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relocation stress or wrong temp?

22 14:01:18

Question
QUESTION: I just got a baby leopard gecko three days ago and he hasn't eaten anything that I know of.. he may have eaten one cricket the first night,that I haven't been able to find in the tank, but nothing seems interesting to him. he walks away from crickets and mealworms. i have two hide boxes, one on the warm side, one on the cold.. the cold side is 75 degrees, and the warm is about 83 during the day but drops to 75 at night when I turn off the light. I have a heating pad which we placed on the side of the tank (zoo med) because it recommended placing it on the side.however, it hardly heats at all and my gecko actually lays right next to the glass which is telling me he is no where near warm enough. I have also been fiddling around in the tank trying to get him to eat and everything so I'm wondering if I'm just really stressing him out, or if my temps are way off.. i appreciate the help, I want my gecko to survive!

ANSWER: Your temps are too low.  Move the pad under the tank.  Shoot for upper 80's on the warm end.  Are you feeding at night of during the day?  Leos are nocturnal so do your feeding with the lights out.  Some are picky eaters too, you may need mealworms, waxworms, or ???  Ask the person you bought it from what it WAS eating.

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

QUESTION: We feed him at night. we started with crickets, and then went out and got mealworms, but he doesn't eat those either. At the pet store, they had meal worms in the dish. I moved the heater under the tank, and got the temp up but he still isn't eating.. could it take a few days for him to adjust tothe new temps? is he overly stressed by us moving stuff around and changing the set up?

Answer
OK, here's my professional opinion:  I think you've got a bum gecko.  Further, I would alert the pet store immediately that the gecko will not eat and ask for an exchange.  A day, maybe two at the outside and a leopard gecko should be eating.  They are VERY hardy creatures when they are healthy.