Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, my son and I have purchased a Leopard Gecko as a pet. We purchased the stores set up, followed their directions, and our 4 1/2" friend hasnt eaten yet. We have had him/her 5 days, and after a few calls to the pet store for advice, still nothing. They do not seemed too concerned, just said to add a few more into the 10 gallon tank. Currently there are 5 in with him, but nothing. The ask if his tail is fat, but it was never noticably fat. He seems alert and prowls, follows the crickets with his head when they walk by him but nothing. So after some research, I found this forum and am asking for advise/help to make sure our friend makes it. The pet store said that they would exchange it for "one that eats", whatever that means...I think the whole process will just repeat itself. Is it due to new surroundings? Tank set up? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have noticed that when he is walking across my hand, I will sread my fingers and the belly seems to have a dark spot visible from underneath. I'm assuming these are internal organs but maybe not? Thanks again, looking forward to learning from you all. Tim

My leos seem to have a dark spot if i remember correctly and as of 5 min they are all confirmed as healthy (long story). It could be of some kind of concern, i'm sure someone with more experience can consult you on this problem. Anyway... to the food... you are feeding crickets huh? make sure they are good size... too big and they will not eat them for sure, mine like crickets that are bout half the size of their heads/ If you are OK there then try an alternate food source. 2 of mine dont like crickets, they are stubborn and only eat mealworms. Try getting about 1" mealworms and see if they eat these... ALSO this is what helped my guys A LOT... PURCHASE AN UNDER TANK HEATER! before i got one my guys were only eating 1 mealworm/cricket everyother day, i just got done feeding 2 geckos 12 crickets and the other 2 8 mealworms. This will make them much hungrier (set the heater for about 90 degrees).

If none of this works, do what i just did... I got chicken baby food and mixed it with calium and a bit of orange juice (with calcium) and i spoon fed them about 5 times a day for two days (these guys wouldnt eat crickets or mealworms for about a week). WELL after about a week of not eating they just got dont eating 12 crickets about 10 min ago...

GOOD LUCK!
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Hello,
You've found an excellent resource here. Leopard geckos are easy to take care of once you have them set up right, so hang in there. Dubomb makes a couple of good points, especially about using small crickets and using undertank heaters. You can try putting a people-type heating pad under one end of the tank. Feeding at dusk can help too.

Here are two caresheets that are particularly well written:
* www.djreptiles.com and
* www.pythons.com/lg-care.html by (Billy and Alan Zurich)

If you want to email me or if the caresheets leave you with any questions please feel free to email me via Kingsnake's link (top of post as Poster).
Good luck to you all!

>>Hello all, my son and I have purchased a Leopard Gecko as a pet. We purchased the stores set up, followed their directions, and our 4 1/2" friend hasnt eaten yet. We have had him/her 5 days, and after a few calls to the pet store for advice, still nothing. They do not seemed too concerned, just said to add a few more into the 10 gallon tank. Currently there are 5 in with him, but nothing. The ask if his tail is fat, but it was never noticably fat. He seems alert and prowls, follows the crickets with his head when they walk by him but nothing. So after some research, I found this forum and am asking for advise/help to make sure our friend makes it. The pet store said that they would exchange it for "one that eats", whatever that means...I think the whole process will just repeat itself. Is it due to new surroundings? Tank set up? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have noticed that when he is walking across my hand, I will sread my fingers and the belly seems to have a dark spot visible from underneath. I'm assuming these are internal organs but maybe not? Thanks again, looking forward to learning from you all. Tim

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Andrea A.