Question
Our New Gecko
Hi, my son got a leopard gecko last Thursday from what we can tell, he has yet to eat anything. We keep mealworms in his tank in a low dish at all times, along with a small dish of water, and we have attempted to feed him crickets since he came home with no luck. We put two crickets in at a time, and they either end up dying, or look to be "shedding" (leaving their out shells behind) and getting bigger, but he never eats them. We have a 10 gallon tank, reptile carpet substrate, with a 50W "basking" lamp that stays on all day long on one end with a log type hide, at night we turn off the light and plug in a under the tank heating pad. On the other end, we have a damp hide and some some artificial greenery. He does come out of the warm hide at night to venture around, but shows no signs of hunting the crickets at all. We have attempted to put meal worms right up to his mouth, and all he really does his lick a little of the calcium powder off of his lips when we touch the worms to his mouth. Since we are new to this we are very concerned as his tail, although it is not completely, certainly does not look plump and healthy as I have seen through photos that they should appear. I have read a lot on the internet about buying baby food and using a syringe to place it on their noses in little drops, does this stimulate their appetite or serve as food while they are refusing to hunt? Is there a "special" recipe for this mixture? We are also very new to the live crickets, which is quickly becoming a bit of a messy, smelly fiasco, and in keeping them "gut loaded", other than the green jello like cubes the pet store sold to us, is there anything else we could be giving them to keep them a healthy food item for our new friend? So much to learn!!! LOL Sorry for the bombardment of questions, but there is so many different opinions on the internet, just trying to get some good solid answers. Thanks so much in advance for your time and response!
AnswerHello Samantha,
They usually take a couple of weeks to become accustomed to their new home. It is called relocation stress.
I would not leave crickets in the tank with him longer than a few hours because if he does not eat them they could bite him. They are very carnivorous.
He looks pretty young, but his tail definitely needs to plump up some.
I would leave the undertank heater on 24/7 because they need belly heat to digest better, in combination with the overhead heating. So at night, just turn off the basking bulb leaving the heating pad on. Are you measuring the temperatures in the tank with a round stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun? There needs to be a warm/hot spot on the side with his little hide/cave at around 88-90 with the cooler side being around 78-82. The hide/cave should be humid too, so it will help him with his shedding. You can use a sponge & keep it damp daily which works pretty well.
You can use some chicken or turkey baby food to try to feed him by dropping it onto his nose. It does help with their appetite a little & could help him gain some weight also.
A good gut load for the crickets is chicken laying mash, they love it & it is very nutritious. You can use a mound of cotton balls, for the moisture. Just make sure there is no standing water in the cricket bin so that doesn't breed mold & bacteria. They need hiding spots like the card board in the egg crates, etc, paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls.
Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie
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