Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought an adult gecko last week (one week today). He ate the night after I brought him home - 3 crickets in about an hour (from a bowl). The petstore was only feeding him crickets so I've started him on what he's used to. A couple days later he only ate one cricket (this would be Wednesday - 4 days ago). He hasn't eaten since. He goes to the bowl and digs in, even tries to take a nip, but then just walks away.

- 20 gallon tank - warm side of substrate is 90 degrees, hide spots on both sides.
- I offer a couple crickets, in a bowl and running around in the tank.
- I remove the furniture to make it easier to chase if he wants to.
- He doesn't look like he's preparing to shed.
- He sleeps most of the day and comes out and plays at night. Looks happy and healthy.

Should I be concerned? How long is too long for a gecko to not eat? Should I be doing anything different? Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!!

- Denise

maybe he is to stressed cause he just moved in? or that you are removing everything? but it hasn't been so many days yet.... let him get used to his new tank for a little while... and if you have crickets in the tank all the time they seem to loose interest in eating so just give him as much as he wants everytime and then pick the remaining crickets out of the tank...

I leave the crickets in the tank for about an hour, then remove them. When he started refusing the food, I tried removing the furniture. But the couple times he ate, he ate from the bowl. I thought maybe it might be an adjustment thing, but it's strange that he would eat the first half of the week (even though only a little) and not the second half of the week. Any other ideas?

pardon my english now i'm a swede how does the [bleep] look? is it ok?? no sand or anything in there?? maybe he is constipaded? not sure if i spelled that right... when i haad a gecko that refused to eat i gave him baths and then finally a biiig lump of sand came out and he started eating..

Well, everything look okay "down there" I just tried giving him more crickets this morning (his night-time vs. my night-time) and he ate one. He still, at first, tries to bite at them but gives up and turns away. Could the dish be too slippery? That seems odd to me, but you never know. It's a ceramic dish used to feed hamsters with. Also, I have him on Zoomed Repti-bark and not sand. It's what the petstore had him in and recommended. I really appreciate getting advice from you guys!!

-Denise

ok well i have all my leopards on sand 0.8-1.2 mm and it works very good... i don't like having them on anything else except for the juveniles which i have on paper/wet cloth... and i don't feed my geckos with in a bowl i just throw a few vitamindusted crickets in there and let them hunt them... that could be a thing also that he's not triggered to bite cause he doesn't get the "chase" situation... my snowmale did the exact same thing he just turned away after a while so i started feeding him with one cricket at a time that he chased and then ate....
hope this helps a bit...
/marcus

Thanks for your help. He ended up eating two this morning, so I feel better. I've been trying crickets in a bowl and also running around, but the ones he's eaten have been from the bowl. Anyway, I guess he just needs some time to adjust. Maybe he's not a big eater either and will only take a couple at a time a couple times a week. I'll keep offering and see what kind of routine he puts me on Again, thanks for your help!

-Denise

anytime... i'm glad that he's eating... gl with him now