Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI. I just got my first crested gecko! I'm really worried about him though because he hasn't eaten anything since he got home. He's been home for six days and finally last night I put a cricket right up to his nose and he ate it out of my hand. It's the only thing I could get him to eat. I don't know what's wrong. I also don't know exactly how old he is. The pet store said they had him for a couple months though when they aqquired him. I'm guessing he's about a year old. We put baby food in his home every night and crickets. He always goes after the crickets but he usually just gets a mouthful of the substrate.
Cage Setup:
Lots of plants and hideouts (he moves around a lot and seems quite pleased)
Temperature gets to about 76 degrees during the day and 70 at night
Humidity peaks at about 80% at night but otherwise fluxuates a lot during the day getting down to about 40% (this may be the problem)
In a low traffic spot so I don't think it's stress
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Try putting him in a clean tupperware container with a couple crickets and leave him there for a little while. Gecko's are nocturnal so feed him at night and use a red light if you want to watch him. I wouldn't leave your gecko in there for too long, just long enough to see if he's eating. My gecko is usually more interested in me then in crickets when I take him out to feed but once he gets a look at some crickets he's all over it. You can also try putting crickets in a delic cup or small critter cage inside his enclosure. Personally I've always been a firm believer of never letting loose crickets into a cage but thats just me. You will also be albe to keep track of what he eats if the crickets are in a container they can't escape. Baby food is sometimes hard to keep track of but if he doesn't look like he's going for it then try some different types. My guy is pretty fussy and will not eat the same baby food two days in a row. You can also try crested gecko diete or clarks diet. Good luck!

Thanks! We did the tupperware thing and got him to eat 5 crickets! Yay!

Thats great. I've recently had success with finally getting my new crested to eat baby food on his own. I've been placing baby food in a small shallow container in his cage for a few days now without ever seeing him eat. I finally saw him go at it last night. I'm slowly weaning him off crickets as a daily staple. If you'd like to do the same then place the baby food in the same place every night. Try to keep it off the ground of your cage.

Do You have any tips on humidity? The humidity is never constant! It goes all the way from 25% to 90%. I mist him as often as I can to keep it up but I can't stay home all day! When we keep it up oliver is really content and moves around a lot but if it drops way down he's really lathargic.

You can do a couple of things to keep humidity up. Use a moist substrait, I use coconut fiber from zoomed and make sure it is humid, this also works well for live planted plants. You can purchase a cool air humidifyer and put it on a timer for a couple times a day. I used to use this for my jacksons, the only problem hassle with this system was refilling the water resevoir every day. You can install a small waterfall in the enclosure if you have room or just use a small aquarium air pump and a tube connected to a bubble rock placed in a large enough (but shallow) water dish. Personally I like the look of vivariums so I use the moist substrait and mist once a day.

Help! Have had this crested gecko for a few months. It seems as though his condition is worsening and he is slowly withering away. He dropped his tail for unknown reasons a few months ago and has since been getting slower and slower. He's really bad at catching crickets if he even tries and will not eat baby food mixed with crested gecko diet unless it's placed directly on his lips and he licks it off. He sometimes looks at crickets like he is about to pounce but then never pounces. He's not full grown yet... (not sexed).. he's about 4-5 inches long (with no tail). Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe he's losing his senses? Smell/vision? My other geckos kept under the same conditions are doing fine. His cage set up is extremely simple so that the crickets are constantly walking by right in front of him.

i would start here
www.forums.repashy.com/showthread.php?t=210&highlight=invadens