Tips and advice on my gargoyle gecko

[Tye]

I am a new gargoyle gecko owner and got him 4 days ago I have him in a 12x12x18 exoterra with an ambient temp of 72 and a basking spot temp of 80 I spray the enclosure in the morning and in the evening making sure it gets dry in between mistings I have been placing a bottle cap with crested gecko diet in it everyday at the same time. I am just wondering how long it will be before he starts eating regularly( he has not eaten since I brought him home) he is roughly 4-5 inches in length I didn’t want to weigh him because he was already stressed enough. At night the temp drops to 66f I have a ceramic heat emitter but it makes the basking spot that is usually 80f, 84f I don’t know what to do to increase the nighttime temp to a healthy temperature. He also sleeps on cork bark and doesn’t climb at night he crawls on the bottom of the enclosure.

 

[geckoatlas]

give him some time, new environments can be stressful. he'll come around eventually.

 

[acpart]

Temp drops to the mid 60's at night are fine. 84 is do-able but a bit on the hot side. I don't have any heat for my crested and gargoyle geckos. When I had juvenile crested and gargoyle geckos I hardly ever saw them eat. I have an adult crested gecko that I never see eat and his bowl of CGD doesn't ever look like it's been touched, but he's been fine for years. In my opinion, keep offering, consider using a bit of a larger bowl for the CGD to make it more noticeable and don't use the ceramic heater. Also as said above, he may need some time to settle in.

Aliza

 

[Tye]

Temp drops to the mid 60's at night are fine. 84 is do-able but a bit on the hot side. I don't have any heat for my crested and gargoyle geckos. When I had juvenile crested and gargoyle geckos I hardly ever saw them eat. I have an adult crested gecko that I never see eat and his bowl of CGD doesn't ever look like it's been touched, but he's been fine for years. In my opinion, keep offering, consider using a bit of a larger bowl for the CGD to make it more noticeable and don't use the ceramic heater. Also as said above, he may need some time to settle in.

Aliza

And do you think it would be good to introduce some gut loaded crickets to him in a week or two once I start handling him(once a week)

 

[acpart]

Once you can handle him, hold him gently and poke a cricket at his mouth. He'll likely bite the cricket and discover that it tastes good. Once he'll take them from your hand, put a few in the cage and see if he'll hunt them. This is usually the best way to ensure that he'll know that it's food and that it tastes good.

Aliza

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!