leo won’t eat | Leopard Geckos | Page 1

jolly fossil May 4, 2023, 2:15 AM

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i have tried to get my leo to eat the last few days, it’s been 3 days now, previous owners did not give much info on how her enclosure was set up (which side was warm/cool) not to mention there are 2 humid hides and 1 regular hide on each end of enclosure. we first assumed the left side was the cool side (her food, calcium + water was there) but then noticed she was trying to bask on a hide on that side (pictured) so we swapped warm side over to that side, but then she wouldn’t touch her calcium OR water. so finally we placed it on the other side, and she’s basking over there, so i think we got it set up right.
but she just won’t eat? tried mealworms + dubias + crickets and she wouldn’t chase them down OR feed from tongs, so we left a dubia and a few mealworms in her bowl to see if maybe she was used to bowl feeding, but she didn’t touch them. we even tried putting her in a separate “feeding enclosure” to see if maybe she was used to being taken out to eat.
i’m not sure when she was fed last but i’m very nervous as she will not accept crickets either? id think at this point she’d be hungry 😦
we are in the process of setting up a vet appointment but they have not returned either of our calls.
i’m also wondering if she is not eating because we may not have her enclosure set up how it was set up with her previous owners?

west hawk May 4, 2023, 2:35 AM

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Hello! wave You mentioned previous owners, how recently did you get her? And how old is she?

jolly fossil May 4, 2023, 2:36 AM

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west hawk Hello! <a:wave:795815690103554079> You mentioned previous owners, how recently d...

got her 4 days ago, she is a 3 yrs old 😁

west hawk May 4, 2023, 2:39 AM

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So my first thought is that she is in a new environment. It is very common for new leopard geckos to not eat when you first get them. Their entire environment changing is stressful to them, mine didn't eat for a little over 2 weeks when I first brought her home.

Since she is an adult, they will eat less than a baby gecko (adults are fed 1-2 times a week) and are fine not eating for a bit. I would just watch her to make sure she's not losing any weight rapidly- weigh her and keep an eye on her visibly.

I would recommend against taking her out of her enclosure and putting her in a feeding enclosure. This is also stressful to them. Continue offering food and let her settle in, and she should start eating soon. The vet visit is also a good idea for any new leo, so I would go forward with that.

jolly fossil May 4, 2023, 2:42 AM

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west hawk So my first thought is that she is in a new environment. It is very common for n...

yeah we didn’t want to have to take her out but once day 3 came we were pretty nervous 😦 for now we’re just letting her do her thing. we are also waiting a few weeks to clean her enclosure + move some stuff around as her whole enclosure could use a good scrub, we just don’t want to stress her out too much despair

west hawk May 4, 2023, 2:44 AM

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Letting her do her thing sounds good! I understand the worry of her not eating though, I've been through that a few times. She should be settling in very soon though.

#leo won’t eat