Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recieved a Golden Gecko (Gekko ulikovskii) on Christmas Eve. She is 3 years old. She was originally kept in a ten gallon tank with sand as a substrate. She had a small water dish and her previous owner thought she needed no humidity. From what I can glean from the internet this is a humidity loving species so this is how I set her enclosure up.
20 gallon tall glass aquarium with about a half an inch of organic peat moss, two potted pothos plants, and a large water dish to up the humidity. I have a plant light set up on a timer for six hours daily and a dark towel draped over half the cage to give her refuge from the light. I mist the tank with warm water twice daily. She currently has no heat source but the temp stays at a constant 76 degree F.
I think she is very stressed from the drastic environment change. She does drink a little bit when I mist, but she has yet to eat in my care. She appears healthy, no bones showing and her tail is nice and round, but she constantly stays a dark color. I think I am going to get an undertank heater today and set it up on the same cycle as the light.
She stays behind the plant on the towel side by day and comes out from behind it at night.
Any tips on getting her to feed or on heating? Does this setup sound OK for this species? She is very beautiful and I want to take very good care of her. Could she just be temporarily stressed from the move?
Thanks for any replies, she is my first gecko and I need advice!

Audrey

Make sure the gecko can hide in the day

Good Work

Thanks.... That helps set my mind at ease. I guess I should give it some more time to acclimate. But, like any newb, I always worry! Plus species info is hard to find for such a common gecko. I dropped a few crix in about ten minutes before the light went out, and she was watching them very intently. Maybe she fed over the night! I will just be happy when I see those beautiful yellow/green colors again! Should I set up an aboreal hide besides the plant and the dark towel?

Goldens will hide on the ground or in a tree.What ever you perfer

You'll find there's very little info on the net for Goldens. The husbandry is similar to that of Tokays and white-lined geckos. Yes she is stressed from the changes, they will turn very dark when stressed. You will need to give her a heat source as soon as you can as the temps need to be higher than 76F if you want to see her start to eat. This is one of the most common problems I see people have with goldens who refuse to eat.

She will be more active, less stressed, and will eat and digest better when the tank is kept at around 90F on the warm side, 80F cool side during the day. Try not to let the whole tank dip too much lower than 75-80F at night. An overhead heat source is better than an undertank heater for aboreals, but having both won't hurt. Humidity should be kept around 70-80%.

I would recommend that you also keep the tank well planted and provide many places to hide and things to climb on like branches, vines, rocks, caves, etc. Your gecko will feel much more secure this way. Pothos and snake plants are very easy to care for and hold up well. You could maybe also add some leafy plastic vines stuck to the glass on the sides and back of the tank.

They also eat fruit. You can try feeding a bit of mashed fresh fruit or jarred baby food every few days once she begins eating. My goldens love apricot, banana, peach, and Hawaiian Delight.

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to send a message.