Hello! I am new to the forum, and am looking forward to learning more about reptiles! I am a K-6 teacher in the Twin Cities (Minnesota), and about 1 1/2 months ago, I bought two Leopard Geckos for my classroom. Their names are Chimi and Churri. I am joining to learn more about Leopard Geckos, and plan to build a pretty elaborate habitat for them in the coming weeks. My big concern at the moment is that Churri has not been eating, and has been quite lethargic for about a week. He sleeps most of the day in his hiding space. I found a thread earlier about checking temps etc. They are both in the same tank, and have a diet of meal worms and crickets. The temp has ranged from about 75-85* F since I got them. My current idea is to borrow a tank to separate the two and see if that makes a difference. Chimi is growing and eating quite well, but I am concerned about Churri. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hello and welcome to the boards! Let me start off by saying thank you for helping to educate the next generation on how awesome reptiles can be! It sounds to me like your problem could be a combination of two things. The temps at the warm end of the tank should be around 88-92 degrees. If the temps are lower than that, the leos can have trouble getting enough energy and digesting their meals which will lead to impaction, lethargy, ect. Also, it could be a case of cage dominance. Are you watching them eat or do you just leave the food in their cage? It sounds like Churri isn't getting enough food and is becoming stressed. I would recommend separating them and raising their temps. Keep us updated!
Thank you! I love my job, and the kiddos really have taken a liking to the geckos! I have more and more students getting involved in the responsibilities of their care, and they are doing a lot of self guided research to know more about them. The temperature has been a slight issue. I will try separating them and adding more heat. I have been filling the food and leaving it, but now with Chimi almost triple the size of Churri, I would not be surprised if there is some cage dominance. They are currently in a 20g tank, but I have purchased a larger tank that is currently getting cleaned out that we planned to build as a multi level/potentially multi-habitat tank so those plans may be adjusted to develop a dual home for the geckos separately. I did finally get Churri to eat two meal worms today, and he has been taking water on his own which is encouraging! Thanks again for your help!
Update: I am sad to report that one of our classroom geckos, Churri, passed away over the weekend. He had stopped eating about a week ago, and Thursday I noticed his stomach turning green. My assumption is that it washis organs beginning to shut down. The other gecko (Chimi) seems to be doing very well, shedding and growing like crazy. It was tough on some of the kids, but overall, I was quite impressed with the conversations that arose from the experience. Upon finding Churri, I called Petco and explained to them that he had not grown nor eaten regularly since buying them at the end of January, wondering if I may possibly get a discount at a replacement gecko. Although this was far past their 15 day guarantee, they generously gave our class a new gecko (yet to be named) for free. She is slightly younger of course, but they seem to be getting along great. She has the stub tail right now because she dropped it at some point in arrival to the pet store. Her temperament is also very calm, and she seems to be adjusting nicely to the environment. She is a yellow/orange, with black and white mixed in. Coming soon... Along with another teacher, I purchased a 55 gal. tank, and we have been building a new home for the geckos. We found an instructional video online to use Styrofoam to build rock formations and then paint them to appear as real rocks. It should be a really neat environment made for great observation when finished. I will post photos as soon as it is all set up!
I am sorry to hear about your loss, but I am glad the kids took the news well. I have a couple of concerns regarding the new gecko and housing, but the one thing I hate is seeing other hobbyists bash newer people for lack of knowledge and simple mistakes. Please take what I am about to say as me trying to be informative and not condescending. First of all, geckos from Petco are bad. They arrive at the store already infested with diseases and parasites, and the care that most stores give them is horrendous. They are put in a small cage with a dozen other geckos (usually a range of sizes) and are given the bare minimum care for their survival. This forces the geckos to compete with each other for resources. The larger geckos will become dominant, and the smaller ones won't get any food and become extremely stressed (this is still my hypothesis on why Churri first started declining).Most of the time, the geckos that don't get bought will die before they reach adulthood. That being said, the gecko that you just received will probably develop the same symptoms as Churri soon. Chimi is already bigger than the new one and will quickly become the more dominant gecko. If you think about it, the new gecko had already dropped his tail at Petco which was probably the result of a dispute with a cage mate. Another concern is that the new gecko might be bringing a parasite or disease from Petco that could possibly be transmitted to Chimi. There is a small chance that the new gecko will be fine and they will get along great, BUT the odds are against it. I would postpone your large tank build, separate the geckos immediately, and observe them for a while. If the new gecko shows no sign of disease, then allow him to regrow his tail and reach optimum health. At that time, you can attempt to put the two together. During the time that they are together, you should watch them like a hawk. At the fist sign of health issues or cage dominance, you should separate them again. I hate to put a damper in your new plans, but the health of the geckos should always come first, and lets face it, it would be pretty crappy if the kids had to watch another gecko die. If you still proceed with the new tank, make sure to cover the foam with a animals-safe grout and paint.
I am no expert on leopard geckos, and before I owned mine, I was pretty much like most women (stereotyping here) - scared of reptiles. I have had my leopard gecko for over 10 years and I have grown attached to him. So it breaks my heart to see how the geckos are treated in Petco/Petsmart or even some independent pet stores. Even someone with minimal intelligence could tell you that those living situations will kill off or cause serious illness in most of the geckos. It's inhumane (for lack of a better term). I wish there was something I could do about it (any ideas anyone?) other than walking in there, seeing the geckos, and wanting to cry. I feel the same way about some of the other animals they keep there - I doubt they would get away with poor treatment of cats/dogs (at least I hope they wouldn't). But reptiles are usually at the bottom rung of people's heartstrings. Rant over. Good luck with your geckos. I hope you take the advice from dogking.
