Sudden behavior change in gecko?

[ammr3b]

I took on a male juvie about one month ago and he came in a 10 gallon from the previous owner. He is roughly 5 months old now and seemed to be getting a tad big for his tank so I got a 40 gallon long front closure and made it bioactive because I hate cleaning tanks out. (I also have my crested gecko in a bioactive terrarium so I am familiar with the mechanics of them).

I moved him 4 days ago and he has become painfully shy since the move. He used to come out and watch what I was up to but now he hides as soon as I enter a room. He even refuses to eat from his bowl if I am watching where before he was practically taking the worms out of the bowl as fast as I put them in.

He has a warm and cool side. On the warm side there is a basking spot during the day that reaches about 90 over a rock. He also has a heating pad under his moist hide on the warm side that is always on. The soil there stays between 82 and 85 at all times. This makes it during the day that the warm side air temperature is about 90 and the cool side is about 82 during the day. At night the air temperature in the entire tank drops to 74 but it stays warm in his moist hide as mentioned. The tank is sprayed once a day and the humidity cycle ranges from 70% right after misting to dropping down to 40% for a few hours. He had 4 hides total (moist warm, dry warm, dry middle, dry cool)

Does he just need time to adjust? Is there something wrong with the temperatures making him behave oddly?

 

[panthergecko]

Yeah some geckos need more time to adjust than others. I would give him a week of hands off and watching him from a distance he can't see you from

 

[acpart]

I agree that it may take him awhile to get used to the new and larger space. I also think that 90 air temperature, though it's probably not contributing to that behavior, is too hot. It could possibly dehydrate the gecko. I'd recommend keeping the under tank heater and ditching the overhead heat source.

Aliza

 

[ammr3b]

I agree that it may take him awhile to get used to the new and larger space. I also think that 90 air temperature, though it's probably not contributing to that behavior, is too hot. It could possibly dehydrate the gecko. I'd recommend keeping the under tank heater and ditching the overhead heat source.

Aliza

I’ll definitely watch for dehydration. He had a nice big poo with plenty of hydration just yesterday. He doesn’t often come out when the light is on but I have found him enjoying the warmth of the basking rock right after the lights turned off. I have a different bulb that only reaches 87 would that be more acceptable temps?

 

[acpart]

I like my leopard gecko enclosures to be in the mid 70's air temp, though it's lower in winter and higher on hot days in summer.

Aliza

 

[ammr3b]

Oh wow that’s cooler than I would have thought. Do you happen to know what you keep your ground temperature at? Sorry to be nosey I just want to be the best keeper I can for my little guy.

 

[acpart]

Hot side ground temp 90-92 and everything else is whatever it is in my house. I have 48 geckos and have been keeping them since 2003 (my oldest is 17!)

Aliza

 

[ammr3b]

Hot side ground temp 90-92 and everything else is whatever it is in my house. I have 48 geckos and have been keeping them since 2003 (my oldest is 17!)

Aliza

Ok I might have to look around and see if I can find an underneath heater that can accomplish that. Since it’s bioactive the substrate is pretty thick to allow plant growth. I might have to keep some kind of over head heater. I’ve noticed that if I mist right before the light goes off that humidity hovers a little higher for the night before drying out when the “sun” comes back on. Maybe I will start that as the new misting schedule to provide extra moisture if I can’t find a heater that can get the job done

 

[acpart]

I've used an under tank heater with a bioactive enclosure. Just make the substrate a little more shallow where the heater is or use a hide with a floor (I make my own ceramic ones) and bury it partway in the substrate.

Aliza