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I am a first-time owner of a leopard gecko. It is unusually warm in the area, but I have been monitoring the temperature in the enclosure and it doesn't exceed 86 degrees at the "hot" end. I have a dry and humid hide, clean filtered water, calcium powder, and gut-loaded crickets. I am allowing 12 hours of light a day, etc. I think I'm doing everything right as I researched a lot prior to purchasing my new addition.

I picked out my gecko from a pet shop on friday. I believe it is pretty young because of the coloring and the size (about 3-4 inches approximately). It has a skinny tail, which I'm not sure is normal for a very young gecko or not because I haven't found too many pictures of hatchlings that includes the tail. It seemed alert, had all the proper digits, etc. Once placing it in the terrerium at home, I left it alone till the evening when I put in a powdered cricket. The gecko lapped up some water, and hunted the cricket almost immediately. I was very happy that it seemed healthy and "normal." That was the first and last time I have witnessed my baby eat and drink. I am beginning to get very worried as it seems to want to hide all day AND night. It is not consuming crickets (even very small ones) and I haven't observed any water drinking.

The small tail is beginning to worry me as I wanted to get it fattened up as soon as possible. The gecko is so small and fragile-looking to me that I can't tell if it is dehydrated or not. I haven't observed any poo in the cage yet, either. I am really scared. Today I found what appeared to be the cricket I fed to it. I fished it out of the cage and examined it, and didn't observe any fecal matter. It smelled a bit putrid so I am assuming it was regurgitated. It may have been too big (the pet shop picked out the cricket size - perhaps they were wrong). Now that it is gone, the cricket is showing no interest in live food. I am becoming increasingly worried. Is this normal? What should I do???

I have attached a picture of the gecko - you can see the tail in it. It is of it eating the first cricket (I got a bit too much calcium on it I think). Can somebody also let me know if the tail looks "normal" for a gecko this age??

Thank you all so much!

It looks a little thin, but not too bad. What substarte do you have it on, rocks? For a baby that small it is good to use paper towels or newspaper. Then you can also keep track of what it is eating and if it is pooping normaly.
The hot end should be around 90 degrees and there is no need for a light cycle as they are nocturnal.

Read marcia from ggg's care sheet it goes over everything-

http://www.goldengategeckos.com/careleopard.html

I would just make sure you have the husbandry right and see if that helps. Mealworms are also a good feeder option. I start all my babies on them.
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Sarah H

imageevent.com/sarah_h

Hi, not sure if this will help but I had 3 hatchling albino babies a while back, they were my first, that died. They just stopped eating. Are you trying to feed him at the same time every evening? Remember they are nocturnal. Also do you have him in a too big of area? We had a gargoyle gecko that would not eat a thing until we moved him into a smaller area and he started to eat! Now he's huge and can be moved back into the larger area. It may seem small but we put all our hatchlings into kritter keepers until they are well established. Good luck!!!

Mine would stop eating for a day after stuffing themselves on crickets. Depending on how much you feed it, if he's very full he may stop eating for a day or two. I don't there is anything to worry about. Good luck!

Hey,

If it was only Friday when you got him, then I wouldn't sweat it yet. It's normal for baby or new leopard geckos to stop eating for the first week or so when you get them. They tend to stress easily, so the whole ordeal probably has your baby worried.. As far as eating a cricket and then spitting it up, he probably acted on impulses because he was hungry, but felt too stressed to digest it. Also, he may be drinking at night or any other time you're not around. I rarely see my geckos drink and I have seven of them, lol. Like, I said, I'd give it at least a week from the time you got him and see how it goes from there. Just offer him food every day and if he puts his nose up to it, try again the next day. Let us know what happens within a weeks time. Good luck and don't be shy to ask any questions if something comes up, there's almost always someone here who can and is willing to answer.

-Brittany

Thank you all for your quick insight. I have removed the rocks and replaced them with paper towels - not as asthetically pleasing, but at least I can monitor the poo that way. I also ran down to the pet shop and they donated some meal worms to me (because they're SOO expensive, j/k). Hasn't touched any yet that I can tell. I took the little guy out and dropped some filtered water on its nose and it licked a few drops up, just in case it isn't getting water at night. I also noticed a dark greenish spot on the belly, so for pictures of that and more info please see my newest post.

I will keep everybody updated. I am really attached to the little bugger, even though its only been a few days. I went back to the pet shop and was really sad to notice that its old cagemates save one seemed to have put on some mass since I last saw them. I hope mine starts eating soon. I wanna fatten up that skinny tail ASAP.

One "quick" help with a gecko that is not eating is to try wax worms. These should never be used as a staple for leopard geckos but I've found them to be one of the favorite meals for leopards. They usually work when no other alternative will.
Long term though, monitor the ins & outs.

Wally

If he/she doesn't start eating and fattening up soon, I am going to start calling it "Mary Kate Olsen." Just kidding, that would be mean... To the gecko.