How to tell if Leopard Gecko is Dying?

Lizards are one of the most wonderful creatures that you can keep as a pet. These are present in almost sizes and shapes. It is important for the pet owners to know that they need to provide optimum conditions in their enclosure so that the reptile lives without any issues. These include temperature, humidity, nutrients, light and the owners should make sure that they provide these at the optimum level.

Some of these leopard geckos have a slow metabolism due to which they might get sick too. The reptiles do not show unusual signs or symptoms until they are affected by a certain disease and sometimes they show it very late.

So, the reptile and the leopard gecko owners need to know regarding the various signs and they should also be aware of the conditions that they should consider while their pet is unhealthy.

Also, it is very important and recommendable to stay active and in contact with the vet so that you could brush him up with the illness your pet is facing.

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Leopard Gecko Dying Signs

So to help the owners of the leopard geckos to know about the illness and the conditions where their pet can even die, some signs are listed in the article. They should go through it and know about what sign of your pet indicates which critical condition.

Lack of appetite

The leopard geckos are fond of eating. These pets specifically are insectivorous which means that they feed on insects and even live preys. So your healthy leopard gecko would love to hunt its prey. If your pet is leaving the food that is fed or the insects which it used to eat happily, you should know that it is a sign of illness. If it is not eating at all, then the situation might get worse and you should immediately contact your vet for help and advice.

If you are keeping insects in the enclosure and your pet doesn’t eat them within some minutes then you should remove the bugs. This is because it might lead to infection and some sort of trauma. The owners of leopard gecko should keep a check on their pet’s diet. And if they notice any changes or signs they should immediately contact their vet.

In some cases when your pet is suffering from an infection, impaction or even the metabolic bone disease it can stop eating. These are cases where your pet can even die. Do you have to take proper care of it.

Fewer droppings

The reptiles when healthy release waste normally. If the stool production is less then it means that there is improper digestion or some problem in the digestive tract.

So, whenever you notice this condition you should pay extra attention to the diet of the leopard gecko. Still, if you do not find any changes then you should immediately report it to your vet as there might be some serious issue with your pet which can affect its health and it can even die.

The reason behind it may be constipation or it can even be serious. So consulting a vet is very important.

Laziness

The leopard geckos which are healthy have bright eyes and are very active. They move around their enclosures and they even climb on the branches or rocks as per the enclosure you have provided them. They would even respond to the things that they come in contact daily or the things they notice or hear. They would normally do this by pushing their legs.

On the other hands if we see the sick lizards they will stay stationary in a single position for hours and might even hide.

They might be very weak to move and this can be because of serious health issues which they are prone to. The reptile owners who see this condition should report it to their vet.

Sunken eyes

If we see the healthy reptiles, they have wide eyes and moist gums. Their skin is also supple.

The leopard geckos get most of the water content from the food they eat. They also get it when they soak their skin.

If you find their eyes to be the sunken or sticky mouth, no shedding then these can be signs of dehydration. If you notice such signs you should soak your pet in warm water to hydrate it. Also, get it examined by a vet as it could be some serious health problem.

Some pet owners take these conditions very lightly and do not know the side effects of being too careless. The pet can even die due to serious illness. Also, due to inadequate humidity in the tank can affect your pet’s health.

The leopard geckos which get the dehydrated dye to feeding issues should be fed with a syringe. And those are affected by the humidity should be provided with adequate conditions in the tank.

Loss of weight

This is not always significant. There are a lot of reasons behind weight loss. But if you see a lot of weight loss in a small-time then it is due to a serious illness. The tail of the pert is normally thick, do if you find it thinner than normal there is an issue.

The leopard geckos owners should get their pet checked up immediately. This is because there can be severe reasons behind weight loss and the consultation is prior to providing any nutritional supplements.

There are a lot of Leopard geckos which can stay without food for even days. So, some owners wait for long to see the changes. This is not good as your pet will show the symptoms late and it might get too late to cure it for a serious disease. This can even lead to starvation and your pet can die out of it. Get it examined as soon as you notice different behaviours.

How to keep your leopard geckos healthy?

The reptiles can get sick if they are bot provided appropriate conditions or if they are not fed properly. They require a certain optimum temperature which they can use for their activities and health. Some so require exposure to UVB and UVA rays too.

Leopard geckos do require these and they even need vitamin D. So those owners who do not pay proper attention to the pets lighting or temperature conditions should take care of it.

Also, we see that your pet’s substrate should be proper and according to the size of it. This is because some owners use sand for their little leopard geckos.

This might not be serious for you but your pet can ingest it accidentally and can even die. This can lead to impaction.
In some cases, the owners try to keep a diet for their pet so that it does not get fat. If you immediately reduce the diet then a lot of fat will accumulate due to starvation. This will lead to fatty liver disease which can be fatal.

So, the one should consult their vet for proper advice and knowledge about the requirements of your leopard gecko.

Is my leopard gecko dead or hibernating?

Leopard gecko is a curious reptile. When they are in good health and happy they will make many moves and jump or roam around. But the confusion arises when the reptile stays still and do not move for days much. This question may haunt the owners that if the health of the leopard gecko is alright.

Leopard geckos are much human friendly reptile and they often moves a lot when they are awake. Some are the exceptions that prefer to sit still and bask under the heat emitter, but most of them are jumpy and active by nature.

So when you see the leopard gecko is not moving for hours you must check a few things before deciding on its condition.

The gecko is refusing to eat and even not moving for hours. It is a particular symbol to show something wrong with the gecko.

If you touch it and it does not react to your movement, then it may be dead.

You can switch on and off the light and see if the pupils of the gecko’s eyes are moving or not.

Check if the mouth of the gecko is open and it has substrate in it. This is a sure sign of the death of the leopard gecko.

What to do when you see any signs of death on the leopard gecko?

You can sometimes see some signs of death in the reptile but you should not panic, as it can be sometimes not the actual case. There are certain behaviors in leopard gecko which is known as “playing dead” and it is frightening enough, though the experienced pet owners will not budge by it.

Leopard geckos and most of the reptiles are nocturnal creatures and they do not prefer to stay much active during the daytime.

Towards the end of the day they start getting more energized. During daytime, some geckos just prefer to lay still. They do not even move much or even do not respond to touches or move their pupils. This may be frightening to the owners, but they sleep this way.

If you find your pet leopard gecko lying down still for quite a few days and it has become quite a regular matter, then you must check the gecko for its health issues. Leopard geckos are not prone to sudden death. Their health deteriorates through a process and it takes more than months to get completely sick and near to death. So if you see the gecko in such condition almost regularly, then you can help it to get better.

How to check if the leopard gecko is breathing?

When you see the gecko lying still, go pick it up on your hands. Then check if the gecko is breathing by keeping a finger at its ribcage. You can feel the faint vibration of movement in this area if the gecko is living and breathing. Also you can check the pulse of the gecko under the throat, where you can feel the slight movement of breathing.

There are several other occasions when the gecko behaves as if it has died. During the period of shedding they also remain lethargic for days. Also stress can be another reason of their inactivity. This period of inactivity may continue for a week and then it will gain its lost energy and move like normal times.

How the dead leopard gecko looks?

When the gecko is dead for a few hours, it grows some bluish green spots on the belly. The gallbladder leaks and bile makes the tissues change the color which is seen in form of dots from outside.

Which reasons may lead the gecko to death?

The leopard gecko can fall prey to death if there are some internal problems like contagious infection, broken bones, brain injury or internal organ damage. These severe issues can kill your bearded dragon if you are not aware of its condition and taking necessary steps to prevent its pain.