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- 04/05/00
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How To Help Unhealthy and Skinny Leopard Geckos
If a leopard gecko is unhealthy or underweight, it can be a significant concern for keepers and breeders. To address such issues, it is essential to follow some tips and tricks to maintain good health for your lizards.
Food is the primary concern. Keeping your lizard well-fed is crucial to their overall health. Crickets are one of the most popular and healthy staple foods for these creatures. Live crickets are preferred since they provide not only a nutritious meal but also stimulation for the lizard. Replacing the water bowl regularly is necessary to prevent pathogens from growing in the water.
Supplements and powders can ensure that your lizard is getting all of its daily nutritional requirements. Gut loading, a method of feeding the live crickets with healthy food before offering them to your leo, can also be helpful. When using powders on live crickets, they should be fed to the leo sooner because crickets do not like having powder on their bodies and will try to shake it off.
Tail accidents can be a possible reason behind a skinny leopard gecko. Lizards like the leo store their extra fat in their tails, and without the tail, they can become prone to starvation. Preventing tail loss should be a priority when handling your lizard. Should your lizard lose its tail, keep them well-fed and consider separating them to ensure they receive the proper amount of food per day.
Improper tank temperature is another possible reason for malnutrition and loss of appetite. If the tank's temperature drops too low or rises too high, the lizard may stop eating because their digestive systems slow down. It is essential to monitor the tank temperature regularly and maintain proper temperatures. You need two distinct areas of temperature, one in the 90s and one in the high 70s or low 80s, for which a bigger tank may be necessary.
In cases where the leo becomes malnourished, emergency feeding may be necessary. This is because they may stop eating altogether until they gain more weight, leading to their bodies not having enough energy stores to digest food. In such cases, contacting a veterinarian is necessary, and force-feeding the pet with special fluids or high-protein slurries may be required.