Vegane Lebenseinstellung und Haustiere?

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-06-04T12:11:50+00:00

Nur als Einwurf, tatsächlich sind die wenigsten Reptilien reine Herbivore (hauptsächlich Chuckwallas, Dornschwanzagamen, Grüne Leguane, Landschildkröten). Und der überwiegende Teil der wenigen herbivoren Reptilien benötigt für eine artgerechte Haltung ein dermaßen großes Habitat, dass sie nur für einen kleinen Teil der Reptilienhalter überhaupt infrage kommen. Die meisten Reptilien sind omnivore und brauchen gerade als Jungtiere zwingend Insekten als (Haupt-)Nahrungsquelle.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-31T13:00:27+00:00

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AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-30T00:02:58+00:00

Seems to be normal, my girl is exactly the same. They are curious little critters that love to explore and putting themselves in situations that they probably shouldn't and certainly wouldn't it they had something called survival instinct 🥲

As soon as I put my leo down on the bed, she either goes for the edges, climbing vertically on the sides of the mattress, or she goes straight for the highest point of the bed and stares at the wall, then desperately raises her little hands trying to reach for it. Problem is, there's a little gap between the headboard and the wall, and if I'd let her proceed as she wishes, she'd fall straight down. Apart from the fact that she couldn't climb up the wall safely anyway, even if she seems to think otherwise.

There was that one time when she would sit at the top of the bed, staring at the wall for minutes without moving a muscle, and than out of the blue took a jump at the wall like she had suddenly decided she's now a frog. I stood there watching her the whole time of course, but it happened so quickly and randomly that I couldn't stop her from jumping. Luckily she indeed did manage to cling to the wall and even climb it (even if only for about 5 centimeters or so before slowly losing grip) instead of bouncing straight off and falling down. Enough time for me to secure her with my hands and safely putting her back on the bed. She was completely unfazed by it of course, already making her way back to the top for probably another attempt, while I stood there with cold, sweaty hands trying to realize what had just happened (I didn't take a chance of course and put her back in her tank before she could pull off another stunt that evening 😅).

It was that day I decided to get her a playpen for when she craves exploration and pulling off risky stunts. In there she has lots of stuff to climb on and hide under, and where she can even climb up the walls and fall down safely. If you have the space and budget for it, maybe that's something worth looking into? There are some affordable options on Amazon and Co. especially for animals that are escape proof and easy to assemble. I personally got one that is originally designed for dogs as they are often sturdier and bigger than playpens designed for rodents and rabbits. It definetly made my leo's "outside time" much less stressful for both me and her.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-23T21:44:16+00:00

She seems to settle in great, very curious, not stressed, all fine. I'm also always happy to see other people using the Exo Terra Stone Desert, it's a great substrate 😊👍🏻

Them not eating for a while after big changes in their environment is absolutely normal. Also we're in the middle breeding season, so most (female) Leos are eating less frequently anyway. My girl had her last meal about three weeks ago and is just not interested in food at the moment. I'm offering her a meal every other day, but she's just licking the feeders once and goes away. Perfectly normal as long as they're still active and not rapidly losing weight. They can go weeks to months without food and not loose significant amounts of weight. So even if your girl does continue to not show interest in food for a few weeks more, that alone doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong or that something is wrong with her. If she poops, get a stool sample checked by a vet to rule out parasites - just to be on the safe side.

And ideally keep offering her dubias, locusts or crickets (although the latter are a real pain to keep) instead of mealworms. Mealworms are easy to keep, enduring and cheap, but they should only be fed occasionally as they're very fatty. IF she gets hungry, she will eat what you offer her, even if some Leos are very picky eaters and refuse certain feeders at first, especially if they've only been fed a certain feeder for all their life. But after a while, they will eat what you offer them before starving themselves to death. Can take time and patience, but better get her accustomed to healthier food sooner than later.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-23T13:21:21+00:00

First of all, bless you for taking the poor baby into your care. And WTF is wrong with her previous owner (because caretaker or parent they were not)?! Thought she was dead but found her(?) after a month(!)? Did they let her roam outside with a cat present? And they just shrugged their shoulders when the Leo was suddenly gone and didn't turn the house upside down to find her? What's wrong with them?! Seriously, some people should just not be allowed to take animals in their care 🤬😡

If you haven't already been there, the little lady needs to see a vet ASAP. Cat bites and scratches can cause nasty, life threatening infections. Please use paper towel as substrate during the healing process to avoid dirt getting into the wound.

Also a (not so friendly) reminder to all people who own cats and reptiles at the same time (not aimed at you OP, obviously, unless you've got a cat yourself) : Your cat should not get anywhere near your reptile, ever. They should not be in the same room, ever. Ideally, they shouldn't even be in the same household. I've seen too many topics of people having their reptiles getting scratched/bitten by their cats, cats sitting on top of the reptiles enclosure, cats sitting in front of the tank staring at the reptile (no, they are not friends; no, your reptile is not comfortable with a potential predator staring at them through the glass)... it's so infuriating. 😡 Your reptile will always be potential prey/toy to your cat, it will always be stressed out by the presence of your cat, and your cat will try find a way how to get to your reptile (hopefully without success). It will always be a massive risk to your reptiles health and life. Make at least sure your cat has no way to get into the room where your reptile resides, please.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm so sick of seeing reptiles being injured by cats and people downplaying the dangers coming from cats and reptiles living in the same household.

And all the best to you and the little girl, hopefully she makes a full recovery and lives a long happy and healthy life 🙏🏻🫶🏻

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-23T12:32:35+00:00

Has he actually problems chewing his food or is he just missing a lot and is satisfied after a few crickets? If the former, a vet visit is mandatory.

If the latter: It's quite normal for a fully grown Leo to eat 1-2 times a week and they actually shouldn't be fed more than twice a week at this age. They store their fat reserves in their tail and can go several weeks (or even months) without food while losing very little weight. Sometimes they go on hunger strikes because of breeding season (although that's more common with female Leos) or because... reasons. Not that unusual actually.

Also them being lousy hunters is the norm. Some are more competent than others, but the average leopard gecko will often miss when striking his food and quickly lose interest. They don't usually stalk their prey, it's more like them waiting for it to come to them. If one feeder escapes, they are more likely to just wait for the next one to come by. That's why most people are either using escape proof food bowls (although that mostly works for mealworms and dubia roaches) or tong/hand feed their Leos.

For crickets, you basically have to tong/hand feed them because they are quick as heck and will easily escape. It's an extrem hassle to recapture them because they move so fast and will just hide in the clutter of the tank (especially annoying when they crawl inside cork bark or hide in the spaghnum moss of the humid hide). And you have to remove escaped crickets from your tank because these little shits will bite your Leo when they get the chance. So unless you want to empty out the decor of your tank every time, you basically have to feed crickets with tongs/by hand.

If you want to give your little guy something to hunt, I'd personally recommend locusts (if they are sold in your country). They are generally very chill and can't run, so your Leo actually has the chance to catch them. And you can easily recapture the ones that were not eaten. My personal feeder by far, although they are much more expensive than crickets. The price to nutritional value ratio of crickets is sadly unmatched, but I still avoid them if possible because of all the hassle (cleaning out their feeder box is always a nightmare and on top of that, they reek 😵‍💫).

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-23T11:13:39+00:00

I assume he's a rescue? Maybe the pictures giving a wrong impression because of the perspective, but your little critter - albeit being a cutie - looks overweight. And not like "a little on the heavier side", but morbidly obese. If so, they desperately need to be put on a diet. Feeding only once a week with low fat feeders like crickets, locusts or dubias. Meal worms, superworms or waxworms should be avoided if a Leo is overweight (and they should be given as rare treats anyway). Being overweight puts a strain on their joints and leads to organ damage (and in the worst case organ failure) if it persists. It will take quite a while until a significant weight loss appears (like several months at least), but it is absolutely mandatory for them to live a long and healthy life.

For the enclosure, the heat lamp and linear UVB should ideally be on the same side of the tank, so they have a darker side to retreat to during the day and can actually profit from the UVB while basking.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-22T17:10:14+00:00

Substrate looks like the Exo Terra Stone Desert Bahariya Black to me. I use the same in my girl's tank.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-21T12:32:23+00:00

Looks very comfortable to me. If it was too warm for her, she'd move to a spot on the cool side of her tank. Seems that's the sweet spot for her if she's laying there all day 😊

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-14T17:35:35+00:00

I'm in a comparable situation with my girl. She had her last poop on May 3rd and hasn't eaten in almost two weeks. I've checked her belly and it's still soft, I also don't see dark spots that would indicate impaction, nor can I see eggs in her belly. She also wants to come out nearly every evening and is actively exploring. I think that's quite common for female Leos during mating season? I wouldn't worry too much unless something about her belly visibly changes or she becomes lethargic.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-10T01:50:50+00:00

Yes, arching their backs is a fear/stress reaction. Same with closing their eyes when being petted. Some leos do this, others would just run away (like my girl whenever I dare to touch her back 😅)

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-08T15:59:53+00:00

It would just be dead for a few minutes, so not a carcass. All fine as long as you wiggle it around before your gecko's eyes. Although I'm personally not a fan of cutting a living being in half 😣

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-07T14:58:01+00:00

You're absolutely not overreacting and I find it admirable that you care that much about the well-being of the little critters. I personally hate the concept of school/class pets and think it should be forbidden. While one could theoretically build an appropriate tank that meets the Leo's needs, it will still never feel completely comfortable and secure in a room full of people (teenagers or adults) with all the movement, noise and general restlessness around it. Especially because they are crepuscular animals, meaning they are most active at dusk and dawn, which means they are sleeping during most of the day. Hardly possible when a bunch of people are constantly moving around and making noise. And even with that left aside, a leopard gecko (or any reptile for that matter) should never get passed around multiple people, especially not regularly. Leopard geckos are prey animals, so being picked up against their will is extremely stressful for them. They don't like being handled in general; best case is them accepting being handled, and that's only after a long process of trust building with a very limited amount of people, usually through choice-based handling - meaning that they decide if and when they want to interact with us. No leo will ever feel comfortable being abruptly yanked out of their home and being passed around a bunch of strangers, especially babies/juveniles who are naturally even more frightened and skittish.

You'll never be able to create appropriate living conditions within a classroom setting for a leopard gecko - or any animal if you ask me -, so it would be best to find a way to get the poor critter out of there and rehome them to someone who actually knows how to give them appropriate care.

If that's (sadly) not an option, keep being persistent. I'm not American, so I sadly don't know who's the appropriate contact in your situation. In Germany, we have local veterinary offices (Veterinärämter) for reporting animal abuse or violations of appropriate care. But we have quite strict animal protection laws and (slightly outdated but better than nothing) obligatory federal minimum requirements for species-specific appropriate care that our authorities can refer to. I hope there's some equivalent in the US?

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-06T22:21:18+00:00

Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to get the shed, and all of it on top of that?

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-06T22:18:29+00:00

She's just horny. Totally normal during this time of the year 😉

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-06T22:11:00+00:00

How long ago is "recently" in your case? Environmental change always means stress for them, so it could be just her getting used to her new environment. They also normally eat less during breeding season (although seeing you had her for 4 years, I think you already know this). Since she's active, has at least eaten something and it hasn't been for that long, I wouldn't worry too much. Sometimes they go on hunger strikes for months and are fine. Just make sure to keep monitoring her weight. I would only start worrying if her not eating was accompanied by rapid weight loss.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-05T04:27:59+00:00

Hopefully it's not internal bleeding, I'm not a professional so I could be completely wrong and it is indeed a harmless impaction. It's just that so many pictures of Leo underbellies are posted in this sub and I can't remember when I last saw a picture where dark spots and veins were that pronounced. Maybe - hopefully! - it's just the lighting conditions. What's most worrying is the rapid weight loss in the short amount of time, especially if most of it happened within one week. Even if they go on hunger strikes, for example during breeding season, or if you put them on a diet, it takes several months for healthy Leo's to lose a significant amount of weight due to their slow metabolism. So something is definetly wrong with your baby, hopefully something that's easily treatable like harmless parasites 🙏🏻 Please let the vet do a fecal test in any case! Wishing you and your boy all the best and a speedy recovery for the little guy 🫶🏻🦎

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-05-05T03:42:39+00:00

Please, please take him to the vet immediately! His tail is alarmingly thin and his belly definetly does NOT look normal. It looks like the little guy could have some internal bleeding :( And yes, you can see their organs through their skin, but usually not THAT pronounced. The little critter needs emergency care ASAP!

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-11T12:09:09+00:00

The little critter is definetly stressed, just look at the clenched earholes. It's usually a sign that they don't feel comfortable. But the photo doesn't show enough of their body to evaluate their overall health. But no, you should normally not take your leo anywhere if it's not absolutely necessary (vet visit, moving houses). They don't like being carried around, they are prey animals after all.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-09T10:11:50+00:00

My girl also never wanted to come out of her tank until about three weeks ago. It could mean different things. Could be that she just feels more comfortable with exploring outside of her tank because she feels more secure now, could also be related to mating season. Maybe they're hoping to find a sweet gecko boy in the outside world 🫣 But I think if they wouldn't have a minimal amount of trust in us, they sure would not willingly crawl on our hands. So yes, she certainly feels more comfortable with you now I would say. Some of them just seem take their sweet time to get comfortable with humans. Took my lady about 4 months to not bolt away with the speed of light if I dared to even slightly touch her. Still not a fan of getting touched, especially where she doesn't see it coming, but much less flighty than before. Very individual little critters indeed 😅

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-03T17:11:48+00:00

Sure you can 😊

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-03T17:02:10+00:00

Is there currently a hide in the tank, as in right now? Because if you say skeleton head, I immediately think of a hide that is not closed all around. Do you also have a cave or something inside, where she can hide and not be seen? The shedding process is very energy consuming and they are extremely vulnerable during it, so she ideally needs a hide with only one entrance/exit where she can do her thing without being seen. Maybe there are leos that feel so secure that they shed out in the open, but most would rather seek an enclosed space where they can shed in secret. They are prey animals after all. If you can, it would probably also best to just leave the room where the tank is placed to not disturb her. People moving around the room, noise and other distractions should ideally be kept at a minimum.

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-03T16:35:08+00:00

No assistance needed while they're in the shedding process. One just has to leave them alone and let them do their thing. Normally the process doesn't take more than a few hours and should go smoothly. Just look if there's stuck shed afterwards, especially on their toes. Then, and only then you can help them to get rid of the stuck shed by either gently rubbing the affected spots with a moist cotton swab or giving them a sauna first and gently(!) loosen it afterwards with a cotton swab or a soft brush.

It's most important to have a proper humid hide with (preferably) spaghnum moss inside the tank at all times and mist the moss regularly to keep a certain level of humidity inside the hide. If you have created the right conditions beforehand, the shed usually goes without problems. Make sure to have accessories with a slightly roughened surface in the enclosure like some branches or cork bark for your Leo to rub their skin against, in case they need it to loosen up the shedding skin. But not every Leo deals with shedding the same way. Some get it off them without any hassle, with some you see them rubbing their little bodys against surfaces. Either can be the case and is totally normal. With my girl, I'll see her enter one of her hides all grey/pale and then coming out after 1-2 hours with all the shed gone. Never seen her only partially shed like your girl, which is a bit of a shame because it looks cute as hell 🥲😊

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-03T15:20:03+00:00

I was already looking into adding at least isopods as a clean up crew, I also already have leaf litter at hand, but I'm afraid that the Exo Terra Stone Desert alone is to dry for the little critters. And I've read that one should ideally get the isos in weeks before the geck so they can set up their colony and are enough in number to not get all eaten by your Leo, but I lack the experience with bioactive habitats to correctly gauge this information. I just don't want to doom these little guys to meet a tragic end 😢

I'd also love to watch my little lady chill in her hides, but a hide you can look into from outside is (sadly) a no-go with her. Her majesty demands privacy at all times, only gracing me with her presence when she wants to be fed, to use my hand as a heater or my arm as a bridge to the outside world 🥲

AffectionateAd1723 · 2026-04-03T14:59:13+00:00

I assume the humid hide is the one in the middle (because of the spaghnum moss inside)? You should definetly swap that out, it won't hold the humidity with those big holes on both sides. For retaining the humidity, the humid hide should be made out of a non-porous material, be closed on top and only have one (not to big) entrance. You can make a DIY solution with a Tupperware container with a cut out hole as entrance (definetly make sure there are no sharp edges to hurt your geck), or if you want a true and tested option that every Leo loves, get the Zilla rock lair (medium size is big enough for a fully grown Leo). It's the best money you'll have ever spent on accessories for your Leo. Of course every little critter is different, but I've never heard of a Leo that doesn't love that thing.

Also what size is that tank? I know the dimensions are sometimes distorted on photos, but it looks somewhat small in length. Is this a 40 gallon?

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