New baby from petstore - not healthy or very young?

[bethanboys]

Looking at pictures of various leopard gecko babies, he/she seems to fit with a newborn hatchling then any others! Unless he/she is unhealthy and not eating well...because its tail is not fat, just normal looking (like newborn hatchling tails).

We got him at Petco on Saturday afternoon, it is Monday afternoon now and he has has three normal poops - one today as well which is a good thing because his belly looked all blue and it worried me (reading about impaction/etc.) He was on sand when we got him, and I had him on sand for 24 hrs. before I did more indepth research. He's been on paper towels since last night.

But he's so small! And a skinny tail! He is about 2.5 to 3" long and fairly translucent skin. He hasnt eaten any mealworms on his own yet, but yesterday my son hand fed him two mealworms. I worried about it being too much, but pooping today is a good thing right?

Now I just need to fatten him/her up and see if he will eat on his own.

I am moving in the right direction now though, I've got his cage temp at a steady 82/85 (using a heat lamp that produces light) and I've been dusting his mealworms with Leopard Gecko calcium/vitamins (good thing to use?).
I tried handfeeding him another mealworm today but he refuses to open his mouth at all.

Perhaps is the move just stressful? How many mealworms should he be eating a day? Any guesses on age?

I'm including a picture:
His/her name is Pele (pay-lay) after the soccer star athelete because my son got him for doing well during his first year playing soccer.

THANKS!!! My son would be devasated (and so would I!) if this little guy didnt make it. But I know it's a reality. Perhaps next time a private breeder would be better then Petco?

 

[gaparicio]

Hello. For now, try to leave it alone for a while. Monitor his temps at all times. Leave a mealworm dish in there and the gecko will soon eat if everything is ok. Leave a small capful of calcium as well. A heat lamp might be good for now but you might want to switch to an undertank heater or some heat tape. Leos, especially babies don't like bright lights, they stress out much easier. It was a good idea that you took the young one off of sand. Hopefully in a week or two, you'll see a difference in his eating habits. Good luck and give us updates on how your leo is doin.

 

[marula]

generally,when they came from pet shop need more time for start to eat and look well...(my first one for pet shop don't came outside during day for 3 weeks! and start to eat after the first week)
i think she/he have eat something (look fat ;-))...the tail need more time for return to a normal condition..
..and at pet store they don't usually "deworming" geckos...so..a test for the fecal worms is a good idea.....
..next time ..for sure is better buyanother one from a reputable breeder ;-)

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

First of all, a cage temp at a steady 82/85 (using a heat lamp that produces light) is not sufficient. Leopard Geckos, like all reptiles, need to thermo-regulate... in other words, they need a warm place (90 degrees belly heat) to go when they are cold, and a cool place (normal room temperature)when they are too hot. This is best achieved using an under-tank heater (UTH). Proper temperatures and thermo-regulation are essential for the gecko's digestive, immune, and metabolic systems.

I would also recommend taking a stool sample to a qualified veterinarian to rule out the possibility of any parasitic infections. Most parasites are treatable if caught early enough.

Good luck with the little one... you are on the right forum for help!

 

[bethanboys]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I forgot to add that yes, there is a under the tank heater in addition to the heating lamp. Also, the 82/85 temp is just by using a thermo. strip near the bottom of the back of the cage (the hot end).
The area by the eating pad feels pretty warm to the touch though.

Also - I have both the heating lamp and the under the tank heater on the same side to get the temp up on the hot side (the rock hide is also on that side) . Is that okay? Someone told me not to have them on the same side because it could crack the tank? On the non heated side, I have a large piece of wood (purchased from the petstore).

Thanks!!

 

[Stitch]

In my experience any time the bottom of the cage felt pretty warm to the touch, it was too hot. Those little thermometers that you can buy at Petco will not give you accurate ground temps, they are menat more so for air temps. You really need a probe or a temp gun. You can get a temp gun for $25-30 for what you need. I use the PE-1, you don't need anything bigger then that. (http://www.tempgun.com/main.html).

With a UTH you don't want the entire hide laying on top of it. Not that it will crack the glass or anything, you just want half the hide covering the UTH and the othe half off of it. This will allow the gecko to move around the hide and adjust his temps a little. But you still need a hide on the cool side. What you want to be careful with is getting the warm side wet. The heat from the UTH and cool water can cause stress cracks in the glass. This will obviously weaken the glass and if something heavy is placed on top of it, could cause a collapse.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Actually, you don't need any type of overhead heat or light for your little gecko. Also, if you have just a plain old mercury thermometer you can just lay it over the hottest spot on the bottom of the enclosure to tell what the surface temperature is. Usually, the commercial UTH's don't get too hot if they are the appropriate size for the tank.

 

[bethanboys]

Thanks for the tips!

Actually the guy at Petco said the same thing - that he doesn't NEED a overhead light or lamp, as long as we have a under the tank heater.

However, the tank is in my son's room which is downstairs and has NO windows. So during the day, it's pretty dark in there. I read that Geckos need 12 hour days/12 hour nights. I thought that providing SOME artificial light during the day even would help. I got a 60 watt reptile heat/UV (?) bulb in a clamp lamp thinking that a 60 watt would at least not heat up the tank TOO much but provide that "daytime" light and a LITTLE bit of extra heat.
However, I've noticed that even with that lamp on, if my son's room heater is turned off, the temp on the temp strip in the tank goes down to 75-80 unless I crank the room heater...so the lamp isn't doing much it seems anyway. BUT perhaps that temp strip just isn't very reliable like you said.

We have an overhead regular (non-heat) tank light on the other lizard tank. Perhaps I should just use that during the day time on the Gecko tank instead?

I've noticed that "Pele" has been hanging out more and more on the "cool" side of the tank under the driftwood (also his pooping area) whereas usually he'd spend all his time in the rock hide on the hot side. Perhaps it's getting too hot during the day time with that heat lamp on?

BTW - Still no eating on his own, but I successfully handfed him three mealworms today. (He opened his mouth on his own - defense mechanism? - and I put one end of the mealworm in his mouth and he gulped it down on his own.) Today is day 3 of owning him....I'm hoping he starts to eat on his own soon. Perhaps I need to just leave him alone as suggested, but it's so hard to let a little guy go days without eating!

How many mealworms does a baby eat a day on average?

Thanks so much for all the advice!!!

 

[BalloonzForU]

Are you measuring the floor temp in the tank or the air temp? If that is the air temps those are fine, the ground temp on the hot side is the one that should be about 90. If it's correct he will start eating before you know it. Just give him some space and time, so as not to stress him out and keep him from starting to eat on his own.

 

[LadyGecko]

Congrats on your first Leo!!
:main_thumbsup:
It sounds like you are on the right track with your new little one
Leopard Geckos really do not need any overhead lighting on the top of their cages/tanks
They are nocturnal and too much bright white light can stress them and imo that UV light is way to bright for a Leo
If the room has no window-you can just leave a room light on for the daylight period of time and that would be sufficient
If Pele is hanging out more on the cool side of the tank it does sound as if it is getting too hot on that side and you need to get an accurate reading on the temps on the hot side
What size tank do you have him in now-a small (10 Gal) is easy to use for one baby but using any overhead light in addition to a correct sized uth can make it too hot in the whole tank because of its small size
You can also get a digital thermometer with a probe on the end of it(under 10 bucks in housewares in most dept stores) and lay the probe flat right on the top of the area over the uth-that will give you a fairly accurate reading-do the same to get the temp on the cool side
Incorrect temps are one of the main reasons for Leos not eating but since your little one has just been moved into a new home-it might take a while for him/her to get with the program
It is encouraging that he/she will eat from your sons hand
You can buy an escape proof meal worm dish or use a very small glass ashtray and put meal worms dusted with plain calcium powder in there and leave them there all night for him to munch on
Use your vitamin/mineral powder once per week on the meal worms or on crickets, or any other insect that you might be feeding
Change the meal worms with fresh every night and if you count how many that you put in the dish-you will have an idea of how much that he/she is eating each night
As for how much they will eat per night-it can vary with each Leo baby but they should be eating regularly once they settle into their new home as they are babies and should be constantly growing
Has anyone told you about their sheds and what they do with the dead skin yet??

http://groups.msn.com/LadyGeckosLizardLounge/aleoshed2.msnw

I took those pics a few years back with a very cooperative Leo
Some Leos will shed in their hides and the only indication that you will get that they are ready to shed is that they turn a milky white color and then the next day that you see them-they will appear with nice bright color
Also be prepared for changes in the pattern of your Leo as they get older
Colors can fade and/or intensify and spots disappear or increase depending upon the morph
Leopard Geckos are a really fascinating lizard and will give you many years
of enjoyment and pleasure and be cautioned-THEY ARE HIGHLY ADDICTIVE
lol
Just ask anyone on this forum
:main_laugh:
Sandy
PS-Pele is a very pretty albino- I look forward to seeing many more pics of him as he grows up
PPS-don't hesitate to ask about anything that you are unsure of-this place is a fountain of info from some very knowledgeable experienced keepers and breeders
Also just scroll through the various topics here- the people here are very helpful -this is a GREAT forum

 

[cheeseball705]

baby crickets

i noticed no one mentioned the possibility of feeding baby crickets to the little guy to. also i have seen small mealworms available for them as well. when both my leos were small i fed them a couple small crickets evry other day or so, and they seemed to do ok wiht them. petco should have them in their food area least that is where i got mine.

 

[Stitch]

Cheesball is right, some leos prefer one food item over the next. If you can find out what he was being fed before this might help get him jump started on eating.

Also, I suggest that you not use a UV light to control the daylight mainly because he is an albino. Their eyes are more sensitive to light. So you might not want the light to be directly over the tank. Just enough light to make him think it's day time.