Tardigrade
New Member
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- United States
I've been worrying myself to death about my gecko for the past few weeks.
I've had this gecko for about two years, and he's been the picture of health most of that time. He had a surprisingly vibrant color pattern, and was pretty active and very tame; despite all the issues I'm worrying about, this thankfully hasn't changed.
His feeding response from early on always seemed a little weak, but he would always eat plenty in the end, though his mouth's been bitten a few times. But he was pretty hardy, too, never using/needing the humid hide I provided, never having any toes bitten from crickets.
Lately, though, he's lost his luster. His feeding response is very low, and he doesn't hunt any more. He used to follow a potential meal, but now he forgets about it as soon as it leaves his field of vision, if he was even interested in the first place. I've been working to get his feeding response up, but even waxworms don't interest him that much. I know he's eating some amount of what I feed him, since he hasn't lost weight (I think) and he still poops, but he doesn't really eat the worms unless they practically place themselves in his mouth.
The thing that really bothers me, though is his color. I've heard that geckos darken when they are cold or stressed, but warming him up hasn't helped, so I figure he must be stressed. He used to be totally calm when I walked past/up to his tank, but now he scrambles his way into the nearest hide (almost always the cold side, actually) when I make any noise above him or near him, and that makes me think he's stressed. If I lift up the hide and pick him up for any reason, though, you would never know he was the scrambling lizard from a few moments ago. He calmly explores and walks around on me without trying to climb high or anything.
I moved a few weeks ago, and I knew being in a new room would bother him, but it's been more than three weeks and he's still in the same state.
He is in a 20 gallon tank, with hides on the warm and cold side, and paper towels as a substrate. Temperatures can be tricky in the room he's in, which admittedly could be a big part of my worries. It typically fluctuates on the warm side from too cold in the 80s to far too hot, once being 99.7 degrees when I had a blanket mostly covering the top of the tank.
I know brumation can also be an answer, but it wouldn't be a good idea for me to wait until springtime and then learn that it didn't change anything.
But if there's something obvious that I'm screwing up I would very much like to hear it.
I've had this gecko for about two years, and he's been the picture of health most of that time. He had a surprisingly vibrant color pattern, and was pretty active and very tame; despite all the issues I'm worrying about, this thankfully hasn't changed.
His feeding response from early on always seemed a little weak, but he would always eat plenty in the end, though his mouth's been bitten a few times. But he was pretty hardy, too, never using/needing the humid hide I provided, never having any toes bitten from crickets.
Lately, though, he's lost his luster. His feeding response is very low, and he doesn't hunt any more. He used to follow a potential meal, but now he forgets about it as soon as it leaves his field of vision, if he was even interested in the first place. I've been working to get his feeding response up, but even waxworms don't interest him that much. I know he's eating some amount of what I feed him, since he hasn't lost weight (I think) and he still poops, but he doesn't really eat the worms unless they practically place themselves in his mouth.
The thing that really bothers me, though is his color. I've heard that geckos darken when they are cold or stressed, but warming him up hasn't helped, so I figure he must be stressed. He used to be totally calm when I walked past/up to his tank, but now he scrambles his way into the nearest hide (almost always the cold side, actually) when I make any noise above him or near him, and that makes me think he's stressed. If I lift up the hide and pick him up for any reason, though, you would never know he was the scrambling lizard from a few moments ago. He calmly explores and walks around on me without trying to climb high or anything.
I moved a few weeks ago, and I knew being in a new room would bother him, but it's been more than three weeks and he's still in the same state.
He is in a 20 gallon tank, with hides on the warm and cold side, and paper towels as a substrate. Temperatures can be tricky in the room he's in, which admittedly could be a big part of my worries. It typically fluctuates on the warm side from too cold in the 80s to far too hot, once being 99.7 degrees when I had a blanket mostly covering the top of the tank.
I know brumation can also be an answer, but it wouldn't be a good idea for me to wait until springtime and then learn that it didn't change anything.
But if there's something obvious that I'm screwing up I would very much like to hear it.
