[Sandwichscotty]

so i hav e decided to feed my gecko in a seperate feed box from her cage. Is twice a day for 30 minutes sufficient? what times of day should i do this? thanks in advance

Scotty

[jnk144]

Is your post regarding the same gecko you posted about the other day, with the dropped tail, or a different fat tail?

Even for a healthy juvenile fatty, twice a day is too often. Different breeders have different methods, but most will feed juveniles (who need to be fed more often) every other day and the adults two-three times a week.

If this post is with respect to the gecko who recently dropped her tail, moving her around twice a day may add to her stress. However, if she eats, that is always a great sign. Will she eat mealworms? If so, offering her free-choice mealworms in an escape-proof dish will help her get the nutrition she needs - also put Calcium Powder (with D3 added) and offer a reptile multivitamin/multimineral two to three times a week. (You'll need to change the powder anyways, since the mealworms may die, poop in the powder, etc.)

As for time of day, you should offer food in the evening, as African Fat Tails are nocturnal, would hide during the day and would feed at night in nature. And as for the amount of time the food is offered, most owners will allow the crickets (if this is what you're feeding) to stay in the enclosure for anywhere from 15 to 35 minutes. Personally, since I've had Marv for three years, I know how she behaves when she is and is not interested in food, so within a few minutes, if she is not interested, I remove the crickets.

Good luck with your gecko!

[Sandwichscotty]

Thanks. Yes the same gecko. I was starting to panic because she hadn't eaten since Saturday. That was before dropping her tail she ate two crickets. Twice a day was just to get her to eat. I figured moving her to a separate box would be good because there was no hides or places for crickets to hide. I may try mealworms if she won't eat crickets by tomorrow. Thanks again. Reply with more suggestions please.

[Sandwichscotty]

I even left six crickets in with her overnight hoping that she would chow down but nothing. Just starting to worry that's all

[acpart]

It's not unusual for a new gecko to take up to 2 weeks or more to get used to its environment and start eating. Some geckos learn to associate a different enclosure with food and do well. Others regard it as yet another change in their environments and get stressed out. Your gecko is probably stressed out enough with the tail loss. Remember that reptiles are different from mammals in that they don't need to burn calories to maintain body heat. I have some leopard geckos that haven't eaten a significant amount in months because it's winter time and have only lost a few grams (and they are all above 90 grams now). I'd recommend that you leave it alone for a few weeks, offer crickets every other day. If it hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, you can hold the gecko gently in 1 hand and push a cricket against its mouth. Often the gecko will bite and take the food. Sometimes this starts them off eating again.
Good luck,

Aliza

[Sandwichscotty]

Thank you guys. "jiggy" ate two crickets in her cage today I believe. She runs into her hide whenever I walk in to the room so I try to stay away but it looked like two were gone. Thanks again for your help