Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Not sure if I'm jumping the gun here, but I'm kind of concerned over my crested's apparent lack of eating. It doesn't seem to be getting thin or anything, but I haven't seen it eat anything. I've tried baby food, it'll take a few licks and then call it quits. I've tried crickets, and considering I just scooped 8 out of it's tank I know it's not eating them. It's also ignoring mealworms. I've had it for almost 2 weeks, could it just be taking a long time to adjust to a new home? Temps in the tank are in the upper 70's to low 80's during the day, down to low to mid 60's at night. I'm misting the tank at least 3 times a day.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

Howie
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1.1.0 Green Anoles
1.0.0 Jeweled Curly Tails (Big Guy)
0.0.1 Crested Gecko

How old is your gecko? What size enclosure is it in? Juvenile cresteds often have a hard time catching crickets especially in a large enclosure. A small Critter Keeper works great in my oppinion for small cresteds. Also, a lot of young cresteds will ignore crickets at first, prefering baby food, a meal that is much easier to catch. How are you offering the baby food? Though cresteds will lick baby food out of a small dish, I like to hand feed babies until I am confident that they are eating on their own. This is probably more for my own piece of mind than for the cresteds health, but it is also an enjoyable experience. I hand feed them baby food either with a small spoon, or my prefered method, from the tip of my finger. It is also quite possible that your gecko is just taking a little while to get settled in. So just keep a close eye on him, try hand feeding if you already haven't, and move him to a smaller cage if he is in a larger one.

Brian

It's in a 20 gallon tank. I'm not sure how old it is, the pet store didn't know. I've tried giving it baby food on my finger & the end of a chop stick, it only eats a tiny bit then moves away. I've tried the baby food every 2-3 days, with some crickets in between. Guess I'll stick with the baby food for a while, any "flavors" that would be best? I've got peach & apricot.

Thanks,

Howie
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1.1.0 Green Anoles
1.0.0 Jeweled Curly Tails (Big Guy)
0.0.1 Crested Gecko

If this is a young crested, a 20 gallon tank is much too large. This size enclosure would only be appropriate for an adult. Cresteds usually ambush prey that happens to walk by. It's just much more difficult for a small gecko to catch prey this way in a large enclosure. If we are dealing with an immature gecko, I think it would be worth while to invest in a critter keeper to house it until it is larger.
As far as baby food goes, peach, apricot, bannana, and plum are the most preffered. Try a variety. Some geckos like one more than another. Also, if you are really woried about it not eating, try dabbing a little baby food on the end of its snout. Your gecko will almost surely lich this off, getting some nutrition and possiblly developing more of a taste for the fruit. Also, be sure you are supplementing the baby food with calcium and a multivitamin if that is all it is eating.
Again, I recommend you move your gecko into a smaller enclosure at least until you are confident it is eating.

Brian

How big is your gecko? I'd say a 20 gal is too large for a smaller crested, but larger ones would be ok. A good place to go find out info is this site here.
Link

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-Idiotshot
3.2.4 Crested Geckos (Marty, Skitz, Flip, Houdini, Domino, Tongues, Peep, Chomps, Siren)
2.1 Ball Pythons (Oedipus, Achilles, Tempest)
0.2 Spotted Pythons (Spots, Echo)