Recent Feedback
Hi my son has leopard gecko for 5 weeks now.We were told that he was about 7 months when he got it.Our problem is that he can't hunt for his food.He won't eat crickets or meal worms but will eat morio worms(5 to 6 every 2 days).If we leave one down he will get it but only after several attempts his aim is way off.What can we do to get him to eat other things.We got rid of sand as substrate last week and have bought a ceramic floor tile to use but at the moment we are using paper towels.
Hello,
I am so happy you have removed the sand! That was excellent.
If you look at the eyes do they look dark?
Does it look like the eyes have some covering over the eyes?
Any discharge?
Joan
Hi no discharge ,nothing covering them and kids say eyes look greeny brown .
There may be an issue due the sand substrate. The sand sold in the Pet shops are actually not safe. It can cause intestinal impaction, skin problems and Corneal Ulcers in the eyes.
This shows the X rays: http://www.herpcenter.com/leopard-gecko-sand-impaction-xrays.html I suggest cage carpet, tile, paper or a non stick shelf liner for the bottom of the tank.
What I suspect you may be seeing is retained shed in the eye or eye caps. To help get the retained shed you will need to give her some nice warm soaks in a container with warm water at least once a day. If there are retained eye caps a Herp Vet will need to remove them.
This link shows whart can happen if the eye caps are not removed by a Herp Vet: http://www.azeah.com/Care-Sheets.asp?id=117 This can account for the Leo not being being able to see the prey very well and missing when hunting.
I suggest using some plain saline eye drops without preservative to also help keep the retained shed soft. This is a link for Herp Vets that includes the UK and Ireland: http://www.livefoods.co.uk/Vets.php
I do want to recommend using a slurry of chicken baby food and calcium powder dropped on the snout as a supplemental feeding for the Leo.
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Hi I will do the baths etc and if baths don't help will bring him to a vet.In the meantime can gecko survive on morio worms?
You can use a small shallow container and just may the water come midway up the legs. The soaks only need to be 5-8 mins so he get the humidity from the soak. I usually will put the soak container in the sink incase they get out.
You can also add a mosit hide to the tank.
You can make your own humid hide box from a small plastic shoe box or from a margarine conatiner. Cut a hole in one end of the container and place moist paper towel inside it. The humid box should be cleaned out every week and re moistened. A humid hide box is needed so that the gecko can go in it when it needs to shed. The humidity helps the old skin come off.
Hopefully the moist hide and the soaks will add enough humidity to help the eye caps come off. Joan
Experience: I have been doing Reptile Rescues for 15+ Years