Golden gecko wont eat, or move

[r0arshach]

I got a golden gecko on thursday for my birthday. I got a 20 liter tank, and it has the lamp and heating pad to the one side. And it has a lot of branches, and logs and what not for the gecko. The guy at the pet store told me he fed it on thursday so I wont have to worry bout it til saturday really. So today I went to the petstore to get crickets, and as I was there I picked up a white lined gecko as well (it was in the same tank as the goldie at the pet store) because I thought it could use some "company"

So I went home and put 4 crickets in the tank, as well as the white lined gecko. This is when I realized the goldie is very timid and seems stressed. He sat in the exact same spot under a log without moving a muscle, as the white lined gecko ran around the tank and snatched 3 of the crickets. The 4th one walked right onto the leg of the golden gecko and he still didnt do anything, so I just took the cricket out.

After that the white lined started exploring the tank and eventually ended up stepping ontop of the goldie and just sat on top of him for like 20 minutes, and the goldie still didnt do anything.

Ive been keeping the temperature at about 75-80 and the moisture level at about 70-80 as well.

Is there a problem with my goldie? Thanks for any help

 

[Carinata]

The problem is you're introducing a new animal to an already stressed animal. You lizard will die if you don't remove the WL gecko and leave him be. He needs time to acclimate to his new home.

 

[r0arshach]

What about after a couple weeks, will he be more settled in? Will I be able to re-introduce another animal?

I thought it would be okay because he shared a tank with about 5 other geckos split into 3 different species. And I got this white lined from the same tank he was in at the pet store.

 

[T-ReXx]

That petstore is totally inappropriate for mixing that many species in the same enclosure. White Lined Geckos are notoriously more aggressive than golden geckos. The WL is bullying the golden, sitting on top of it is a dominance position. Remove the White Lined and get a seperate setup for it. These two species do not coexist well together at all.

It sounds like the petstore knows just about NOTHING about proper gecko husbandry. Mixing species is extremely tricky and should only be done by experienced hobbyists and in very large vivaria. The white lined and golden gecko both occupy the same niche and will compete for territory and resources. If you don't seperate, I'd be willing to bet the golden will be dead within a month.

My advice to you is to have seperate setups for each species and keep only animals of the same species together(never two males, only male/female pairs or two females). Reptiles are not social like mammals and don't get "lonely." They generally prefer to be alone outside of breeding activity. I would also have a fecal sample tested for parasites by a qualified reptile vet; I'm willing to bet both geckos are imports and being exposed to so many other animals they are probably carrying internal parasite loads and will need treatment. Pick a different petstore to do your shopping at, that one obviously is uneducated about the requirements of its animals and/or just doesn't care.

 

[r0arshach]

Alright thank you very much.

I have one other question about my tank. Ive been spraying my tank about 3 times a day very thoroughly until the moisture level reads about 75%ish. But within 10 minutes the dial drops back down to 40% even though theres still drops of water all over the tank walls. Is this cause the dial is too close to the light? Its about 8 inches directly away from the bulb.

 

[T-ReXx]

Are you using a digital humidity gauge or one of those stick on ones? The stick-ons are highly innaccurate, I wouldn't trust most of them. The best way to monitor humidity is with a digital humidity gauge with a probe. You can find very reasonably priced digital thermometer/hygrometer combos at Walmart, usually for less than $20. It doesn't have to be an expensive reptile-specific one. The stick-on gauges can give you a general idea of whether or not there is any humidity in the cage, but aren't usually going to give you an accurate reading. Place the humidity probe somewhere around the middle of the cage, not directly near the heat source, and place the temperature probe near the heat source to monitor the hot spot. It shouldn't be necessary to mist that often, even in the winter when heat dries out the air I mist my animals 2x a day and even in the screen fronted cages I maintain 60% humidity at the lowest point.

 

[r0arshach]

Okay thanks for your help.

So after I get rid of the white lined should he go back to normal and start eating?

Heres my setup btw

 

[T-ReXx]

Depends on if there is anything else going on with him, like parasites.

You need more foliage. Goldens come from tropical rainforests and are nervous geckos. Add at least 2-3 more plants.