Will this Help???

[stephanieluffsu]

Okay well, i've just gotten my gecko about a week ago. And I've been feeding him mealworms(he's a juvenile) The first day i brought him home he was eating fine. And the second day. and so on.But as the days kept going, he stopped eating. So i purchased some crickets for his size, and put two in his tank. He wanted nothing to do with them for an hour, so i took them out.
I don't know if this would help or anything, but i took two black pillow cases, and put them on 3 sides of the cage, (10 gallon glass with paper towels as substrate,warm side with UTH about 85 ish degrees, warm hide, humid hide, cool side (room temp) with 2 hides also. I have a water bowl and food bowl in there)
and now its darker in there, because i know they are nocturnal, i thought maybe this would help a bit? Or hurt? I don't really know, but he seems a bit more active, roaming around his tank.

 

[Charlie]

Hello,

Leopard geckos need to know a night time and day time cycle, so by you putting the tank in total darkness its continstantly thinking its night time. Yes it will become more active but it will within time start to stress the gecko out.

The fact your gecko is not eating might be due to the fact it isnt hungry anymore. I know one of my males use to love crickets, feed him mealworms for two weeks and now he wont touch crickets again. Yours might be the same, try the gecko on small hoopers (locust) instead as he might find these easier to catch. You could always put a small bowl of mealworms within the vivarium/cage so he is able to eat them when he peases.

Your temperatures and the way you have the vivarium/cage set up sounds spot on to be honest, so i doubt there is a problem there. I wouldnt of feed him till a week after you brought him, or handled him, this would of let him settle in a little bit before stressing him out.

Feel free to ask anything else
Charlie

 

[stephanieluffsu]

Hello,

Leopard geckos need to know a night time and day time cycle, so by you putting the tank in total darkness its continstantly thinking its night time. Yes it will become more active but it will within time start to stress the gecko out.

The fact your gecko is not eating might be due to the fact it isnt hungry anymore. I know one of my males use to love crickets, feed him mealworms for two weeks and now he wont touch crickets again. Yours might be the same, try the gecko on small hoopers (locust) instead as he might find these easier to catch. You could always put a small bowl of mealworms within the vivarium/cage so he is able to eat them when he peases.

Your temperatures and the way you have the vivarium/cage set up sounds spot on to be honest, so i doubt there is a problem there. I wouldnt of feed him till a week after you brought him, or handled him, this would of let him settle in a little bit before stressing him out.

Feel free to ask anything else
Charlie

Thanks so much charlie

 

[Charlie]

No worries anytime

 

[Dog Shrink]

Actually keeping a temp around 85 is too low for a leo, and I'm pretty sure this has been mentioned to you before on other threads, he isn't eating likely because he isn't properly digesting his food from the previous feeding with the inadequate lower temps. get his temps up to the 90-95 range and see if that helps. Covering 3 sides of his tank will not mess with his day/night cycle if there is adequate lighting in the room going thru the frot open side of the tank. He'll still be able to tell day/night. I have 3 sides of my tank covered with insulating material except fora bout 3 inches at the tops of the sides but the back is covered straght to the top of the tank. His eating issues are most likely temperature related. Maybe this thread will give you a better idea of what temps most people keep their leos at. http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=62570

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Temps should be higher, around 90. 5* lower makes a difference with their appetite and digestion. As long as he can see light from the front and top, the sides covered may help him reduce stress.

 

[Pinky81]

+1 Kal and Laney! Your temps are too low! Mine at about 95degrees on hot side!

 

[stephanieluffsu]

How do I get my tamp up?? I'm using a UTH

 

[fl_orchidslave]

How are you measuring your temps? You need a digital probe thermometer on the warm side floor to measure surface temps. It should read above 90 at all times for a youngster. That will keep him eating and growing at a normal rate.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Also how thick your substrait is will affect how efficient your uth works.

 

[stephanieluffsu]

I'm using a thermometer, plaved on the floor, flat. It's reading about 88 ish now. And its right over the UTH. I have 1 paper towel as substrate.

 

[Dog Shrink]

What kind of uth did you get? Size and wattage if you know plz.

 

[stephanieluffsu]

The heater is :
Nature's Heat, Under Tank Dry Heater.
http://www.petmountain.com/show_pro...utm_term=11442-505204&utm_campaign=performics
It says it goes to 90-100 degrees, a nd you can control it with the amount of bedding.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Glass gets cold in the winter. If your room temp is on the cool side it's more difficult for a heat mat to keep the aquarium warm enough. Are you using a 5 or 9 watt, and which size? Some form of insulation or a secondary heat source may be needed. Others have had this issue so hopefully they can offer advice.

 

[stephanieluffsu]

Glass gets cold in the winter. If your room temp is on the cool side it's more difficult for a heat mat to keep the aquarium warm enough. Are you using a 5 or 9 watt, and which size? Some form of insulation or a secondary heat source may be needed. Others have had this issue so hopefully they can offer advice.

I don't know the wattage, but the size can be used for either a 10 or 20 gallon glass tank.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

They have small, medium, and large...... which one do you have????

 

[stephanieluffsu]

small

 

[Dog Shrink]

I didn't see anything in the write up about the temperature rangeit is suppose to emit but from what I know of those heat mats is that they aren't the greatest for higher heat output. I read about 100+ reviews when I was deciding on what uth to get for my elo and I didn't see much praise fot nature's heat. Most people that I know that have them, get them because they're inexpensive but they can never reach 90 degrees. You acn try putting a layer of tin foil over the uth between the uth and the table, make sure to leave one side of the foil untaped so it can breathe, or a piece of insulating board with some holes poked in it (again so it can breathe). This will help redirect all the heat upwards so you're not losing any heat thru the bottom of the uth onto your table top. Honestly If I were you I would return it for either the next size up or a better grade uth. Being in Ohio where you see winter 8 months out of the year you're going to need a good uth.

 

[stephanieluffsu]

Okay maybe i can go out and get a new UTH this weekend. thanks.

 

[LizardPants]

I recommend the Ultratherm UTH's. You can get them at the Beanfarm, and other online retailers.