Help with a baby gecko from Petco

[unknown0]

Hi,

I just got my first pet reptile, which is a baby leopard gecko. Now I got it from Petco, and it looks underweight. I am also having trouble getting it to eat. I got it a day ago, it ate 1 cricket the first day and one today.

I'll try to put a picture up. How can I make it eat? I tried feeding it small crickets and small mealworms. It ate 2 small crickets. I am having trouble figuring out how to get him to eat his food. He is in a 24x12x16 cage, so I think it is kind of big for him. Whenever I put 2 small crickets on his cage, I don't know for how long to leave them there for. Also the crickets just keep jumping around and going everywhere, so how is he going to catch them?

Whenever I put him in a smaller plastic container with 2 crickets, he gets all scared and doesn't focus on the crickets. What should I do? He went to the bathroom once so far, so I don't think it's impaction.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z237/unknownrick/S7300458.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z237/unknownrick/S7300455.jpg

 

[jmlslayer]

he is so small! just let him get use to his tank it might take a week though....

 

[syntheticreality]

it seems like he's okay and its just that he is young and stressed.

Try putting him in a less small plastic container to eat and leaving him there for a while so he notices the food.

Some leos will grab a meal worm from tweezers if you wiggle it a little in front of their face

I have 7 leos total, some will never eat in a tupperware for me, others pounce food the second they see it. Just keep trying with the crickets and mealworms and keep an eye on it to see if its drinking any water

 

[syntheticreality]

by the way... that's a good pic for a petco leo. From the pics it looks to me like a patternless albino. I may be wrong, but my PA looks similar

 

[yellermelon]

Let him get use to the new setup. Try not to stress him to bad, and not hold him very much at first. Keep his humid hide moist and meallies in a cup and offer small crix once a day or so. He should start eating fine soon. I had no problems getting Petco geckos on a strickly mealworm diet right off the bat. Good luck, nice little patternless you have by the way. to me he doesnt seem to bad underweight.

 

[lucia]

Aww, he's awfully cute. First of all, I would not try to take him out of his cage to feed him because he will not eat if he is not comfortable. Taking him out of his cage is probably going to make him scared and nervous, so he won't eat. But you said he has eaten one cricket each day, so that is a good sign. This might sound bad, but you could try removing the crickets back legs when you put it in the cage with your gecko. Some people do this so that the gecko has a chance to be able to get the cricket.

Try to be patient and let your gecko get used to his new home. It can take a few days for them to feel more comfortable. As long as he has eaten a little bit, he should be fine. Another thing you should try is offering the food at the same time every day so your gecko will be expecting his food when you bring it.

Also, I just want to ask if you have an under-the-tank heater for your little guy and a humid hide for him?

 

[geckoluv2187]

When I first got my geckos, they didn't eat for 2 weeks. We just left them alone and didn't stress them. But continued to offer food and eventually they ate!

Those poor geckos at petco.

 

[unknown0]

Yeah I think I have everything set up correctly. On the hot side of the tank I have a ceramic heat emitter and a UTH, the temperature on this side is about 80-85. The cold side of the tank has room temp, about 70-75. He has a hiding spot on the cold and hot side, and near the middle he has a moist hide. I haven't seen him go into the moist hide yet. He mostly likes this log thing, and sleeps under it a lot. I'll put some pics of my set up.

When I first got him, he was amazed by the background picture I had in the tank (and by his reflection) he kept staring at it for long periods of time. But I think he is starting to feel safer around his home now.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z237/unknownrick/S7300468.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z237/unknownrick/S7300467.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z237/unknownrick/S7300464.jpg

 

[DLS Reptile]

Ok, first off, geckos wont usually eat as soon as they go into a new enclosure. They get stressed from going from one cage to another. It is perfectly normal for geckos not to feed once they are shipped, moved etc... My advice to you would be this. place a piece on cardboard in the cage to make it smaller (larger cages can stress little babies). Just make sure he has room to thermal regulate. Then leave him alone for at least a week, no handeling only feeding watering cleaning. once he gets used to his environment he will start to eat. I would get mealies and put them in a bowl. crickets will just stress him right now. You will see a big difference once he gets used to his surroundings...:main_thumbsup: :main_thumbsup:

 

[Rejoice in the Lord]

Your warm side temperature is 80-85?

What kind of thermometer are you using to measure the temperature, and where exactly is the temperature being taken from?

It sounds like the heating devices you have should be putting out plenty of heat, but the temps you mentioned sound a bit low to me. So it may just be the thermometer or it's location. The warm side substrate temperature should be closer to 90*.

Other than that, as the others have said, leave him alone and try not to stress him while he settles in. He should begin eating for you soon.

 

[fallen_angel]

by the way... that's a good pic for a petco leo. From the pics it looks to me like a patternless albino. I may be wrong, but my PA looks similar

that's what I was thinking, it definitely looks like a patty, which is an awesome find from PetCo!

 

[Mel&Keith]

Just to clear things up about the temperatures... The ideal floor temperature on the warm side in 92 degrees so if you're judging the warm side temp by the thermometer stuck the the side of the tank then, yes, it probably would be in the mid-80's. You should probably get a probe thermometer for an accurate floor temp under a hide. (It's ideal for the heat to come mostly from the UTH not the ceramic heat emitter) , Like this or similar: http://www.petco.com/product/100375/ESU-Reptile-Digital-Thermometer.aspx

I'm sure after a while it'll get used to it's new home and start eating.