Leo Acting Strange

[slender reef]

My leopard gecko (F) is acting weird; She's moving her head around as if she's dizzy or had woken up from a bad dream. She is licking her reptile carpet which has a bit of calcium dust on it; should I give her a calcium bowl? She already seems to have calcium pits (fat armpits) so I'm avoiding giving her too much calcium. She also MAY have eggs (I've provided a picture) but I'm not too sure, and I don't know what to do :(
She is fine at the moment, but it's still worrying.

For more information, my leopard gecko is almost 5 years old and I've had her for 2 years. Her behavior has been normal but only this year she has become a little worrying.
She has been eating regularly, which is 1 Superworm almost every day. I'm aware they should be fed around 3-5 worms every 3-4 days, but she wont eat more than 1 worm in a sitting. I believe this may be my fault or its either her habit, I'm not sure if this is wrong of me.
I'm not sure if she currently has eggs or not, but she was fine the previous year I've had her.
I also have not been monitoring her weight, which I probably should do.
I also do not have any exotic vets to take her to in my area; the closest one would be a 2 hour drive from where I live.

I'd like some advice on my leopard gecko care, and if my gecko is okay or not and if she is not, I'd love to know what I can do to help her.
Thank you :)

[thick karma]

if youd like some advice in gecko care, please do start by reading the !guide

[lyric kelp]

Server: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dqOLe1bY2IG5ZZ_N7vWGD3xyFubJ_RHS/view?usp=sharing

[thick karma]

^^link owo

could you possibly send a photo of your full set up for her and tell us what heating method youre using? itll definitely help us in telling you what we think could help in the long run.

a top down picture of her can also help us discern whether her armpit bubbles are a supplement or weight issue

but from how im seeing her, she doesnt actually have visible bubbles there

[slender reef]

whats a bubbles

[thick karma]

nqa since shes an adult, our recommended schedule is actually 4-6 feeders once or twice a week. it may explain why shes eating so little

[thick karma]

armpit fat

she doesnt really have it

[slender reef]

is my feeding method wrong? :<

i think i got her into the habit of eating the way she does

but at the same time im afraid to starve her while tryna get to the normal feeding schedule

[slender reef]

her heating method is a simple heat mat

i can set the temperature of it

[thick karma]

nqa theres nothing inherently wrong with 1 feeder almost every day but its kind of unorthodox

seriously dont worry about her starving though. and the feeding is not the biggest issue

[slender reef]

i can get a pic of her full setup

[thick karma]

that would be wonderful

[slender reef]

whats nqa?

and whats unorthodox

what does that mean xd

sorry i not smort

[thick karma]

nqa means not qualified advice

i dont have the specific "qualified advice" role so basically i have to make sure any advice i give is marked with it

basically im not a leopard gecko expert XD

but if anything i say to you is wrong, someone will come and correct me and help you out. ill just be repeating information from the server guide

[thick karma]

unorthodox means weird or not common

[slender reef]

i tried getting picturesss

her enclosure is approx 20 gallons, im not too sure its an old fish tank

also is her heat too cold? the thingy inside her tank says its 23 degrees

celcius btw

oh she also only eats superworms, she wont eat wax worms and she doesnt like crickets, i heard dubia roaches are good but we dont have them in canada :(

meal worms* not wax worms

lmao she loves waxworms but ik she cant have them as a diet

[thick karma]

interesting set up 👀 it actually looks like a 20 gallon high or something. which means the dimensions for the tank are smaller than ideal unfortunately

[slender reef]

oh gee

im hoping to move her into a wider enclosure

[thick karma]

we usually recommend 36x18x18 which is the equivalent of a 40 gallon

[slender reef]

we do have one, its just stored somewhere

oh 40

[thick karma]

so when you do get a new tank for her, you need to invest in something thats around a 40 gallon size

yeah

nqa a small tank is pretty stressful for geckos which causes a plethora of weird behaviours

its good that you have a lot of decor though

[slender reef]

id love to upgrade her tank someday, and have a bioactive setup for her, but my parents arent too fond of that

[thick karma]

neither are mine :[

[slender reef]

im only 16, i do have the money to upgrade her setup but my parents arent allowing me to spend any, especially when the cost of new enclosures are sorta expensive

oh but i believe shes very happy, previously she was living in a small bin forthe first 2 years of her life

she has a lot more space now :)

she was owned to a breeder, but was never bred, she was just a pet

[thick karma]

you never really know. geckos only know "i am safe" and "i am stressed". better than nothing doesnt mean its necessarily good

[slender reef]

well id hope shes happy :(

i cant do much rn

[thick karma]

but to answer the original question, geckos lick things to smell or get a sense of their environment. she was licking calcium to self supplement. regularly youd need to provide a little bottle cap or something of calcium without d3

[slender reef]

oh gee, without d3?

[thick karma]

yeay

[slender reef]

i do have a little cap for her ready, i just wasnt sure if i should give it to her

also i never knew the licking thing, thats very neat D

:D*

[thick karma]

i know you can't do much, but you can definitely change the carpet out

[slender reef]

oh i knew it, this one does have d3

[thick karma]

reptile carpet is really bad for these guys

[slender reef]

oh :(

[thick karma]

if you want a solid substrate thats easy to clean, just put down some paper towel

[slender reef]

i know reptile carpet isnt ideal

but ig its more appealing

[thick karma]

yeah but it tears out their claws as it gets more frayed and harbours a ton of bacteria

trust me

i work at petsmart

i wash the reptile carpet every week

its disgusting

[slender reef]

do you think i could use cocoa fibre? its the stuff i got in her lay box thingy

[thick karma]

cocofiber is too loose for them, itd get in her little lungs too easy 😦

[slender reef]

oh no :(

what would i use?

because i know they would prefer loose substrate, right?

[thick karma]

if you dont want paper towel and have the money and control, you can go to home depot and get additive free topsoil and playsand and make a 70/30 mix

or if youre not allowed to do that, you can order something called arcadia earthmix arid online and use that

[slender reef]

ohh ive heard of that

[thick karma]

hi peachy

[digital condor]

with a heatmat you wont be able to use loose sub

[thick karma]

do yall wanna handle this

[slender reef]

oh

[dim anchor]

You’re doin great xia faith got what I wanted to say

[digital condor]

ye ur good xia :)

[slender reef]

this is what i got for calcium and supplements

[thick karma]

[dim anchor]

So both of those are essentially calcium with d3 in them

I also wanna just !shoppinglist

[lyric kelp]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zW8Nq-6wF5ZAeq7j4cE7Bwa9EpXqKhIX/view?usp=sharing

[dim anchor]

So you guys have that

[thick karma]

calcium plus is an mv isnt it?

[dim anchor]

This has everything you need for your little Leo and has a Canada section

[slender reef]

is d3 bad? i forgot why i needed specfically d3 because i remember i diddd

[dim anchor]

To my knowledge it’s a mv mixed with d3

[slender reef]

she doesnt have uvb lighting

[dim anchor]

You do want d3 but you don’t want to only be dusting with d3 if that makes sense

[slender reef]

ohh

so if i had calcium and the all in one thing id be good?

orrr no

i havent done any research in a long while

[dim anchor]

Let me double check on that but I would pick up a pure calcium

[slender reef]

im gonna make a list for me

[thick karma]

nqa theoretically you want calcium with no d3, calcium with d3, and a multivitamin with no d3

[dim anchor]

The server guide and the shopping list will be your best friends

[thick karma]

nqa all multivitamins have a small amount of d3 but calcium plus has more than that

[twilit kindle]

wait does repashy calcium+ have d3

[thick karma]

yes

YES

[twilit kindle]

aw fuck ok then

[thick karma]

cal did you not know

[twilit kindle]

time to make a trip to the pet store

[slender reef]

is this the shopping list

[twilit kindle]

NO BC MY VET GAVE IT TO ME!

[thick karma]

ye :]

[thick karma]

find a new vet omg

[slender reef]

yey oki :>

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUUUCH

[thick karma]

yeee

[twilit kindle]

I very much did

[dim anchor]

https://www.reddit.com/r/leopardgeckos/comments/uq9rtg/psa_repashy_calcium_plus_and_similar_supplements/

For those using it this was posted a few months ago

[slender reef]

<333 really appreciate the help

[thick karma]

also if you live near vancouver by chance.... i work at a petsmart close to there and can give you a discount i guess

[slender reef]

nah im not thattt far west

also, hows working at petsmart like? i may consider applying to work at one here

[twilit kindle]

xia if I travel from New Jersey to Vancouver can I get that discount /j

[slender reef]

theyre hiring :)

and i need a job :(

[thick karma]

i mean

you can

[digital condor]

no

[thick karma]

but dont work in petcare

[slender reef]

gecko :3

her name is spug btw :DD

[thick karma]

if youre absolutely desperate for a job, you can work at petsmart as a cashier or stocker. do not. absolutely do not under any circumstances make the same mistake i did and work with the animals

[thick karma]

spug is an incredible name

[slender reef]

oh? why not animol :<

[thick karma]

its hell

its depressing

[slender reef]

.

[thick karma]

they die

and get injured everyday

[slender reef]

....

[thick karma]

protocol makes you neglect the animals

[slender reef]

i mean its a pet store

[thick karma]

you cant do anything

youre in charge of selling animals to people who clearly dont give a shit about them

[slender reef]

pet stores 😍

damn

[thick karma]

so anyway for the sake of your own mental health, just dont.

[slender reef]

i was just hoping i could give people actually good advice on pet care

but thank you ill keep that in mind and avoid it xd

[thick karma]

haha good luck with that

you can try

you wont be able to find many people who will listen or care

[slender reef]

my mindset is very cupcakes and rainbows, i dont consider the bad stuff :<

[twilit kindle]

xia you have single handedly convinced me not to do it (yes that’s positive bc I made the choice myself) and saved me from mental baggage I appreciate that frfr especially after seeing my local pet store employees true colors and how animals are treated

[thick karma]

im glad

ill continue to suffer so no one else on this server has to

[twilit kindle]

my local petco is actually really great with their temporary setups but I’m sure it’s just as shit

The leos are in 20 longs and only one per enclosure

[slender reef]

i guess i wont be working at a pet store

[thick karma]

the enclosures in the front look great i bet

wait til you see the quarantine rooms

[digital condor]

once you learn proper animal husbandry standards then when you see pet store standards it will genuinely make you feel ill

[twilit kindle]

y e a h

[thick karma]

mmm i love 24 hamsters jammed into a rack of 6 tubs

[twilit kindle]

I haven’t gone to a zoo in years and I shudder every time I think about going to one

I think I’d just be sad instead of delighted

[thick karma]

some zoos do it well

the local aquarium used to be nonprofit. enclosures for the animals are still great but obviously prices have all shot up due to covid

[twilit kindle]

with what I remember of my local one…..no……

I can’t bring myself to go

[slender reef]

what can i do about my gecko's eating habits?
again she only eats superworms and i feed her one almost every day

i know they need variety but she dont like variety

[thick karma]

she just needs to get used to it

get a pack of mealworms

and dont feed her for a few days

i promise you wont be starving her

[dim anchor]

she's an adult she'll be fine

[slender reef]

i mean she did go over 4 months without eating at some point

and thats her not eating, ofc i was trying to feed her :(

[dim anchor]

are you allowed crickets / roaches in your house

i know some people don't allow them so tis why i ask

[slender reef]

i dunno about roaches but crickets yes

we've tried keeping crickets but my idiot self didnt know how to care for them so they died

[dim anchor]

i'd get some crickets and mealworms and also another as supers aren't the best in terms of nutritional values

[slender reef]

i still have the bin with their corpses

[dim anchor]

well you're here now and we have people here who can help with that lol

[slender reef]

she has tried trickets, i kept her with a friend for two weeks bc i was away and my friend had fed her crickets and she loved them apparently

but then I try to feed her crickets and she pretends like shes never had them before >:(

[dim anchor]

[thick karma]

LMAO

[slender reef]

trickets xd

omg she sent me a video and it was so adorable, she was chasing after the cricket

[dim anchor]

i just realized you're in canada so roaches may not be readily avaliable-

[slender reef]

yea

[dim anchor]

in that case you could try bsfl

[slender reef]

whats a bsfl

[dim anchor]

they're commonly sold as phoenixworms / calciworms in stores

[thick karma]

black soldier fly larvae

[dim anchor]

black solider fly larvae- but they're a good staple

[slender reef]

funy fly larvae

[thick karma]

theyre an acquired taste

bex hates them now

[slender reef]

are they expensive? :<

[dim anchor]

plus they can be fun for the gecko to hunt

[thick karma]

nope

petsmart has em

[slender reef]

would i find them at-

thanks

xd

okay ill keep that in mind

adding that to my list

ima tell my dad later to help me with this stuff, bc hes the one who gets me everything bc i cant really buy anything myself atm

oh btw is glass surfing necessarily a bad thing? my gecko used to do it quite often

[dim anchor]

glass surfing can be a result of a few things including stress

sometimes they're fucking idiots sometimes it means somethin is wrong

[slender reef]

but ive learned that she does it sometimes bc she doesnt like the light at 4am because she lives in this room where me and my brother game on our computers

[dim anchor]

🔫 turn the light off stinky

their tank should basically be dark inside of it you shouldn't be able to really see inside it at night

[slender reef]

wahh

ill turn off her light

[dim anchor]

they need a day and night cycle

12 hours on and 12 hours off

[slender reef]

yea

12 hours?? 😭

[dim anchor]

like the sun

it ain't up for 24 hours of the day except maybe in alaska but we don't count that

[slender reef]

the sun in canada is kinda fucked up rn

[thick karma]

what

[slender reef]

sun rises at idk what time but it sets at 4:30pm

[thick karma]

where tf are you, yukon??

thats just

normal

[slender reef]

no its just winter and we jUST moved our clocks an hour back! 😭

hGGGFuhrjkg

[dim anchor]

This is how it supposed to look

[slender reef]

.

[digital condor]

thats why you make a schedule with ideally a timer for a heat lamp and lighting

[slender reef]

hshshs

[thick karma]

if you cant get the lights off, throw a towel over the tank

[slender reef]

okay wait

ill try something bc me and my brother still need some light lol

[dim anchor]

Do what xia suggested then lol

If you need the light for whatever reason just make her tank dark with a towel or a blanket until you guys are done in there

[thick karma]

i custom made my stupid gecko a black curtain that i velcro to the glass because im a degenerate and stay up late

[twilit kindle]

I used to cover my geckos tank with a blanket on holidays bc we would set off fireworks and he hated the lights

It worked like a charm

he wasn’t stressed anymore

[thick karma]

stupid

[dim anchor]

the trio are luckily far enough away from the computer screens to where it doesn't really bother their tanks anymore

[slender reef]

is this better? i promise the lava lap isnt that bright my phone camera is just ass
also her enclosure is behind the chair its just bLoCKIng iT in the picture >: ((

actually u can see it

its darker in person i swear

dhgghghhd

[thick karma]

just get a towel lol

[slender reef]

its not dark enough still?? D:

[digital condor]

it should be complete darkness

[slender reef]

fr??

damn

to the point where i cant see her?

[digital condor]

speaking from experience if i dont towel my geckos enclosure if i have a light on she will glass surf and become pretty stressed

messing with the circadian rhythm is not good for their physical and mental wellbeing

[slender reef]

should i just get a towel-

err

ill go find something

my lazy ass

[digital condor]

yeah

[slender reef]

ok it took me forever to find something that would work nicely but i found a dark pink towel, i didnt wanna use something bright bc someone said they used a black one earlier or sumthin

i also wanted to ask, when should i turn off the lights and give her towel? when it turns to night?

and i wake up late so she gonna be in the dark for a bit

but to be fair this room is never that bright anyways, unless we got the light on

like not much natural sunlight

[dim anchor]

Mmm for example my lights turn on at 8 am and turn off at 8 pm :0 (mine are on a timer so they’re automatic) also if I may ask what kind of light is that on top? Just a table light?

[slender reef]

yea just a simple table lamp

xd it works

8am to 8pm makes very much sense

but the room im in cannot be pitch black during the time we're in here

ill come up with something
i did find a towel for her, and the lighting the room currently is at is good for me and my brother rn
and i can just ask my dad to take off the towel and turn on her light bc he wakes up early

i think i can make it work :D

[slender reef]

hey if anyone is still here, once i get calcium without d3, should i leave the cap in her tank even if her armpits are fatttt? what can i do about that? :(

[thick karma]

can you take a picture of her from the top? we need to figure out whether she has armpit fat because shes overweight or if its because shes being oversupplemented

[slender reef]

i can do that tomorrow, i rather not distorb her rn
if i remember to

and while i do that i can check her weight

[slender reef]

i got some pictures, i weighed her and now she in da time out box while i replace her carpet :p
i put towel over box so she can chill out lol

oh i looked at my notes i took when i bought her from person, her average weight was apparently 45 grams but she has been around 60, i think shes fAT

doesnt help that she only eats superworms

hopefully i can get her some mealworms soon, i just texted my dad asking if he can quickly grab some after work

[thick karma]

jesus yeah shes kinda fat

nqa so the supplementing isnt an issue, its rather a weight issue. you should just be feeding her 1-2 times a week then. at that point she'd be able to drop weight

mealworms are also on the fattier side but theyre a good start on getting her away from superworms

id get a few crickets for her to try

[slender reef]

im gonna start wif meal worms

she funy lookin

i got the paper towel in and i cleaned some stuffs, her water bowl aint got water in it yet
the paper towel looks like snow :D
more wintery :p

she moving around a lot, i hope she likes it :D

my dad is coming home with the new calcium and mealworms btw :)

oh i did talk to my mom about a larger tank, we found a crappy one on facebook marketplace but its too tall, so we might get a brand new one for christmas

so it will be a while until i can upgrade her enclosure

[digital condor]

ah thats great your parents were receptive to needing a larger enclosure

[slender reef]

well i didnt really get to talk to my dad about it, but i hope i can get her a bigger enclosure

but i made my mom worry, she said we dont really have the money to spend on spug rn :(

especially a new enclosure, but once we get her a 40 i dont think ill need to upgrade it anytime soon, unless i decide to in the future

[digital condor]

you could make a bin enclosure, unfortunately it wouldnt be suitable for uvb usage so it would have to be temporary but for the time being it could work,,
message with links to proper sized bins
#enclosure-building message

[slender reef]

i got da calcium, is this good? well i didnt get it my dad did lol

[thick karma]

ye!!!

[slender reef]

yay :D

what should i do with my old calcium and reptile carpet now? :< throw it away??

[dim anchor]

the calcium with d3 you can keep !

!supplement

[lyric kelp]

Supplements are a necessary part of a leopard gecko's (or most any captive herp's) diet. In the wild, they would be eating a wide variety of prey, and that prey would be eating a wide variety of foods itself. In captivity, there's no way to replicate this perfectly, which is why offering supplements and as varied of a diet as possible is crucial in preventing deficiencies and illness.

The exact schedule you use for supplements will depend on your individual animal, its age, and your feeding schedule. However, a good place to start is by picking up some calcium, calcium + D3, and multivitamins. If you use UVB, you will likely not need a D3 supplement since UVB allows reptiles to produce their own D3. This takes the guessing game out of how much D3 to provide (they can overdose on it) since they will regulate their exposure and D3 levels themselves. D3 is needed to use calcium in the body, so animals will become calcium deficient without D3. Additionally, make sure any calcium supplements you use are phosphorus free since they generally get enough phosphorus in their diet, and too much will cause a calcium deficiency.

Fluker's Calcium + D3 https://bit.ly/39lMQ9d
ZooMed's ReptiCalcium with D3 https://bit.ly/3f7lHdS
Fluker's Calcium (no D3) https://bit.ly/3ntLUpD
ZooMed's ReptiCalcium (no D3) https://bit.ly/2wrkeN0
RepCal Calcium (no D3) https://bit.ly/35DMY4u
Repashy Calcium Plus Multivitamin https://bit.ly/39kqVPu
RepCal Herpivite Multivitamin https://amzn.to/3lBo4rK
ZooMed Reptivite Multivitamin https://amzn.to/38NMQRL
Fluker's Repta Vitamin Multivitamin https://amzn.to/3lC8TON

If you'd like to learn more about how to assess supplement brands, here's a good article from Reptifiles: https://reptifiles.com/reptile-vitamins-reptile-calcium/

If you'd like to learn more about how reptiles use D3, here's an article from Arcadia: https://www.arcadiareptile.com/d3-cycle/

Example supplementation schedules:
http://bit.ly/3cpFcyO

[dim anchor]

there are example dusting schedules at the bottom :o!

[slender reef]

ohh

ohkay

ohh so dont dust with every feed?

wait no

because im not feeding her every day

[digital condor]

every feeding should be dusted but you will use a rotation of supplements

[dim anchor]

soo for example (all 3 of my leos follow the same schedule) here is my little princess shortcake's tracker. My leos eat every 5 days sooo -every 4th meal is dusted with multivitamin, they get d3 once a month and every other feeding is dusted with pure calcium

they didn't get anything dusted today tho cus apricot got some boobies

[slender reef]

thats a neat lookin schedule thing, how did u make it?

[dim anchor]

google sheets 😄 i have a template i've shared for others

[slender reef]

so i tried explaining to my dad why i need a 40 gallon and hes not really fond of the idea
he says what does she do anyways? she only sleeps
okay, but like.. its as if shes living in a bedroom, to living into a house
he says we dont have the space for a 40 gallon or the money
he finds it unnecessary but idk how to explain it to him that it is necessary :(
if i could buy one with my money i would, but i know they wouldnt let me
i wish i could just spend my money on spug, i wanna get her the better heating and loose substrate and a larger tank, i did plan to do this whenever my parents would let me spend my money, which is when i move out ig :/
i was hoping her current setup would hold up until i could do all that, which would be maybe 2 years, i dunno
i want to give spug the best life and the best of everything, i want to see her in 15 years still
but idk if we can upgrade her tank
though, if i could move her stuff to the other 20 gallon we have stored in my grandparent's garage, could that work until i can get her a 40 gallon myself?
it would be bigger than her current enclosure

my mom doesnt mind the idea, but its my dad whos working and buying everything, and if my dad says we cant get it then i cant get her a 40 gallon
but hopefully sooner than 2 years