AboutTracie Kretzschmar Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to health, UVB specifics, overall husbandry care & supplementation, analysis of blood test results, and behavioral problems & handling. I can answer questions pertaining to bearded dragons, leopard geckos, iguanas, uromastyx & ball pythons.
I can answer adeno virus related questions in bearded dragons, & then specifically about the testing methods as well. I am beginning an Pogona Adeno Testing Society in 2008 which will help to begin to start some standardization within the bearded dragon colonies of the breeders who choose to test.
Experience I have been working with bearded dragons for over 5 years now, as well as leopard geckos, too. I am currently doing rescues, as well. I hope to be able to educate people prior to them purchasing an exotic pet in order to avoid any health crisis with them.
Education/Credentials I have a master's degree in sports medicine & physiology, & 1 year of vet tech schooling, & am currently working on a reptile certification through the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.
Question QUESTION: We have a leopard gecko that is about 18 months old. She used to eat crickets by the handful, then about 3 months ago, she stopped and started eating wax and meal worms. She would eat those like crazy as well. About a month ago, she stopped eating as much. In the past two weeks, it doesn't seem like she has eaten anything. Her tail is still rather thick, but she moves a lot slower and it seems more difficult for her. The tip of her nose appears moist.
ANSWER: Hello Dana,
Can you post a picture of your gecko? :-))
Sometimes they tend to have a change of preference from time to time on their feeders for some reason. I think they just get bored.
Are you dusting her feeders with calcium regularly?
Do you have a dish of calcium powder in her tank so she can lick some powder when she needs it?
What is your setup like? Do you have an undertank heater being used in combination with a low wattage basking bulb?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels?
Tracie
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QUESTION: My husband used to dust the crickets with calcium, but I am not sure how regularly. I don't think he has done that since she switched to wax worms and maybe a while before that. Didn't know we should put a dish of calcium powder in her tank. We have a basking bulb set on the top of the screen on one side of her tank and a tank heater stuck to the back of her tank behind her rock hut. We have a dish of meal worms or wax worms and a water dispenser. She also has another rock on the side of the tank where the bulb is. We have been using sand since we got her about 18 months ago. We were told to use this by the reptile guy at petco.
It sounds like we may be doing a few things incorrectly, but where should we start to get her healthy? My husband says she hasn't eaten in 3-4 weeks.
ANSWER: Hello Dana,
If possible take the tank heater from off of the back of the tank & place it underneath the tank for better heating for her. They need belly heat to digest their food better.
Just to rule out any impaction issues, go ahead & take out the sand for now. You can use non adhesive shelf liner, felt, paper towels for now.
You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun so you can check to see what the temps are. She needs a basking area or a hot area of around 88-90 or so, with a cooler end of around 78-82.
Yeah you can dust her feeders several times per week as well as provide a small dish of calcium in the tank in case she needs some extra. I would throw in some D3 every so often as well.
If she is not eating, go ahead & get some chicken or turkey babyfood for now & try to get her to eat. Use a plastic syringe or plastic dropper & drip it onto the end of her nose & she should start to lick some of it off of the end of her nose. That will get some nourishement into her right now. You can mix the calcium in with the babyfood too for now.
Let me know how she is doing.
Tracie
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QUESTION: Thanks so much for your help. We got her some reptile emergency food (repta-aid) from a pet store that has a powder you mix with water and use a syringe to feed her. I followed the directions. She did eat a bit of it. Hopefully she will pick up a little.
One thing we noticed today is that over the past 24 hours, she has been losing her color a lot. She is very pale. She just shed her skin about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks ago. She also has a very moist nose. It almost looks like a respiratory problem. Is this possible in a leo?
Answer Hello Dana,
Well, respiratory infections are not real common in leopard geckos, but they can happen if she is not warm enough or if the overall tank is too humid.
Did you get the undertank heater moved to under the tank instead of placed on the side? That will help quite a bit with her temperatures because the heat will radiate up from underneath of her.
It sounds like she is going to shed again. Sometimes, they tend to shed quite a bit.
The repta aid should help her out. That is great you got some of it into her already too.
Continue to feed her daily in that manner right now, to help her out.
