Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was in the market for a leopard gecko and had the best intentions of getting one from a breeder, but I ended up getting the lil guy from a pet smart. Anyways, he is mine now.

This is the second night I have had it, it is real small and it won't eat for me. I'm not overly concerned, I think it is just because he is in a new environment. I'm no novice to lizards (or other reptiles), although this is my first gecko, but I am used to the time it takes for a rep to get adjusted. I offer him small live meal worms, canned meal worms, and some canned flies. Basking area is under a hide stone and the UTH keeps the den about 88-90. I read in the lit that it should be about 90, could I increase it a few degrees to encourage higher metabolism/growth? Or is that not a good idea? I only see him hiding, but I use zoomed vita sand (I know the controversy with sand, I used to be a big hater of it, but I kept a bearded dragon for 10 years on sand and knew a leo gecko breeder who used sand without problem) and I saw his foot prints all over the place this morning when I got up. Also saw some poo in the corner, so I know he is active.

Any advice on the eating thing and heating thing would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

First thing's first, any idea how old your new Leo is? Even a relative age would help a lot. Adult, sub-adult, hatchling? Lose the canned foods, believe me, if it's not moving, he's not interested. Keep the live mealworms and if you can, pick up some live crickets. 90 degrees is a perfect hot spot in my opinion, no need to crank up the heat. If your Leo is anything less than an adult, I would highly recommend you lose the cali-sand until it reaches adulthood. You really don't want a baby Leo with sand impaction. Signs of stool are a definite plus, no need to worry about the feeding, just give him the right amount of time, maybe about one week with no handling. Hope this helps, I'm sure you'll get responses from others as well.
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Reptiles:
2.2 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Box Turtle
0.1 Corn Snake

Bird:
0.1 Jenday Conure

Pups:
2.0 K-9

and lots of tropical fish!

-Patrick

Hi you are keeping the right temps no need to go higher then 90 though as for the canned food no good they like things that are live and moving that maybe why it is not eating.Make sure you gutload the food and dust it before feeding.
Unless your new baby is atleast 6 inches long I would ditch the sand for now. I use sand myself but only after they are a good 6 inches long and nice fat tail. Sand impaction is very comon with smaller leos. Hope this helps. by the way nice pic of the iguana but I wish you posted one of you new baby maybe next time.

I think the meal worms were too big as well.
I got some tiny crickets and dusted 5 and put them in the tank, the other 5 are in a container with some gut load. The gecko just seems annoyed with the crickets when they come into his rock den. Hoping I'll wake up to fewer crickets. How long could a baby gecko go without eating if he is just being too scared about a new cage to eat?

That really depends on his age, size, the size of his tail and how healthy he is. Post a picture so we can can give you a more informed answer.