Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So i got a skunk gecko from the local petstore a week ago today. He was the healthiest looking one. No ribs, good sized tail. and active. But now its been a week, and it doesnt look like he has eaten at all. There may be a chance he at a meal worm or 2, but that could have been the crickets. His ribs are starting to show, and i can see his hips, and his tail is really thin. he is still active. I know generally they arent great eaters the first week while they adapt. Please offer some advice. how do you force feed? should i start to get worried?

Looking at e-mails, this looks like the same Gekko vittatus that is living with the tokay, right?

It does take time for a gecko to acclimate to a new home, and it is not usual for them to take up to a week to return to a normal eating behavior.

Other disturbance or stressful situations can keep him from returning to a normal eating behavior -- LIKE LIVING WITH A TOKAY! Really, no matter what everyone else has said on this listserve, this is a very stressful situation for your skunk gecko. IT IS NOT NORMAL (have I yelled enough - sorry).

No matter what advice I pick up in a listserve, I always go back and check it against the experts (like Sean McKeown in this book about tokays or articles by Bill Love in Reptiles). If someone else has had a different experience than the experts, then I call that an exception. Exceptions happen now and then, and they are not the rule. Exceptional situations are not for the novice to try. Get the basic husbandry right before trying to experiment. Save yourself heartache, money and time.

Separate your skunk from your tokay and see quick results in behavior and attitude.