Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently bought two fat-tailed geckos, and sibce I have had them (about two weeks) neither one has eaten. An experienced gecko-keeping friend of mine said that often they just take a long time to get accustomed to a new home and can live off of their fat deposits for quite a long time. Is the accurate? Is there anything special that I should be doing to help them to eat? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Erin Marie

Hi there!
Its really kind of hard to answer your question without a little more information. It would be better if we knew What your housing conditions were, i.e. Cage size, substrate, are you housing them together or separate, are they well hydrated, what are you trying to feed, and most importantly, are your temperatures correct. From the pictures there seems to be some white substance all over the geckos which appears to me to be evidence of a bad shed, This was probably left over from who ever you bought them from. I would make sure that you provide a humid hiding area ASAP if you do not already have one for them. It may even be best if you give them a "bath" to ensure they are hydrated and that will also help with the shedding problems. I would also say that it would be best to keep them separated, at least until you get them eating again, and probably better yet, permanently. Housing more than one gecko together typically stresses one of them if not both of them out to the point where they wont eat, and eventually one, if not both will die. Occaisionally, yes, you will get a gecko that will not eat for a few weeks when introduced to a new home. Most will not eat the first day or two. Most will eat within the first few weeks. As long as they are well hydrated you are typically ok. Two weeks, however, is reaching a point where I would be growing a little concerned. If all of your husbandry is correct and your geckos are separated, and they still wont eat, the problem may be more severe, and medical. Your geckos may be suffering from internal parasites that are causing the lack of appetite, and I would suggest taking them to a vet for treatment. Let us know so more information, and we will help as best we can.
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

Okay... so first of all, one of the geckos did eat last night. She had about 5 or 6 crickets that I saw. However she is the fatter one with the fatter tail. She is also the one with the dry skin. The people that gave her to us told me that she was a rescue thay did and that her skin has been that way since they got her. She does have a humid hide too.

I am housing the geckos in a 30 galllon tank. They have paper towel for now as a substrate (any other suggestions?) I have also been checking the temperatures regularly and they seem to be right on. They have a decent sized water dish which i change daily, and I also have a dish of moist vermiculite in there because the female (the one who has eaten) may be pregnant. There are also 3 hides in there.

I hope that this can help you to help me!

Thanks.

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It sounds like you are doing things right. To help the shed problems my suggestion would be to give your gecko a "bath". To do this you get some luke warm and "soak" your gecko in it. She will drink and probably also poop in the water. Let her soak about fifteen minutes once a week, after a while the shed should straighten up. Well, if you have one gecko eating, and the other one not, my suggestion would be to separate them. This way you can find out if the gecko is eating and your not seeing it, or if it is just not eating at all. It could be that the gecko that is eating has a dominant personality and is stressing the other one out. Once you have both of them eating, and you are sure everything is ok, you could try housing them together again. I have four fat tails, and I house each of them separately. It is much easier to monitor the health of each individual gecko this way. As far as the possibility of one of your fat tails being pregnant, you may have some serious problems there. It seems to me that the way you are describing them, and the way they looked in the picture they are fairly skinny, and the female is not in any shape for breeding, and laying eggs. This may lead to serious potential health problems for your female. My first suggestion would be to make sure she is eating, and eating well. Early on it is difficult to tell if a female is pregnant. As it gets closer to time for the eggs to be laid, she will have obvious lumps visible in the lower half of her body. For more information on what to do for egg laying and incubation, there are some great links on the care pages section of kingsnake. As far as substrate goes, first let me say that I use paper towels in all of my cages, it is easier to clean, you can monitor your animals bowl movements better, and you run little if no health risks. If you REALLY want a more natural looking habitat, I strongly adivise against sand, as it runs a much higher risk of impaction than most everything else. When I first got into fat tails, I used cyprus mulch to house them on for a while. They seemed to love it, but I caught one of my males eating it one time and I actually had to pull it from his mouth. That was the straw that led me to using paper towels. I would reccomend that you use some type of mulch if you definately want a natural looking setup. If you have any further questions let me know.
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

About the water dish.. Water dishes are nice if they use them, but I have NEVER had luck getting any of my herps to drink out of them. Fat tails are not used to the concept of standing water and can not see it. I have never had one use a water dish, so what I do is just mist down the cage daily and they drink the water off the walls, and off of the hides, etc. good luck!
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

Dustin,

I don't mean to be disagreeable and the misting is a great idea. Some won't drink from a dish, but some will. All mine do. Along with the misting I would just leave the water dish in and change it when necessary. They will eventually learn there's water in there .

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Hey quig, glad to see you showed up, I was starting to think I was the only one keeping this forum alive lol. But anyway, Like I said, if they use the water dish, thats great for them, I have never had one even go near a water dish. I do have a friend whose leopards use a water dish, but thats the most success I have seen from it. I do wish mine would use the dish,(haha that rhymed) but alas, I am forced to mist them.
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

Thanks so much for the advice guys!

Hey no problem thats what this is all about.. helpin each other out! Let us know how things go. it is really sad when you see animals that are so poorly cared for, I am glad they have found their way to you and I hope you can help them.
-Dustin
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.3 Fat tailed geckos
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa

Dustin,

I peek in here often. Just don't say much till there's something to respond too

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself