I have a female leopard gecko, we have had her for about 2 months now and im assuming she wasnt more than a few months old. She has seemed normal and healthy, except for the last few days she has been acting weird. She is out a lot more, and she has been just moving REAALLLY slowly and wagging her tail for no apparent reason almost all the time(there are no crickets around, she isnt looking at herself in the glass). She will also just kind of pause in the middle of a movement and stay in that one spot for a long time, like she`ll climb up to her water dish and stop with one paw up in the air and just sit there like a statue. This is odd because until a few days ago she wouldnt even really come out when the daylight was on but now she doesnt seem to care, and she doesnt even run into her enclosure when we take the lid off and stuff like she did before. She is still eating, and looks healthy, but this is really worrying us. Is it possible that she is just reaching sexual maturity or something?? please help.
Leopard Gecko HELP
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Hmmm, that is weird. I don't know much about leopard gecko behavior/maturity, but would you mind going over your set-up? Like, the temps, what kind of thermometer you use, her diet, ect. Whatever you can think of.
If something is off with the set-up, my only thought would be that she is too warm, and is venturing out in the open to try to find a cooler place, and that could be why she would be acting lethargic too. Just an idea though.
If something is off with the set-up, my only thought would be that she is too warm, and is venturing out in the open to try to find a cooler place, and that could be why she would be acting lethargic too. Just an idea though.
Okaaay, she has gotten worse, last night she didnt move from the spot she was in from about 5pm to 10pm when we went to bed,and this morning when we woke up she was still in that spot, and hadnt eaten or pooped. I tried to hold her, to see how she acted, she just tried to get away from me the whole time so I put her back in her tank. She started to walk over to the other side of her tank to her hide, it took her 6 MINUTES to get to the other side of her 10 gallon tank..... I am very worried that something is very wrong....
The set-up we have is a 10 gallon tank with a mat in the bottom(she would eat any other substrate we tried). On one side there is her hide and a cactus plant, toward the center is her food dish which we put meal worms in, there are also some flat rocks stacked up which she used to love to climb on. On the other end of the tank is her water dish and another plant. We use over head lamps to heat her tank, which we have been told is actually better. During the day we have a day light and we keep a night light on the other side too and we keep the tank about 80degrees and the day light shines directly on the hide. At night we switch out the daylight bulb for a moonlight bulb, and it stays between 70 and 75 degrees at night. We keep the humidity around 40% and we spray the inside of her hide so its more humid in there.
About a week and a half ago, her color looked really dull, so we assumed she was going to shed and we made sure the humidity was higher especially in her hide, and the next morning she was very bright and I am assuming she shed and ate the shed.
I am not sure what to do, can`t find any info about a gecko doing this anywhere, so please help =/
The set-up we have is a 10 gallon tank with a mat in the bottom(she would eat any other substrate we tried). On one side there is her hide and a cactus plant, toward the center is her food dish which we put meal worms in, there are also some flat rocks stacked up which she used to love to climb on. On the other end of the tank is her water dish and another plant. We use over head lamps to heat her tank, which we have been told is actually better. During the day we have a day light and we keep a night light on the other side too and we keep the tank about 80degrees and the day light shines directly on the hide. At night we switch out the daylight bulb for a moonlight bulb, and it stays between 70 and 75 degrees at night. We keep the humidity around 40% and we spray the inside of her hide so its more humid in there.
About a week and a half ago, her color looked really dull, so we assumed she was going to shed and we made sure the humidity was higher especially in her hide, and the next morning she was very bright and I am assuming she shed and ate the shed.
I am not sure what to do, can`t find any info about a gecko doing this anywhere, so please help =/
So no humid hide?? I bet that's your problem... Leopard geckos need a humid hide to shed in, otherwise they can have some issues. If she needs to shed, it doesn't sound humid enough for her to do so, so she is probably very uncomfortable right now.
If you don't want to buy a "fancy" hide from the pet store, you can make your own by cutting a hole in a little tupperware container and filling it with damp Eco Earth. Here are some instructions on how to make one:
Humid Hide Instructions
To help her shed, you can give her a "bath" by letting her waddle around in some slightly warm shallow water. My bearded dragon LOVES his baths, especially when he sheds.
If you don't want to buy a "fancy" hide from the pet store, you can make your own by cutting a hole in a little tupperware container and filling it with damp Eco Earth. Here are some instructions on how to make one:
Humid Hide Instructions
To help her shed, you can give her a "bath" by letting her waddle around in some slightly warm shallow water. My bearded dragon LOVES his baths, especially when he sheds.
That doesn't necessarily mean it will go perfectly again.
You wouldn't want her to lose a toe or worse to retained shed. 40% humidity is pretty low for a leo to shed in.Do you know for sure she is a female? She could be gravid. Since you don't have a lay box/humid hide, it's very possible that she could be searching for a place to lay eggs (with any female lizard, your REALLY need to have a lay box present in their cage so they don't become egg bound). A lot of lizards won't eat when they are about to lay eggs too.
Do you have any kind of temperature gradient in your cage? There needs to be a hot and a cool side, with a 10-15*F difference between the two sides. Hot side should be around 90*F, and the cool side should be around 75*F. Also, if you are using a dial or stick on thermometer, throw it out. Honestly, those are crap. Digital thermometers or infared temperature guns are really the only accurate thermometers.
Before you take her to the vet, there are a few things you need to fix with her set-up. From my experience, 90% of the time that someone has a "sick" lizard, it's because they don't have the right set-up for it, and having the proper temperatures, hides, ect. can make a world of a difference.
Do you have any kind of temperature gradient in your cage? There needs to be a hot and a cool side, with a 10-15*F difference between the two sides. Hot side should be around 90*F, and the cool side should be around 75*F. Also, if you are using a dial or stick on thermometer, throw it out. Honestly, those are crap. Digital thermometers or infared temperature guns are really the only accurate thermometers.
Before you take her to the vet, there are a few things you need to fix with her set-up. From my experience, 90% of the time that someone has a "sick" lizard, it's because they don't have the right set-up for it, and having the proper temperatures, hides, ect. can make a world of a difference.
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!