New Leo- 2 weeks no eating. please help

[xboxmember1978]

I really need some help everyone. My newest leo that I bought from a member here was shipped on wednesday feb 13th and delivered on friday feb 15th and he is a 3yr old Giant Tremper Albino. His setup includes the following, a 20L tank, Exo-Terra medium heat pad and a Repti-Temp 500R thermostat. His temps are always between 88f-92f and are measured with a digital thermometer with a probe thats right on top of the non-adhesive shelf liner that I use as substrate. He has a cave warm hide and a hollow log cool hide and several other hiding spots including a large bridge.

I have a glass ash-tray that I have 5 superworms in at all times and I can't get him to feed. I have even put the superworms right on the ground in front of him and he doesn't even look at them and want's no part of it. He doesn't seem stressed and is very active at night and even sometimes sleeps right next to the superworms and yet when I wake up in the AM and count them, he never eats any. All my leo's are on a staple diet of superworms so all I have here is the worms but I did go out yesterday and I bought 12 large crickets just for him to see if he would eat them and he also want's no part of them either. I'm pulling my hair out over here.

I'm starting to get very frustrated and also scared that if he doesn't start eating, things might not look good for him. It has been 2 weeks since I have had him and if I'm not mistaken the last time he ate was the tuesday before he got shipped so it has actually been like 17 days since he has ate anything. I don't know what to do. I have the proper setup and I have own leo's for several years so this isn't my first one and I know the right things to do. I know it's quite normal for new leo's to get stressed out with the new surrounding and setup but this amount of time is a bit much, isn't it? My other leo's all took like 5-7 days to start eating and loose the stress after being bought so you can see why I'm starting to worry. Is this situation out of my hands and all I can do it cross my fingers and hope that he will be ok? Does anyone have anything they can suggest or some comforting words that might lead me to believe that this is normal?

 

[Mel&Keith]

Was he eating super worms before? I know that most of ours prefer regular mealworms, they would rather starve than eat super worms. I would suggest trying another food source. It's not uncommon for a Leo to take longer than that to adjust to new surroundings.

 

[xboxmember1978]

His staple diet before was mealworms but the owner did say he liked superworms too and that was a good thing since I really didnt want to have all kinds of feeders in the house and both of my other leos are on supers already so I thought that was a plus since all of them would be on superworms. In my post I did try crickets too. So you think I'm doing all I can and that everything I'm doing is ok? I just feel as though it's out of my hands now

 

[xboxmember1978]

Oh, I forgot to say that when he was delivered he was 111 grams and when I weighed him this AM he is now 105 grams and of course that's another reason why I'm worried.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Adults take far longer than young geckos to acclimate. We've gotten adults that took a month to start eating and then another 6 months to start eating regularly and gaining weight. We've also gotten adults who refused whatever food they had previously been eating but finally started eating something different. You could also take him to the vet for a fecal to rule out parasites for peace of mind. It's also not uncommon for adults to lose weight this time of year even without the added stress of being shipped to a new home.

 

[xboxmember1978]

So what is your opinion on when I should really be concerned? like after 1 month? How long can they actually go without eating? I was always under the impression that 1 month was a deadly amount of time to go without food and that eyebrows should be raised at 2 weeks

 

[johnnyboy4783]

Try large mealies instead of supers! he is still a big guy at 105 grams so give him a couple more weeks. maybe even try crickets to get his attetion

 

[xboxmember1978]

He is 105 grams but he is also 10 1/2 inches long, so he really doesn't have that fat of a tail, now if he was only 8-9 inches and 105 grams that would be a different story...lol...

 

[dprince]

Like Mel and Keith said, it's not unusual for a new leo - ESPECIALLY an adult - to take longer to acclimate. It can literally take weeks, or months. Try regular mealworms, and just know that it's perfectly normal - just stressful for you.

 

[xboxmember1978]

I honestly didnt know that they could go as long a 1-2 months without eating and still be ok. I thought a month without food was in the danger "red flag" zone.


I guess I will just keep doing what I'm doing and hope that he will start to eat soon.

 

[rubym]

We had a female ( 1.5 years old when bought) that took a few days under 2 months to start eating. She lost about 10 grams and I took her to the vet for a fecal and it all came back negative. I was doing morning feeding one day and she acted interested so I gave her a mealie and I don't think she has stopped eating since, LOL.

 

[xboxmember1978]

Well, hearing that makes me feel better. I just wish there was something else I could try but at the same time I can't think of anything more I can do or fix anything I'm doing wrong. His setup is right and he seems happy in it. I just don't want anything to happen to him since I really like him and I also paid alot for him.


I have only taken him out of the tank 3-4 times since I have had him cause I was wanting to leave him alone til he settles down and starts to eat.

 

[Nigel4less]

I actually know the owner(No Names Mentioned) but my Adult I got from "Him" is acclimating very well, I am feeding him regular mealworms. So you might want to try that for now.

 

[xboxmember1978]

All my local petshops only carry crickets and I get my superworms online so I would have to get the mealworms online too, however all of them will only ship out on monday,tuesday or wednesday's so they dont get stuck in transit for the weekends.

So even if I order now, they wont be shipped out til monday or tuesday and they prolly won't get here will thursday so that kinda blows...lol..

I have already tried crickets and superworms and he wants none of them and I just have a gut feeling that I will be spending the money on mealworms for nothing just like I did with the crickets.

The chances are pretty high that he just isn't picky cause I don't think I have ever heard of a leo not eating crickets...lol...they all seem to love them and I guess I will give it more time like others have said and see what happens since everyone seems to agree that 2 weeks without eating isn't a long time.

Buying these 12 crickets I bought the other day reminds me on why I can't stand them..lol..not only the noise but they don't live long at all. I'm already down to 8 of them...lol...it's been about 2yrs since I have bought any and now I remember why I switched to superworms

 

[Ipsl]

What about like a bait and tackle store? They might have them

 

[xboxmember1978]

What about like a bait and tackle store? They might have them

That's where I use to get my crickets years go since they are like 75% cheaper then the same crickets at a pet store. My local bait shops only carry crickets too.

If I'm not mistaken my bait shop sells crickets for 50 for $3.00 or 100 for $5.00 and my pet shop sells them for 12 for $1.00 which is a total rip off and they both get them from the same cricket farm, infact one time I was in the bait shop and one of the pet store workers came in and was buying some crickets cause the pet shop ran out !!

 

[curiousKathy]

I will second the suggestion to try mealworms and give him another 2 weeks to get settled. With the adult I adopted it took her a month of me not trying to handle her to let her settle. Are you handling him? Maybe you could give him more time without handling to settle in. I just talked to Angel in a soothing voice and didn't try to force feed her or pick her up for about a month. Then one day she climbed up on my hand and while I was cleaning her tank I found her new poop spot, so she was obviously eating... In the year that I have owned her now I have NEVER seen her shed...she is VERY private.

Do you have a moist hide in his tank? Has he shed since you bought him? I would love to see pics of your new leo...I think I saw his tail in one of the pics...

Hang in there!

curiousKathy

 

[malt_geckos]

Well, We have had a gecko that didn't eat for about 3 months...he was an adult. He is now starting to eat so I wouldn't be worried after just two weeks.

 

[Bodon]

My rescue baby didn't eat for 3 weeks once, and it wasn't as nearly as big as yours so i wouldn't be TOO worried just yet...