a year old now, and extremely grouchy. I think I started him off in too big of a home, but I love him just the same. Once I pick him up and start petting his head, he calms quickly, then we share a banana and it's all good, LOL.

As for my leo, I feed her both mealworms and superworms, as well as crickets. I try to change it up to give her some variety. I always have a variety of sizes for mealworms too, as I breed them myself as I have a tarantula who eats them too. So feeding a small leo wouldn't be a problem. I can get waxworms but they are very expensive here and I would have to get them shipped in by a supplier over 8 hours away. Actually, most of them are quite costly for what I could get them elsewhere for. I pay $6 for 2 doz superworms, $5 for 2 doz crickets, and $4 for 2 doz mealworms. She doesn't seem so fond of the superworms though. Mind you, she is 3 years old and amd eating them for the first time.
We had a small leo at work not to long ago and she could easily eat 5 mealworms and 2 small crickets a day. I can't even get my fully grown one to eat that much. And I have to hand feed her or she won't eat at all. I am not sure what is going on with this poor girl, but I hope I am able to figure something out for her. If I can get her to eat twice a week, I am lucky. And she usually only eats, maybe 2 or whatever I decide to feed her.