I need a little help...

[Summer]

Hi everyone! I am sure you get like a ton of new pet owners freaking out on here and I just thought id add myself to the bunch. I purchased my first leopard gecko. I ordered he/she from petsolutions.com. I got it yesterday at around noon. It is a albino leucstic baby.

I opened the package and put it right into its cage. It is a 10 gallon with green reptile carpet and a drift wood. I have a water dish and another dish that are stone looking. I also have a peice of granite in the tank that my son found on a walk because it stays nice and cool. The hide huts are just gladware with paper towels. I have an under the tank heater (which is currently off) and a infra red bulb. My thermostat for the under the tank heater won’t be here till Tuesday because of the holiday even though i ordered two day shipping! So the infra red is keeping the one side of the tank at about 84ish. (digita thermometer)

So my little guy won’t eat. He walks around the tank and checks things out and then goes in one of his hides to sleep. I threw in some crickets and he shows no interest at all. It said in the directions he would eat after 8 hours and it is now way past 8 hours! I am freaking out. He is licking up the calcium from his dish and he runs over to his water and jumps in and takes a drink and goes back to his hide. What am i doing wrong? i even tore the legs off the crickets so they could only wiggle and he did not care and walked right over them! I ordered a scale and it won’t be here till Tuesday either. I may get him some wax worms?? I know they are for treats only but they don't have meal worms around here for sale. Any help would be appreciated. I'm super worried.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

It can take much longer than 8 hours. It can take days, even a week for a gecko to eat (though that's rare). The fact that the temps are too low will also slow down his metabolism, which means he will be less likely to eat. Plus, he needs three hides, not one. He needs a hide on the warm side, a hide on the cool side, and a humid hide in the middle. Geckos need to be able to feel safe while moving around different areas of different temps, which is why one hide isn't really enough. The red light also isn't really the best thing as geckos see this light much better than we do, and it's a totally unnatural color for them (imagine having your own world bathed in red light for extended periods of time). Ultimately, though, it's probably just not been long enough.

~Maggot

 

[Summer]

Thank you so much for your reply! I am so glad to hear from somebody!!!

Yikes. Well the pet store guy told me that he wouldn't be able to see the red light and then charged me 15 dollars for this light bulb! How retarded am I to believe that. It is a limited pet store that only really sells fish and hamsters.

I thought the tank was only supposed to get to 85 which is what it said on the care sheet. I can move the light closer and it will easily go up to almost 95. I have been watching it close and figured out where to put it so it stays at 84ish. I can move it closer. When the thermostat gets here i'll fire up the under the tank heater but I don't feel safe turning it on without it.

I have two hides. I dont know how i will fit three. I guess i'll have to buy smaller ones and cram them in there. I'm thinking i needed a 20 instead.

 

[Summer]

This is our new little guy! I'm in LOVE, I'm in LOVE, and I don't care who knows it!!

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Thank you so much for your reply! I am so glad to hear from somebody!!!

Yikes. Well the pet store guy told me that he wouldn't be able to see the red light and then charged me 15 dollars for this light bulb! How retarded am I to believe that. It is a limited pet store that only really sells fish and hamsters.

Never, never, never listen to pet store advice. Ever. The reality is that the chances you'll find a pet store worker who is very knowledgeable on the particular reptile you're getting is very, very slim. They likely received some very basic training with info that was bad that's supposed to just make you buy things. I have seen so many people (myself included) who've ended up with sick or dead reptiles by listening to pet store advice.

I absolutely don't recommend the use of colored lights at all. Just about anyone who has ever tried them and then tried something like a ceramic heat emitter that doesn't produce any light will tell you their geckos become much more active at night without the constant red light. After having tried both with my girl, I wouldn't ever go back to a red light. I would personally return the bulb and pick up a CHE.

I thought the tank was only supposed to get to 85 which is what it said on the care sheet. I can move the light closer and it will easily go up to almost 95. I have been watching it close and figured out where to put it so it stays at 84ish. I can move it closer. When the thermostat gets here i'll fire up the under the tank heater but I don't feel safe turning it on without it.

85 is a bit low. Ideal range is 88-93 on the ground on the warm side. The cool side is a bit of a debate. Some people say 80 is fine, and a gecko kept that way certainly will be alright, but my cool side stays in the low to mid 70's, and I've seen my gecko use it at that temp, so I prefer to not let it get any higher than about 75 or 76. That's personal preference though.

I have two hides. I dont know how i will fit three. I guess i'll have to buy smaller ones and cram them in there. I'm thinking i needed a 20 instead.

Enclosure size is also a hot topic. Many care sheets say a 10 gallon will work fine, and some people keep them that way without issue. I personally would never keep a leo in a 10 gallon for a few reasons. 1) It's going to be very small once the gecko reaches adult size, and they grow very quickly. I like giving my animals lots of space. 2) It's harder to keep a good temp gradient in a 10 gallon. It traps heat and reduces air flow compared to the shorter, longer 20 long, so keeping the warm side warm enough while keeping the cool side as low as I prefer is very difficult. 3) There's a lot less room for hides. I use a 20 long, which is almost double the floor space of a 10 gallon. I have 4 hides and still have plenty of room for the gecko to walk around (and she uses every inch of it), even with her being well over 8". Personally, I think a 20 long (not high) is minimum for one gecko. But, like I said, that's my opinion, and other people disagree. I am much less experienced than many people who use things and setups I never would (mostly because I tried them and didn't like them), so it really all comes down to preference, truly.

~Maggot

 

[Summer]

Thanks again for your advice. I will most surely upgrade to a bigger tank size when he gets bigger. I put the light closer so the tank is at 91 degree. He came out of his hide one time. I ripped the legs off the crickets so they can only wiggle and put them in the calcium dish. I set it right in front of the wet hide where he seems to keep going in to. He comes out and looks at them and flicks his tongue in and out to smell them but won't eat them. The store that sells the few lizard things that it has is closed now until Tuesday. Nothing I ordered will be shipped here until Tuesday either. I wish i didn't live in the middle of nowhere. I even thought about going to the bait shop and buying some of their worms. I seriously never even considered that if I got a lizard it wouldn't eat. The closest vet is 2 hours away from me. I'm just freaking out.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I wouldn't be concerned unless it goes on for another week or the gecko starts losing weight. The past day or so have been very stressful for your gecko. It was taken out of its old tank, transported back to your place, and put in a new tank with all new setup and all new smells, sounds, tastes, and sights with a person watching its every move. It'll need time to settle in. That's why it's not recommended to handle a new reptile at all for at least two full weeks, so two days without eating isn't something to worry about.

~Maggot

 

[Summer]

I threw in the tiniest crickets I could find tonight. He still shows no interest. I have a towel over the back of his cage so he can't see out. I think that reptile carpet is going in the trash. The crickets go right underneath it. I thought it was nice because it was easy to clean but I don't like that the crickets can hide under it.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

If your gecko has red eyes (looks like he does?), his eyesight probably isn't very good. (My snake has red eyes and her eyesight is horrid.) Usually crickets a bit smaller than the space between the eyes is the ideal size. Too small and they either won't be able to see them well enough or they won't be interested; too big (as in, the size of the thing's head) and they won't be able to eat them easily. But, again, don't stress if he doesn't eat. Just remove any that aren't eaten so they don't start nibbling on him and try again later.

As for the carpet, it does have its downfalls. Smaller geckos can get their teeth and claws stuck in it, crickets can hide under it if there are any bumps, and after a while it starts to get kind of gross. Slate tile is a nice choice. It's easy to clean and looks very nice. I don't use it, though, so I can't give you any specific suggestions on that. But I'd at least give him time to settle in before you think about changing anything up and just make sure it's as smooth as possible in the meantime. You have 15-20 years with your gecko, so there's plenty of time to fine-tune things. No need to rush anything.

~Maggot

 

[Summer]

Yea I think your right.. it does look like he has pink eyes and I do think he has a bit of trouble seeing. I am going to get him some wax worms today because that is all they sell around here. I know its just for a treat but junk food to me is better than no food. Wish me luck. I know it sounds bad too but I cant handle these disgusting crickets and I think im going to be a meal worm farmer. How gross is that. I hope nobody at the hospital where i work finds out about my double life. gross.

 

[Summer]

HE ATE!!! and the clouds parted and the angels sang! I can't even tell you how happy we all are. He was starting to look so sickly and I thought it was over. I force fed him a tiny bit today. I set him back in his tank and he didn't hardly even move. A few hours later he saw me walk by and snapped at the glass. I looked at him totally shocked. He looked like he wanted to kill me! He got some pep all the sudden. I dropped in some crickets coated in his calcium and he snapped them up! I have never seen him move so fast EVER since I got him. I don't know if the tiny bit he ate from my force feed had anything to do with it but he is full and sleeping now. He didn't like the blinds moving from the wind either. He thought he should run up to the glass and snap at that too. He has never acted like this. I hope he doesn't end up being a mean little guy. 5 days of not eating and BOOM! It is finally over!

 

[Dazzling]

I'm so glad everything is going well for your little guy!

 

[Summer]

i forgot to mention that he is a terrible aim. I was worried he would get a bloody mouth as many times as he missed and banged it on his cave or drift wood. Yikes.

 

[Summer]

Thank you so much! I was so worried!