Help???

[SnakeLady1990]

I have a new leopard gecko, male, adult I got from an expo. He is totally freaked out.

All the temps are correct. 88 deg on hot side and 70 on the cool side. Also has a heat pad.

He was in great shape when I got him, alert, but spooked. It's an albino, so was probably freaked out by all the bright lights.

I have not seen him eat since we got him back home. The breeders said they feed mealworms, so I offered those and crickets. I don't know if he is eating light or not at all but almost nothing is missing each day, hard to tell.

He has two hides, one on the hot side and one on the cool side along with a water and calcium dish.

I have a female tremper albino leopard gecko as well and she has the same setup and is doing fine.

The female loves to be handled, but the new male is just scared to death of everything. I don't think he has ever been in a tank where he could see out and he just stays in a corner on the hot side or cool side so at least he is regulating his temps. I haven't handled him for a week, hoping he would chill out but no change.

I even offered him a pinkie and he denied it. I brained the pinkie and held him up to it and he licked all the fluids away but refused to eat the whole thing so I just kept squeezing the fluids out and he lapped them up.

I also mist him twice a day because I do not ever see him drink from his bowl.

What can I do to get him to eat? I feed mealworms and crickets each night and wake up and clean them out in the morning...it never seems like he eats anything. It's starting to worry me. He is fat, and was very healthy when I got him so he had to be eating before. I haven't noticed any weight loss yet.

Should I worry? How do I get him to eat? I have had him for 2 weeks now.

 

[Tony C]

Those temps are way too low, the hot side needs to be 15-20 degrees warmer.

 

[SnakeLady1990]

w/ the heat pad they are higher. he is regulating his temps fine, he goes to the cool side during the day half the time and back to the hot side to warm up. When I put a thermometer on the ground of his tank it's about 90. His one at the middle of the tank on the side says 78. (my bf stuck it in the middle for some reason so I use another loose thermometer and stick it in there from time to time on the hot side.

 

[SnakeLady1990]

I can take pics, would that help explain?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Those temps are way too low, the hot side needs to be 15-20 degrees warmer.

90 is still a bit low. As Tony pointed out, 15-20 deg warmer! Your boy cannot be regulating his temps if they are not correct. Direct misting the gecko can further stress him. Some of mine get misted on the enclosure sides and they can drink from that if they want. If they are too stressed they will not eat.

You will need a probe thermometer to measure floor temps.

 

[malt_geckos]

I think 90 is a decent temp for the warm side. However, if you want your gecko to eat really well, I would crank it up to 92 or so. We had some of our females at 94 to help with their eating during and after ovulation.
If you just got the male, I would leave him alone for atleast a week. Let him settle in and then slowly start handling him. Some breeders don't handle their babies much so they aren't very socialized. Good luck!

 

[malt_geckos]

Also, I wouldn't mist him. That could be stressful. Just keep a dish of water in his tank and a moist hide using paper towels. If he's not drinking out of the dish, he can drink off of the wet paper towels in the moist hide (that's what a lot of ours do and then they go to the water dish).

 

[SnakeLady1990]

I think I read the temps wrong. Here are a few pics. The temperature strip behind the plant reads 84 degrees. The one on the hot side below the lamp reads 90-92 degrees. Then on the cool side it's 74. I really need to get a temp gun...

Here are some pics of the tank, hides, light placement, food and water placement, ect. There is also a heat pad on the hot side. I have a blue 40 watt bulb and it's a 20 gallon tank.

 

[SnakeLady1990]

I think 90 is a decent temp for the warm side. However, if you want your gecko to eat really well, I would crank it up to 92 or so. We had some of our females at 94 to help with their eating during and after ovulation.
If you just got the male, I would leave him alone for atleast a week. Let him settle in and then slowly start handling him. Some breeders don't handle their babies much so they aren't very socialized. Good luck!

I haven't handled him in a little over a week. I have had him for two weeks. I only handled him when I first got him to take a few quick photos. I clean his cage every day and provide fresh water since he always gets sand in it.

 

[SnakeLady1990]

ok, so I will keep the temps up around 92-94 on the hot side, and stop misting him directly...does it matter where the food is placed or anything?

 

[Tony C]

They need a humid hide, and if that is calcium sand I would switch it out for natural sand, sand/soil, or a non-particulate substrate.

 

[acpart]

Some of these guys can hold out for a long time. When I got my super snow male, he didn't eat or poop for 2 weeks. I see that you have background covering 3 sides of the tank and that should help. Making the hot side a bit warmer should also help (but I dont think it should be 10-15 degrees hotter than 88 as was suggested). Other than that, just keep feeding him and "ignore" him a bit. I have rarely seen my geckos drinking water but they do. If you're seeing urates eventually, he's drinking.

Good luck,

Aliza

 

[Grogshla]

ok, so I will keep the temps up around 92-94 on the hot side, and stop misting him directly...does it matter where the food is placed or anything?

nah man. If you are feeding worms just chuck them in some calcium dust and maybe some vitamin dust every few feeds and then put them in a bowl.
If feeding crickets do the same and you can choose to remove their jumping legs. I don't think it is necessary though.

Remember these guys will eat if they are hungry! so don't stress out mate. Just give him some time to get used to the warmer temps and he will be fine. Be sure that he can get a similar lighting set up to real environment. Light during the day and nothing at night.

 

[Tony C]

(but I dont think it should be 10-15 degrees hotter than 88 as was suggested)

The original post stated that the warm side was 78, which is why I suggested 15-20 degrees warmer. 15-20 over 88 is definitely overkill.

 

[bzlizzy]

just give him some time to settle down. my girl didnt eat for almsot 2 weeks when i first got her. she ate like 1 cricket and 1 superworm in the first2 weeks. and i panicked as well. but after 2 weeks plus, she suddenly ate 4 crickets in 5 mins! man she was starving definitely. and i was so glad that i shrieked in joy when i saw her eat! :main_thumbsup:they just need a little time to settle down. :main_cool3:

 

[lpcad]

That light could be stressing him out.

 

[acpart]

The original post stated that the warm side was 78, which is why I suggested 15-20 degrees warmer. 15-20 over 88 is definitely overkill.

Maybe the poster edited it before I saw it. By the time I saw it, it said 88.

Aliza

 

[malt_geckos]

So, I don't really think it's necessary to have a light and a heating pad. A heating pad on a thermostat works really well. It works very well if you take out the sand and use paper towel because there isn't a thick sand layer between the under tank heater and the inside of the tank. Also, I would use a moist hide. We take ziplock containers, cut a large hole in the top, and put moist paper towels in the hide. He will be able to crawl in it and he'll deffinately use it. We put ours on the cool side of the tank. Also, is there another leo in with him? I think I see legs under the one "rock" hide?