I have a pictus gecko, Nico, he's probably 8-9 years old now. I adopted him about 4 years ago, he was a retired breeding gecko. His owner's cat knocked over the tank and killed his mate, and she decided not to breed him any longer and gave him to me.

He has always been incredibly timid, to the point where if I try to do anything with him I'm afraid he'd have a little heart attack. So he's been a hands off pet, I spot clean his cage, mist, make sure he has fresh water, a bowl of mealworms, a bowl of calcium, and toss him a few crickets each night.

Lately he's stopped eating mealworms completely, and though he still gets excited and eats a cricket or two, a lot of the time he doesn't eat them at all. He's lost a lot of weight, and recently had a bad shed (I don't know if this is from malnutrition since he hasn't been eating well, or what. He's got a humid hide and I mist his cage nightly.) But anyways this was a really bad shed and I just got a good look at him this morning, and it looks like the end of his nose is rubbed raw. It's all pink.

I just don't think I can watch him deteriorate any longer. I'm taking him to work with me today, and unless there's some miracle in store, I think he will be humanely euthanized.

The doctor said his organs could be failing due to old age. But we don't want to do bloodwork on him because he's so small, and it would stress him out so bad. So we're gonna try treating the symptoms. He said sometimes a little supportive treatment can go a long way. He thinks that the bad shedding is most likely due to him not eating enough, when the body is malnurished it gives everything it can to the organs, and the skin suffers the brunt of it. Then, once he's having trouble shedding, that effects his appetite even more, and it becomes a vicious circle. But if his organs aren't going into failure from old age, then by treating both symptoms at the same time, he could recover. So I got some calorie supplements to feed him with a little syringe, and some chlorhexidine solution to treat the infection on his nose, and the other areas where he isn't shedding well. Wish us luck.

Last night, even after the stress of being handled and syringe fed and medicated, he ate 2 crickets! So it does give me some hope. He's got the will.

I'm glad you're not giving up on the little guy yet. Have you tried other feeders too? It's understandable he'd get bored of mealworms -I have one leo that will starve herself rather then eat them... If you can get a fecal in to the vet, he may be able to check that. I'm not sure about reptiles, but in other animals signs of organ failure will show in urine and stool.

I hope the little guy pulls through.

We've tried silkworms and roaches, but he wants nothing to do with them. He will eat waxworms, but I don't want to overdo it with those, so they are a treat.

My pictus geckos won't go near mealworms, I'm surprised yours did. I find calcium coated crickets seem to stimulate them more. Guess the white on the crickets make them easier to see, plus calcium slows them down. I realize you keep a humid hide and mist the cage, but my first assumption of bad sheds are due to low humidity. What do you keep the humidity at? I always keep mine 60-80% humidity and never have a problem with either of my adult pictus shedding. What type of substrate do you use? Both of my pictus adults are rather shy, so his behavior's normal. Mine would rather jump to his death than have anything to do with me. My routine is identical to yours.

I use paper towels and mist his cage at least once at night to a peak humidity of 85%. But the humidity in colorado is so low, now I'm misting 3x a day.

The vet thinks that because he isn't eating well, the nutrients are going to support his organs, and the skin is not getting enough nutrients to stay healthy and shed properly. But I am increasing the misting and treating his bad shed areas with a medicated solution, so hopefully that will help him.

Last night he did not eat at all. He does lick the Nutrical supplement off the tip of the syringe (he gets .05ml Q24h), and I've also got him licking water off the syringe, so that's something.

How many crickets do your pictus eat, and how often?

My adults eat 5-6 good sized crickets every night. My Babies will eat about the same, but adequate sized.

I have problems with my babies shedding, and they're on paper towels. I have my adults on coco fiber, and like I said I never have any problems with them. I don't have problems with my adults eating the coco fiber either, if a cricket dodges them and they get a mouth full I watch them spit it all back out. Think maybe if you changed the substrate it might help?

Glad to hear he's doing a little better. Hopefully the little guy pulls through.

Yeah, I might try that too. Thanks for the suggestion.

That's funny, because I put a bowl full of mealworms in each of my pictus cages every night, and by the morning they are gone... I guess it just depends on the gecko.

And kephy, I wish you good luck with your pictus. And if it doesnt work out in the end, at least he has had 9 good years of life, and 4 great years with you.

Poor old guy... I'm rooting for him, Kephy. Hope it works out either way... it's hard to see your little guy suffer.

He ate 3 crickets last night! For him, that's a lot. Lately, if I offer more than 2, he starts running away from them. So the fact that he kept up the hunt and ate the third is great. I think the calorie supplements are helping to boost his appetite.

Thats amazing! I am so glad to hear he is eating better! Keep up the good work!

That's great to hear Kephy!



Well mine disappear out of the dish as well, but they end up buried in the substrate lol. Perhaps if you do a little digging, maybe yours is buried in the substrate as well?

Don't get me wrong my babies ate mini mealworms, but they didn't stimulate them as much as hunting for a cricket does. After a few nights of mealworms I was finding them all under the paper towels, but when I dump crickets in there, I never find them the next night hehe. My adults have been eating crickets for so long, they just refuse to try anything new, which doesn't bother me in the least.

glad to hear things are going better kelphy! sounds like he isn't ready to go yet

Any update on his situation kephy?

Sorry for the length of time between updates. I'm being plagued with my own health problems.

Anyways, he's still being "anorexic" and only eats 1-2 crickets about every other night. He's still taking his supplements and the solution helped him shed his tail, we're still working on his nose and a few of his toes, but there is improvement. I changed his substrate to coconut fiber. He's gained 2 grams, (I'm sure due more to the supplements than the crickets.) So he's not improved greatly, but I'll take a little improvement over none at all.

That's good to hear improvement for him. Mine don't gain a whole lot of weight. I skipped a month and a half weight check and from 3/27-5/14 My male only gained 3g and my female's weight has stayed the same. I wouldn't stress too much over that.

Sorry to hear about your health problems. I hope you get better.

Sorry to hear that you have been suffering health problems yourself. At least he is making small progress and is eating. Will keep my fingers crossed for this little guy. Have you tried mixing up some slurry to intersperse with feedings?

No, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try. Do you have a link to the recipe? How much and how often do you think I should give it to him. He's surprisingly a lot more tolerant of the syringe feeding than I thought he would be, considering the total freakout he has every time I pick him up.

Right in the leopard gecko articles sticky http://www.reptilerooms.com/forumtopic-53100.html -in case you didn't find it already.