Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i got a new gecko a while ago (like mabey a week or 2) i had seem him eat a few crickets but now he has seemed to have lost intrest and he isnt eating any more... what do i do??

he definately looks thin. There tails should have a nice fat padding, even at that age. Where did you get him from?

It is important to know howyour gecko is set up...what is the substrate? What are the temps? how are they measured? Is he housed alone?

It might be parasites, thats the first thing i would suspect, if you can get a fecal sample bring it to the vet to be looked at. If he isn't eating - therefore not producing any fecals i would schedual a vet appointment with a good herp vet and get him looked at, he doesnt look very healthy

keep us posted!
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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
1.1.2 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo, Louise, Orion, Jeffrey Nothing)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

well.... i did see him eating a few crickets b4 so i know he was eating...He lives on his own and i have a hot rock he seems to ignore the crickes now and i keep a fresh water bowl... there have been lots of poops but i bet its from the crickets they seem small i did see a white kinda large one though. anyway the hot rock has a bottom on it and it isnt too hot. i have that sand (thearta? sand or something like that) i left a few crickets in there and i got him like that....

Hi Sparkicks. He may be a bit stressed still from the move. I do have some advice though for his setup. Get rid of the sand and the heat rock. Both can be very dangerous, especially to young leos like the one you have. Leos in the wild live on rocks in the desert, not sand, and its better to be say than sorry. I say get him some repticarpet and maybe try different foods like mealworms that are freshly molted and dusted with vitamin powder, like repcal with Vit D. Make sure they are gutloaded as well. A lot of young leos have thin tails, so as long as you are doing everything right and the temps are correct, I wouldn't be worried unless he starts losing weight, acting lethargic, etc.

Also, the white poop thing is actually urate and its the gecko's form of urine that usually comes along with the actually fecal material. Let me know how he's holding up. He should be fine by himself.

Yes, your baby's tail is WAY too thin. I would guess the poop you are seeing is not from the crickets as that would be so small you wouldn't notice it. If your baby is not eating or not pooping you need to see a vet ASAP. Here are the basics to care for your baby properly:

Get rid of the sand like now. If you can't get repti-carpet or slate tile right away, then papertowels will do just fine, I'm sure you have those around the house

Get rid of the hot rock, it can get hot spots on it that will burn your baby. For heating you can use over head lighting or an UTH (under tank heater). Your temp on the warm side should be around 90 degrees (give or take a degree or 2) and the cool side should be about 80. If you use over head lighting don't waste money on a bulb that produces UVA/UVB light, your Leo does NOT need it, instead get a Red Infrared bulb, this can be left on day and night. You also can use a plain old light bulb but it will need to be turned off at night. It is very important to maintain a warm side because your Leo cannot digest it's food without it !! NOTE: the temps are the floor temperature, not the air temp. You should use a digital thermometer with a probe.

Feeding: Make sure you are feeding SMALL crickets, they should be the 1/3" - 1/4" size for your baby. Feed your baby as many crickets as it will eat in about 30 minutes. Any crickets left uneaten should be removed as they will stress your baby out and possibly bite it. You should leave a small dish of mealworms all the time. Dust your crickets/mealworms with PURE Calcium (no D3 or phorphorus added) 5 days a week and then with a Vitamin supplement with D3 the other 2 days, most of these supplements have D3. Also, Leave a small shallow dish of the pure calicum in the tank at all times.

Hides: Make sure you have a couple of hides for your Leo. At least one on the warm side and one on the cool side. Also, the one on the warm side needs to be a "humid" hide, this will aid in your baby's shedding and aid in keeping it hydrated. If you don't already have a humid hide they are simple to make, if you're not sure how, just ask & we'll tell ya

Your baby's markings look similar to one of my 5 wk old babies, though I'm guessing your Leo is probably older. Here is a pic of mine showing approximately how fat your baby's tail should be, it is also laying in it's humid hide, I had taken the top off to get the pic:

Here is a pic of one at 3 wks old, this shows the small dish I use for mealworms and you can see part of the calcium dish and you can see they are kept on repti-carpet:

Here is an excellant Reptile supply site, I've found them to be one of the cheapest on things and they have good delivery times, I get stuff within 4-5 days:
www.reptilesupply.com They also still have their digital thermometer on sale for $5.99

Good luck with your baby and please update us on how he/she is doing !!

I have seen a lot of leopard geckos, in good health and otherwise...and that is not just the naturally thin tail of a hatchling...that is a sign of a sign or at least malnourished leo.

Shellys advice is spot on and great. There are a few things you can do to help your gecko along. Most importantly, remove the sand and the heat rock and set up his tank correctly (the way Shelly said to)

also, get a fecal sample to a vet...tails that thin are often found on leos with parasites. I worked at a big name chain pet store for three years, so trust me, i have seen lots of leos in poor condition. Unfortunately. If the fecal is negative for parasites continue feeding at home and keep close tabs on your leos weight. Its a good idea to buy a small digital scale at Staples to weigh your baby. I have a pretty disel one that weighs in grams up to five pounds and it only cost 24$, im sure a less fancy one would be cheaper. With plently of appropriately sized prey items offered several times a day and supplemented properly he should gain weight.

If he does not gain weight or will not eat on his own he needs to see a vet asap. baby leos are delicate and their illness's need to be treated as early as possible to increase their chances of survival.

Even if the fecal is negative i would recheck one a few days or a week or two after just in case. some fecals give false negatives, especially if its not a large sample.

keep us posted. good luck with him
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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
1.1.2 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo, Louise, Orion, Jeffrey Nothing)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

ok the onlly problem is that to all of your answers that i have already splashed out all my money to buy all that. the hot rock he only lies beside and he doesnt really seem to go anywhere other then his little cave(which i have facing out so i can see in outside the tank on the right)anyway.... he also doesnt seem to be intrested in the crickest and it would be sort of akward to change my tank... also i cant heat the underside of the tank either since i have it on a flamable surface.... this is getting really confusing also cus people keep giving me different things to do...

I don't really see any conflicting/confusing information given, we all pretty much told you the same things. First of all, I agree with others that you need to have a fecal test done for parasites. Next, what are the temperatures in your tank? If you don't have a warm side floor temperature of about 88-90 degrees your baby cannot digest it's food properly, and your baby may not eat, it has to have "belly" heat to aid in digestion. You can use an Under Tank Heater, they do not touch the surface your tank is on, the UTH adheres to the bottom of your tank and there are little feet that come with them to lift your tank up off the surface it sits on, all my tanks sit on flammable surfaces (wood). But you can use a lamp for heating instead, as long as it maintains the correct temperatures. I understand spending money on things and not wanting to then get rid of them, but it could mean the life of your Leo. Bottomline, the sand has got to go, especially for a baby. You can't get any cheaper than papertowels for your substrate. As far as the crickets, I mainly mentioned the size that you should be feeding because if they are too big, your baby won't eat them. And as mentioned before, leave a small dish of mealworms maybe your Leo will like those.

ok i understand and i think it might be too cold mabey... i only got an aquarium thermometer so.... and the crickets i got today are a bit smaller for him around the size of...a fly around or around the size of a pointer on the computer.but i dont understand the problem with the sand... when i put down the paper towels how much am i supposed to put down.. i only have cold glass underneath....

just a note that the crickets seem to be sleaping and resting with him like they lie up against him... once when i saw one come near him and his throat went up and down really fast and then slowed as he went away like really fast what does that mean????

oh btw i increased the heat and he ate a few crickets as far as i saw... didnt actually see him eating them but i saw him leap at one and then a while later kinda gulping something down... so
increase the temperature
and smaller crickets.
and he seems to be fine thanks for the advice im planning to take out the sand but wont it be easy to get under the towel? like to dig a hole in it .... and the edges would be pretty easy to get around ...

I myself don't use papertoweling I use repti-carpet so I'm not sure what to tell you, but I've seen most people say they put a couple of layers of the toweling down. It sounds like you have the correct size crickets, just be sure you don't leave uneaten crickets in with your Leo they will stress it out and even bite your baby. Just put a couple in at a time and give your Leo 20-30 minutes to eat them, do give your Leo as many as he/she will eat. The ones that are left should be removed. If your baby is only eating 2 or 3 at a time then you might do this more than once a day. A small dish with mealworms is always great since you can leave those in all the time. Good Luck

ok so i got my gecko to feed anyway what i did was put some smaller crickets in but there is a small problem... most of the time she is too slow... the smaller crickets are just too fast... she managed to get 1 or 2 in the last while but other then that... oh yea she also shakes her tail when she goes to get one but she only seems to try eat whats moving.... if i put in mean worms will she eat them? they dont move much though do they?