[somerchooks]

Hiya all ,

Iv had my gecko for a few days now , iv never seen her eat anything ,
so 3 days ago i counted all the meal worms i put in and the crickets . and all 3 times all the mealworms and crickets were still there ., last night i even put in 2 waxworms and even they were still in her bowl .
as far as i know she is between 3-4 months old .

[xtons]

hi , i think this is very common with new homes , my male didnt eat for 10 days , temperatures can effect their eating aswell , the male wont eat anything from his bowl , i have to hand feed him , (use twezzers for mealworms) that way i know he is definatly eating , he eats every day now , my female eat from the first day though , all from her bowl , i guess some leo's are just fussy
hope this helps

[swizZer]

I must have been very lucky with Elliot as he ate some mealworms the night after I brought him home. I suppose they are all settle in at different rates though

[somerchooks]

thanks for your advice , iv tried to feed her using the tongs , she isnt interested , she isnt all that used to be handled by the looks of things either .
can they be forced fed if neccesary ?
also she does not have a fat tail either .

[xtons]

my picture is my female at about 4/5 months , u should weigh yours weekly to check for weight loss , mine is still gaining 2g a week , shes 23g now , if shes not used to handling , try leaving her completely alone for a few days , then try feeding with just 1 mealworm to see if she takes it , if she does , success lol , but if you check back in the forum , you will see a week or so is very common for them to not eat

[*si*]

Agree with xtons. my new leos came 4weeks ago, took 2weeks in there new home before they ate. leave her to it for a few days, let her settle and return. What are your temperatures at the moment? does she have a hide to settle down in? i would personally leve a few mealworms in a bowl, just in case. the problem with hand feeding is if they are very young or not used to handling they will concentrate on nothing but hiding from you, i removed all the dectoritive things from my hide and left 1 hide and 1 water bowl, i then put in 4 crickets and left them for a few hours and returned, im sure you'll find once she's settled all will be fine, just check your temperatures and as xtons said try monitor her weight if possible. Is she pooing normally? if shes pooing then shes probably eaten too.

[xtons]

good call si

another thing about hides , with my first leo , i got a cave one , which he 'hides' in all the time , the baby female i bought from a leo breeder , who recommended the half round logs , it gives them security , but they can't disapear from veiw , so if your around it can see you and not freak , makes sence really , and works for me , again its a hit or miss situation , also the baby likes being handles , climbs up your cloths etc , but the male really dont like it , so i leave him alone really , i put a new cool hide in his viv and it spooked him big time , took about a week for him to get used to that , let us know how things are goin in a week or so chooks

[somerchooks]

thanks everyone , im proberly worrying over nothing , mind you i am a first time keeper .
i bought her and a complete set up from a school kid , who from what i was told bought her during the summer holidays , so when he went back to school he just didnt have the time to look after her properly . it came with 2 hides plus 2 logs that she could get into also , i have removed the 2 logs .
temp wise i have a heat rock in there , feels barely warm though but i suppose they are supposed to be like that so as not to burn them .
there is also i think its a 7watt heat mat . my temp is reading 23.5 at the moment but it can sometimes come down to 20 .
I took some pics of her last night i'll try and get them on here soon . also her substrate is sand am i right in thinking from what iv read that she is to young for this ?

[xtons]

id say ditch the sand for now , use kitchen roll , it doesnt look good i know , but is far safer for a baby leo , atleast till shes about 40/50 gramms or ever more , my male is in a viv and the baby female in a plastic tub untill shes full grown , like i say , kitchen roll to us doesnt look very appealing or natural , but if shes got hides etc to mooch around all should be well , might upload a few pictures of my set-ups soon , or have a look on youtube , theres 100's of owners films on there , and some good tips

[swizZer]

and just to add to xtons post, you can also have good (and nice looking) results by using cushion backed vinyl as a substrate. That's what Elliot's got