House gecko help

[Saffron]

Hi there,

I am based at a University in England and earlier today our porter came up to me with a baby gecko he found next to one of the bins in the car park. I have looked it up and it appears to be a very juvenile house gecko (about 1" long to his stump as he has dropped his tail). Where he came from I have no idea, as far as I know we have no wild geckos in our country as it is too cold, although we have had a warm week. I have put him in a small glass tank with a fine mesh lid, a piece of tree bark for him to climb on/hide under, a very shallow water dish and a heat lamp that is currently heating the tank to 70 to 75 degrees F. I went straight out to our local pet store and bought some tiny crickets (about 1/4") and have coated them in a powder that a friend uses for her fat-tailed geckos which apparently adds extra vitamins. I put 2 of these small crickets in his tank and have tried to leave him alone so that he is not disturbed but he is showing no interest in his food at all. Is there anything else that I can do? How long can he go without eating?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have grown quite fond of the little guy.

Cheers,

Saffron.

 

[geckogirl3]

my house geckos will sometimes go 3 months before she will eat, you are fine

 

[Saffron]

my house geckos will sometimes go 3 months before she will eat, you are fine

That is great! I was just worried as this is so little and from the literature I have found online he could have only just hatched today. He has pooped which means that he must have eaten something in the wild so maybe he has already eaten today. I am just glad we found him, he wouldn't have lasted much longer in our climate.

 

[geckogirl3]

my gecko is 2 years old and is 2 inches too. they are very small geckos!!!

 

[BrightReptiles]

Is try pinhead crickets as 1/4 inch may be too large for it. Also flightless fruit flies work well for smaller reptile species as well.

 

[Saffron]

Is try pinhead crickets as 1/4 inch may be too large for it. Also flightless fruit flies work well for smaller reptile species as well.

Thanks for the advice, I will see what I can find in our local pet shops. He still has not eaten anything so have just left the crickets in with him. Hopefully at least one will be gone by morning

 

[M_surinamensis]

I have looked it up and it appears to be a very juvenile house gecko (about 1" long to his stump as he has dropped his tail).

That's a bit older than a "hatched today" house gecko neonate. Is it possible for you to post photos? It's tough to take pictures when they are that small without some experience in macro photography, but a clean shot of the dorsal surface and one from either side will usually result in a more definite ID. Pattern on the back, the shape and proportions of the limbs and digits, the proportions and pattern of the head. Ventral as well, if you can get one, but it's not as frequently needed.

Where he came from I have no idea, as far as I know we have no wild geckos in our country as it is too cold, although we have had a warm week.

They get sent around the world with a number of products produced in tropical and subtropical climates. Depending on exactly which house gecko it actually is, they are also established as invasives in North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, portions of Australia and even southern Europe. It could have been anything from wicker furniture to a bunch of bananas, they're easy to overlook when shipping things. Or a potential escapee of course, they're kept as pets, as feeders for pets and sometimes by biology labs as the reptilian equivalent of white mice, zebra danios and fruit flies.

I have put him in a small glass tank with a fine mesh lid, a piece of tree bark for him to climb on/hide under, a very shallow water dish and a heat lamp that is currently heating the tank to 70 to 75 degrees F.

Depending on exactly which species of gecko it is, that may be more or less appropriate in terms of the physical setup. Water can be a bit tricky with many arboreal species that are inclined to lap condensation and may not drink from a standing bowl, stress and light and hides can dramatically alter behavior... and depending on how you are measuring that temperature and which portion of the enclosure that actually is, it's likely cooler than is ideal.

Any aspect of which can affect appetite and metabolism.

Is there anything else that I can do?

Double check the environment, get a definite species ID, verify the husbandry parameters.

How long can he go without eating?

Depends on ambient conditions and his overall health. They tend to be opportunistic feeders, and sometimes go through seasonal fasts when the weather makes prey availability decrease. However, if he has a missing tail than he also has higher immediate nutritional needs and young animals have not developed nutritional stores the way older animals have had the opportunity to do, higher metabolic rates associated with growth than with maintenance of adult animals.

A bit of an aside, but you should disregard pretty much everything said by Geckogirl3. She is apparently eleven years old, doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground and has been neglecting geckos to the point of death for some time now. She lacks credibility and has been asked by other members to stop opening her word-hole on subjects about which she knows nothing several times now.

Normally I'd simply suggest looking for multiple sources of verification for any information obtained from any source; books, websites, forums, what someone else says they know (including myself, if you're doing due diligence) but that particular avenue, Geckogirl3, is simply devoid of all value. Bad noise, discard it as the random and untrustworthy nonsense that it is.

 

[Saffron]

Thank you M_surinamensis! I will take some photos and post them later today. He is doing very well at the minute. He is eating between 1 and 2 small crickets a day and his stump has healed over nicely and is red/angry looking anymore.

I have since found out that last year there was somebody doing behavioural observations on Turkish geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) in the University. He has finished his observations and taken his geckos home to keep as pets but apparently some of them escaped from there tanks last year and were known to be living underground near the hot water pipes that supply the University buildings. As he was found next to the bins outside the biology department I think that this is a pretty good bet!

I have done some research on Turkish Geckos and he is identical to the majority of pictures that I found. I have not been able to find any good looking care sheets so have been going off the ones I found for the house gecko as they seem to be very similar species.

I have changed his heat lamp for a mat as he hated the bright red light and spent most of his time hiding away from it. The new heat mat is only under 1/4 of his new tank so he has warmer and cooler areas to go to. I have spent much more money on him than I was planning to but it is worth it as he is very rewarding and I want him to be well looked after.

Will post photos soon

 

[Saffron]

Sorry that was supposed to be "is not red/angry looking anymore"!

 

[Dimidiata]

I agree with trying wingless fruit flys, their a bit slower then crickets and easy to catch. Missing a tail means he will need some food in him. Cant wait for pics, sounds like your getting on top of things.