Pet Store Gecko Not Eating, Pooping, or Drinking Water

[oisin]

About a week ago, I bought a Leo from a chain pet store, and I don't think she's doing very well. She's roughly 3 inches long, so very young, and she's not doing much other than laying inside a hiding spot. I have a heat lamp at the moment, but I heard something about Leos preferring heating pads, so I have one of those coming in in a few days. As for food, I've been using a combination of dusted crickets and mealworms, but she shows no interest in either hunting the crickets or worms. Originally I had sand for substrate, but after I saw her nibbling at it I switched to paper towels until she's a little bigger.

I've heard that it can take a while for Leos to get acclimated, but because she's so young I worry that she might starve to death before she feels comfortable enough to start eating. I've been watching her nearly 24/7 and have never seen her willingly leave the space under the log after the first hour she was in the tank. The only time she moves around at all is when I've tried to take the log out for a while to encourage her to look around, but she just settles into a corner and sits there.

Any advice to get her started eating soon? She already seems very thin, and lethargic.

 

[Dinosaur!]

she sounds like a pretty normal young gecko to me personally. Sometimes you just have to leave them alone for a long time (one of mine didnt eat for a month when i got her! ). that means, no touching, or moving things around because that stresses them out more. she also might not be eating because they need belly heat to digest food, not an overhead lamp. plus lamps like that tend to stress them out quite a bit, and that is why she might be hiding. once you get the heating pad she might be more willing to eat and move around. and btw, the sand, even when she is older, is still probably not a good idea. once a sand eater, always a sand eater! what are you supplementing her with and how often?

 

[oisin]

I'm calcium dusting the worms and crickets with 'repashy superfood'. Would she be more interested in eating waxworms do you think?

Tell the truth, she literally just crawled out and started to drink some water, so I have high hopes. I'm fine waiting it out, but I am worried that she won't make it for a whole month without eating. Looking at some of the other juveniles she was with in the store, she looked small compared to the others. I specifically picked her because I only have a 5 gallon terrarium for the next 2 months, and wanted to make sure she wouldn't outgrow it before then. I haven't been handling her, but I have had to move the water bowl out of the tank on a few occasions to put fresh water in, same with the food bowl with fresh worms. Should I be completely hands off, and if so, for how long?

 

[Dinosaur!]

well, i cant add any input on the rephashy superfood, because i dont use it personally, but many people on here do, so hopefully they can chime in on that... as long as she isnt emaciatedly skinny, leos are very hardy, and can go for long periods of time without food. (a picture would help us determine if she is large enough or healthy enough to go without food for a while ) and as for the water bowl thing, thats perfectly fine because they need fresh water, but just try to leave her personally alone for the time being. oh and waxworms should only be used as a treat, and fed sparingly or your gecko could get "addicted" to them, and refuse all other food. this is because waxworms are pretty much pure fat, and offer no nutritional value to your leo. they're pretty much the equivalent of potato chips to humans i hope this helps you out a little bit!

 

[stager]

Even when a move them around in my rack some of my adults will go a week without eating, especially this time of year. What is your temp? maybe to cold. Also please post a photo so we can see the condition of the gecko.

 

[acpart]

Hopefully you mean you're using Repashy Calcium plus (not "Superfood") for dusting.

Aliza