# Leopard Gecko acting Strange



## Tarantel (Jul 21, 2011)

My leopard gecko Kevin has been acting somewhat tired and sluggish, even though it is over 90 degrees where I live now. He has been lying on his stomach and I saw him licking his privates like a dog. He has also been putting his front legs on the top of his water bowls and holding his head over it and closing his eyes. I'm worried he is sick, what do you think?


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## Entomancer (Jul 22, 2011)

You should also tell us everything you can about his setup.

Since you haven't, I'll bring up the possibility of him being overheated. Reptiles need to thermoregulate, not be hot/warm all the time. You should try making sure that he has a cool spot, or please make a new post/edit your old one and tell us what his enclosure is like.


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## Tarantel (Jul 23, 2011)

LordRaiden said:


> You should also tell us everything you can about his setup.
> 
> Since you haven't, I'll bring up the possibility of him being overheated. Reptiles need to thermoregulate, not be hot/warm all the time. You should try making sure that he has a cool spot, or please make a new post/edit your old one and tell us what his enclosure is like.


Ok i'll do that. He is in a 20 gallon tank with reptile carpet substrate. I feed him 5 or 6 mealworms every day and dust them with calcium and vitamin supplement once a week. He has a heater on one side of his tank but I recently turned it off bacuse it was so hot. He has a sort of plastic tree type thing and a reptile half log on the hot ide as shelter, and a rock type thing on the cold side. There are two fake desert plants. In the middle of his enclosure is a plastic container with paper towel in it designed to be a moist hide which I mist every few days, though he never uses it. He has a thermometer/hygrometer on the wall of his tank. Today I tried to feed him some mealworms but he only ate two of the five.


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## mrbonzai211 (Jul 24, 2011)

My best guess is an impaction caused by the shells of the mealworms you are feeding him. Mealworms are an occasional treat but a horrible main food source. On a nutritional side, it is the equivalent of us eating nothing but cheeseburgers and french fries for every meal. On the functional side, their shells are indigestible and are well known to cause blockages in the bowels.

Has he been making bowel movements?

If no, begin giving him warm baths once or twice a day and see if you can get him to pass what's blocking him.


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## Tarantel (Aug 5, 2011)

If by bowel movement you mean pooping, then yes he has been pooping. Does this disprove the impaction theory? What can I feed him other than mealworms then? Can I feed my American toad mealworms? Crickets aren't an option for either of them. Can I feed them dubias?
 I read before I got him that mealworms made a great main diet for a leopard gecko.


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## Tarantel (Aug 6, 2011)

Tarantel said:


> If by bowel movement you mean pooping, then yes he has been pooping. Does this disprove the impaction theory? What can I feed him other than mealworms then? Can I feed my American toad mealworms? Crickets aren't an option for either of them. Can I feed them dubias?
> I read before I got him that mealworms made a great main diet for a leopard gecko.


Also he has not been eating his worms the last few days.


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## skar (Aug 7, 2011)

Pfft -mealworms are fine, in fact they have more nutrition than normal crickets and mealworms do not
bite or irritate the leopard gecko.


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## Tarantel (Aug 14, 2011)

Today Kevin woulden't eat his mealworms, he looked at them several times so he knew they were there, but he didn't eat. He still seems somewhat tired and sluggish but maybe i'm just being paranoid.


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## skar (Aug 15, 2011)

My male gecko doesn't eat alot either, my sisters female is obese though.
as long as he's defecating and has a moist hide, and the tail isn't shrinking away he's probably fine.
They are lizards.. lazy anyways.


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