Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok i bought a male leo from steve sykes at geckos etc. He looks great, nice and fat and very beautiful. He was shipped last monday and arrived last tuesday the 29th. I know animals get stressed out from being moved and put into new enviroments and i may be making a big deal out of nothing but he hasnt eaten anything yet I've tried crickets, mealworms, and threw a couple wax worms in there and he doesnt seem interested at all. His temps are perfect (90.3) on the hot end and about 78.7 on the cool end. Hes got a hide on each end and a moist hide, and a water dish. He weighed 50 grams when i got him and he now weighs 47 a week later. I just wanted to know what is normal time for a leo to not eat after getting shipped. Oh and i also have black construction paper over 3 sides of his aquarium to help him feel secure. Please give any information you have. thanks everyone
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coheed196
1.1 raptor leos (gordo, sunshine)
0.1 beardie (scarlet)
1.1 veiled chameleon (e-yore, trixie)
1.1 panther chameleon (apollo, polly)
0.1 jackon's chameleon
0.1 albino burmese (peaches)
1.0 pit bull (ajax)

I will admit upfront that I have no direct experience with shipping reptiles, I've seen it mentioned here several times that it can take up to (and sometimes slightly more than) a week for them to settle in. If he's still not eating in a few more days, then you might start to worry, but obviously if you've weighed him twice, you've been handling him, which induces stress as well. I'd say leave him be for a couple of days apart from offering food. These guys are pretty resilient; he'll most likely come around.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

It sounds like your geckos is stressed about something, you just have to figure out what he wants. ( They can be finicky sometimes ) Make sure the temperature gradient in the cage is right… 90 degrees in the “hot spot” and 78ish degrees in the cooler area. I like to keep paper towel roles, cut in half length wise to provide a dry hiding area, and an appropriate sized container filled with moist vermiculite at all times. You can even place multiple hide tubes in the cage and offer the geckos a choice of where they will hide. I recommend not offering food to newly shipped geckos for 2-3 days. This gives them some time to explore their new home, without being pestered by insect prey or another gecko. Make certain he or she is alone. You may also want to contact Steve and ask him how he had the gecko set up. I’ve had some odd/picky geckos come in and not eat until I put them on newspaper like the original owner had them set up. ( I keep almost all of mine on paper towels ) I have one gecko that was a problem for me that I picked up from a friend. She just wasn’t interested in food.
I spoke with my friend and found out she was keeping her on dry mulch. ( Not the best idea ) As soon as I put her on mulch, she went nuts with aggressive feeding. Go figure !
Keep us updated.
Hope I helped.
Steve
Lucky Dragon Geckos

Have you spoken with the person you purchased your gecko? I'm sure he would probably be willing to help you out and offer some suggestions and or advice. Most breeders I would think, offer some sort of follow up help with their sales.
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

2.1 chocolate labs and bassett (Harley, Barker and Capone)
1.0 leopard gecko (Nacho)

The name explains that you got a 100% healthy animal. Being put in a delicup and placed in a box is stressful. From there imagine how many times that box was bumped, rolled, dropped, shook. From there it gets a new strange looking and smelling home... STRESS

Leave him/her alone and let it settle in. I assure you it'll eat once it gets past the stress of a new home. ust keep fresh food in the dish and water in the bowl.

Ciontacting Steve would have been your best bet. That's why you bought from a quality breeder(Steve), so you had good genetics and customer support.
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MY SITE

Yes thanks to all of you. I have contacted Steve and have sent him pictures of the new geckos house. We are working together on what can be done to help ease the stress on the little one.
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coheed196
1.1 raptor leos (gordo, sunshine)
0.1 beardie (scarlet)
1.1 veiled chameleon (e-yore, trixie)
1.1 panther chameleon (apollo, polly)
0.1 jackon's chameleon
0.1 albino burmese (peaches)
1.0 pit bull (ajax)

Steve is great! I am sure between the 2 of you it's be right back to eating shortly.
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MY SITE