My goldie can no longer stick to walls

[illmatik]

Hi Guys. I've got a golden gecko, about 10 years old.

He lost his tail (For the second time) about two months ago. I was handling him (I do it very rarely) and he got startled and dropped his tail.

It's been about a month and a half...his tail is growing back but I'm worried for his health.

His color is dark a lot of the time now and he doesn't seem to be eating much. I never really saw him eat with my own eyes very often, but there was always lots of poop in the cage. Not so much lately.

My main concern is he can no longer stick to glass. At first I noticed he was sliding down the glass, but today I noticed him try to jump on the glass 3 times. He didn't stick at all and fell right back to the ground each time

He doesn't seem lethargic...if you get his attention his head will move around and if you startle him he'll run around quickly.

I've tried to feed him "Jump Start" to get his appetite back on track but I don't know how on earth you force feed a golden gecko...he does not like to be handled at all let alone force-fed. The best I can do was drop a little on his face and sometimes he would lick it off.

I dont think he has MBD because this all stemmed from his tail dropping...I feel like he's just malnurished and starving himself.

I attached a bad pic...I'll try and get a better one. Please help...I'd hate to lose my buddy :/

 

[T-ReXx]

He doesn't look excessively underweight, but regrowing a tail takes a lot of resources. I would HIGHLY recommend not handling him at all. Try feeding crested gecko diet, when I kept goldens they loved it, and it's an excellent way to put weight on them. Combine that with gutloaded crickets or roaches. Feed often, daily if possible. Keep the humidity and temps in the enclosure correct. The inability to stick is likely related to a lack of balance with the loss of the tail. It can also indicate shed issues if humidity is too low.

 

[illmatik]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm not sure if he's eating at all... I've got a dish full of dusted mealworms and waxworms and he doesn't seem to touch them. There's also 3-4 crickets jumping around. I also put in some crested gecko diet every night, I have no idea if he's eating it.

The not being able to stick still worries me. I don't think it's a balance issue because after he lost his til he was still able to stick. As the days went by I noticed him sliding down the walls to the point where he cannot stick at all now. He's completely stuck to the ground...the only thing he can do is jump and hang down from the top of the terrarium...and from there he can't even get down unless he drops onto a tree.

I don't think there's any way to forcefeed a golden gecko like I've seen folks do with Leo's... the best I can do is put a drop of liquid food on top of his head and sometime's he'll lick him up. I'm worried this is just prolonging his stress and his ability to eat on his own.

Any ideas? thanks...