African Fat-Tailed Gecko Wont Eat

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I have a female african fat-tailed gecko. It's been a bit colder lately since it's been winter, and I've had a hard time regulating the temperature in her tank. I try to keep it around 85 degrees on average, and around 75 at night.
Anyway, I've noticed lately that she's been more lethargic than usual, and as a result she's stopped eating. I'll put crickets in her tank, and she won't even seem to notice they're there, even when they crawl right in front of her. I've also noticed that her coloration isn't quite as vibrant as it used to be.
I'm right in the middle of moving, and I have so much on my hands right now that it's hard to give her the full attention she needs. I'm honestly worried I'll come home from work any day now to find her dead in her cage.

I've also always had problems with getting her to drink water...I've owned her for about three months now and only once have I ever seen her drink out of her water dish. I was told to mist her cage and that she'd drink off the water droplets, but I hardly ever see her do that, either.

Also, she's shed her skin about once a month since I've had her...is that normal?

Thanks in advance. Sorry about the multiple questions. Happy holidays!!!

ANSWER: Hello Patrick,

Are you using an undertank heater in conjunction with an overhead basking light?  They need a hot spot of around 85-95 or so, roughly.  
Do you know how old she is?  They can tend to slow down during the wintertime a little bit though.
How do the stools look?  Are they runny or overly smelly?  
She should learn to drink from a little waterdish, as most other geckos do so I wouldn't mist the tank right now just in case she is ill.  You will want to keep the tank from getting too humid in case she could be having a respiratory issue.
What type of substrate is she on?  What sized crickets are you feeding?

Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have an undertank heater on one end of the tank, and I usually leave it on all the time, even at night.
I'm not sure how old she is, I got her from a coworker who recently had a baby and couldn't take care of both. She's about seven inches long, so I suppose that's about full grown.
Her stool looks totally normal...it's not runny, and I don't notice much of a smell at all.
Her substrate is calcium sand on one half of the tank, and fir bark on the other half. I've been intending to change it out for newspaper or 'safer' subtrates but just haven't gotten around to it yet.
And I've been feeding medium/large sized crickets, usually dusted with a calcium supplement.
Another thing about the feeding...sometimes I have to substitute mealworms instead of crickets simply because the crickets at the local pet store don't always look too healthy. And even with the mealworms, she seems to have trouble picking them up...sometimes it takes her three or four tries before she succeeds, and sometimes I have to put them right in front of her face for her to notice them.
Could she possibly be having eyesight problems? Or do you think that maybe she just needs more heat? I use one of those plastic 'strip' thermometers and I don't necessarily trust that it's entire accurate.

Thanks again Tracie, I appreciate all your help.  

Answer
Hello Patrick,

Well, she should get a little longer, so she is not quite full grown yet.  She should shed monthly, that is normal.  Just make sure you have a moist humid hide on top of the undertank heater to help with shedding.  You can add some spaghnum moss in there to hold humidity.
Are you supplementing calcium?  It sounds like if she is having some trouble catching her prey, that she could be having a vitamin deficiency, possibly calcium.  Or, she just may not be warm enough & is a little lethargic so she can't get her prey.  You should either dust the feeders with calcium, or leave a small dish of powdered calcium for her to lick when she needs.
Could she be ingesting the calcium sand?  I highly suggest taking that out right now.  The calcium sand hardens like cement in their belly & they cannot pass it.  
The plastic strip thermometers will measure the air temps & the glass temps, but in order to measure spot on the basking spot, you should get either a digitial probe or a temp gun.  You should try to get a low wattage household bulb & put it in a clamp light fixture to create a hot spot for her on the same side that the undertank heater is.  The undertank heater should be left on 24/7 just as you are doing as they need constant heating.  She will thermoregulate as she needs but the heating should be provided.  They digest best with underbelly heat.
Try getting her temps up.  See how she does with some increased heating & if you are not supplementing calcium start using some several times per week.  Jurassical powdered calcium or repcal calcium either one are fine & should be found at most petstores.

Keep me posted on her.

Tracie