Need urgent help to nurse stowaway common house gecko back to health!

[garethsouthgategecko]

So my hubby and I were astonished to find a rather stunned-looking common house gecko in our toiletries bag when we were unpacking our luggage today, after a trip to Thailand. I'm not sure who was more surprised - us or the gecko. He is about 10cm long, a dark brown-bluish colour, and I'm pretty certain he's a common house gecko.

I'd guess the poor wee bugger had been in there for about 36 hours. It could be more. Somehow he survived being in a plastic bag, probably repeatedly squished, without food, water or much oxygen - not to mention that temperatures in the hold can get ridiculously low. Current condition: He's of uniform colour and hasn't got any spots or leopard-like markings. His tail looks a bit crumpled - it might have been squashed or too cold - but apart from that I think his body is pretty much in working order.

I rushed and and bought a mini terrarium, filled it with woodchips, put in a mini-cave and a water bowl and I've suspended a 40 watt lamp over it. I've also put him by the heater. I am spraying water on him periodically as I've read they need humidity, and I've dropped about 4 mealworms into the tank but I don't think he's eating or drinking - he's just staying put, directly in the light, looking totally astonished and terrified.

Since he's survived this far - and I now feel a real sense of responsibility for his little life - I'd really like to help him survive. Any tips on how to ensure this would be amazing. For example - how many mealworms should I be giving him? Should I be spraying him with water? Should I take him to a vet, or will it just exacerbate the trauma he's already suffered? As a wild animal, will he ever be able to adapt to life in captivity?

Any help would be massively appreciated, by myself and gareth southgate gecko.

Thanks

 

[Kylerbassman]

How small? If those mealworms are big, you could try pinhead crickets or flightless fruit flies. I had a house gecko that was only about an inch in length when we saved him out of a mop bucket. He/she actually had to start out with the flightless fruit flies and we then moved up to pinheads. As far as heating, it really depends on exact species, but around the 80's with decent humidity should be fine. I sprayed about 2-3 times per day. Ours was a Mediterranean house gecko. I used a 5.0 UVB in a Exo terra mini tall and a 25w bulb for a little bit of heat. Get some branches and fake plants. My house gecko never used hides, but always loved finding a leaf to lay under. Unfortunately, we lost the poor thing. My daughter opened up the tank and he jumped toward to front door. She closed it and pinched him in the door (he really was so little). I could tell he/she was injured and wasn't responding well. We unfortunately had to put him down. My daughter is young, but you could tell felt terrible about it. Although, I was with her, and it really was just one of those freak accidents you just hope never happens. Anyway, I hope you do we'll with your stowaway. You should post some pics and I can probably identify what it is exactly. Good luck

 

[Kylerbassman]

Also, when you spray, spray the sides of the glass to leave water droplets on. Many times they won't want to drink from dishes but will however drink droplets off leaves and glass/decor.

 

[garethsouthgategecko]

thank you, thank you, thank you! any help at all is massively appreciated.

he is about 3 inches long, I'd say. I'm picking out the smallest mealworms to drop in for him (about half an inch long), but I think they've all burrowed into the woodchips. Perhaps he is still too shellshocked to eat yet. Good tip with the spray, by the way - I was spraying onto his skin directly as I wasn't sure if he was supposed to stay wet (the air is currently VERY dry here, so humidity is hard to maintain) but now I will aim at the wall instead. I'll get a decent-sized leaf for him to hide under too. Should I leave the lamp on at night as well? He's right next to the heater, so he won't get cold.

thanks again!

 

[Kylerbassman]

No lighting at night. Try and get a few of those suction cup fake plants that you can drape down and maybe a few pieces of bamboo and or branch for climbing. Then drape the plants over the branches to give lots of little nooks and crannies. I would try to dust feeders with some type of calcium/ vitamin. The UVB should help also. If you do notice a temperature drop, you can try a blue night bulb and or a dimmable CHE to keep temps up a bit. Watch that substrate, it will get moldy and may be a pain to find fecal's. if I were you, I would just use paper towels as substrate for now so you can keep it clean and also monitor fecal's. I kept my setup almost identical to a crested gecko setup except a little more heat. Keep it in that 75-85 range, but like I said, unless I know exact species, it's hard to say exactly. Also, I can direct you better on feeding and supplements if you find out what type of gecko it is.

 

[Kylerbassman]

Oh, and your very welcome. I totally understand where your coming from lol.

 

[leezard]

If you can, get it some small crickets. All house geckos I have had over the years would not eat meal worms. It is possible yours will but the crickets have a tendency to move more and attract there attention better.

 

[garethsouthgategecko]

Thanks! I will give the crickets a try. Somehow I feel slightly guiltier about feeding him crickets than mealworms, but he's my responsibility now so I guess I'd better give him what he needs!

 

[garethsouthgategecko]

It's so good to have all this info! I'll get some more landscaping stuff for him today then - I've got the calcium and vitamin powders, so I can cover everything in that. Good idea to get rid of the substrate; he's not really using it, but his food is - it to hide under! Oh, and I think he's a Hemidactylus frenatus, having looked up several different species.