I am needing help

Hi everyone. I just received a Lepord gecko that is 1 to 1.5 years old and he will not eat. He spits out his food. The previous owner said that he is blind so you have to hand feed him. I have tried all different kinds of insects, but he just spits them out. I have been feeding him grub pie and reptiboost and he seems to like it. I just don’t know how much I need to get into him for him to actually gain more weight right now he weighs 68 g. he has three heights one is his human height and the other two are his heights to feel safe. He has 100 W Arcadia heating light and a UVB that I’m going to be changing out to an Arcadia. He is in a 40 gallon EXO terra and on paper towels, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

3 Likes

Hello @olivia2326 Olivia! Welcome to forum family! Did you ask the former owner what they had been feeding him? Keeping him on paper towels is a good idea. I do know that leopards need to be kept on surfaces that are smooth.

I’m going to tag @mblaney. She is a leopard expert. Good luck with your new little guy and we love pictures. Also what is his name? :heart::pray:

2 Likes

Thanks and his name is chuck and yes I did ask the previous owner and he still won’t let me feed him

3 Likes

So how exactly is he eating the grub pie and the reptiboost?

2 Likes

It is in a slurry and put it in a small dropper and feed it to him that way

3 Likes

I just don’t know how to now how much he needs or how I can tell on the dropper

2 Likes

Well imho that may be the way you are going to have to feed him now own if in fact he is blind and can’t hunt crickets, etc

Do you have a picture of him we could see?

2 Likes

Right know I’m not home but have a video of him when he was with his first owner

3 Likes

It won’t let me put the video in here

3 Likes

I think you have to post it on YouTube first for some reason?

2 Likes

3 Likes

I figured it out. Is that a good picture?

3 Likes

Yes the picture is good! His body is slender but he is tall is quite chubby. He may be a tad overweight but I am not a gecko expert! :joy: But it looks like you are doing a great job with Chuck!

Let me tag someone else and hopefully they will see this post @autumngeckos.

But Mr Chuck looks fine to me! :blush:

1 Like

How long have you had him? Im no leo-expert, but i know it’s common for them to need time to settle in, and that time might be prolonged if you bother them too much at first, so maybe give him a week where you leave him completely alone before you start offering again? Based on what i know about leos his body condition looks good, so he should be absolutely fine not eating for a little while. If that doesn’t help, someone with more experience could maybe help you go through your setup to make sure heating and such is optimal :blush:

2 Likes

I have him for 9 days

2 Likes

Thank you. Do you know anyone else that is a leopard gecko expert. I message the person that you put in one of the comments and they said that they are not able to help me because of health reasons

2 Likes

I’m not sure what this means.

His temps are most likely too cold. Leos will not eat when it’s too cool because it would kill them. They. cannot digest without adequate external heat.

Grub Pie can be prepared like jello by following the instructions on the container. Then you feed the chunks via tongs. Force feeding via syringe is not appropriate long term in almost all cases.

In order to get his weight, you need to take a pic directly from above that shows his tail and body clearly. He looks very slightly underweight but it’s not possible to tell from that picture.

Here’s what I sent via DM:

Being blind isn’t an issue for leopard geckos so long as the issue that caused the blindness is resolved (poor nutrition, infection, etc.). Just make sure there are zero sharp edges or corners that he might run into. Don’t move the cage furniture or decor around, so he can learn where everything is and walk around more easily. Do not leave uneaten crickets in the tank. Do not have anything too high for climbing as he’s more likely to fall and hurt himself. Either bowl-feed or tong feed.

Stop feeding reptiboost, it is not meant to be used for anything other than short-term for sick geckos as a supplement. It’s not suitable for use as a diet. Grub Pie is essentially a complete diet. 70% of what my geckos eat is Grub Pie via tong feeding. I also feed silkworms, hornworms, occasional dubia roaches, and another brand of prepared food made by Gargeer.

Here is some info:

68 grams is a fine weight for a Normal-sized gecko. A Super Giant morph might be too skinny at that weight, but I wouldn’t be concerned in your case.

I don’t have time to go over every aspect of husbandry, but temperature is the key when it comes to not eating. Leos will not eat when it’s too cold because they will die if they do- they won’t be able to digest. They are dependent on external heat to run their metabolism. Get a temperature gun so that you can accurately tell what the temperatures are on both the hot and cool side of his enclosure.

I don’t think Arcadia bulbs put off any heat, but i’m not sure & haven’t used that brand. The hot end should be 88F- 90F, the cool end should be ~76*F. Make sure you check the temperatures. In general I recommend using paper towel or slate as a substrate and using an under-tank heater (UTH, attached to the bottom of the tank). Don’t use sand.

I feed most of my geckos their Grub Pie until they are full ~every 5 days, but some need more often and some less. It’s not possible for me to tell you an exact amount because every gecko is different when it comes to metabolism. Watch the weight of you little guy and feed him according to what he needs.

also @olivia2326 please don’t discuss my health on the public forum without asking me first. You need to be patient when asking for advice that requires lengthy explanations. I usually don’t give advice anymore because of my negative experiences doing so, but I can’t control who tags me.

5 Likes

@mblaney I think it was supposed to say he has 3 hides. A humid hide, and the other hides that are normal hides

Also if a similar situation comes up we’re advice is needed should I tag you? I don’t want to if you would prefer not.

@olivia2326 A lot of us are open about medical issues but DO NOT say anything about anyone’s health whatsoever unless they have stated otherwise.

Also only 9 days? My (brother’s) gecko went over a month without eating when we got her and everything was fine. What makes you think he is blind?

3 Likes
Don’t want to hijack the thread

I don’t want to hijack the thread, but the short version is that I have mixed feelings about it. I’m ok being tagged so long as people know I might not respond. Same with DMs. After some people being really disrespectful on other threads I decided that I just don’t have the energy to put 30 minutes into a response when I know it might not be appreciated and I might just get nasty responses. It takes a long time for me to type because of my CRPS, so it takes forever for me to type out lengthy responses and it’s a considerable time commitment.

5 Likes

My leo had some eye issues that were caused by a lack of the proper form of Vit A, and they resolved after I found him proper supplementation. Unless you know why this guy is blind, I’d also make sure he isn’t showing signs of low Vit A (for me this included poor sheds, stuff sheds around the vent, and hemipene impaction)

2 Likes