[carrier]

Have had him for three days and he's still refusing food. Is this normal? His temperament is very docile and he is very slow moving. I am somewhat new to keeping geckos and am wondering if any of these traits are symptoms of illness or bad health. The humidity ranges from 50%-70%, and the temperature ranges from 70-80 degrees fahrenheit. He is an adult, about 5-6 inches long or so. The tank I am keeping him in is 10 gallons and I am using cypress mulch and jungle bed as substrate. He has two hides, one is a overhang type of thing and the other is a damp shedding chamber. The water dish is always kept full. Am I doing anything wrong? Should I change anything? Again, I'm new to this so feel free to point out anything I may have passed up. Thanks.
-Mike

[Geckoworld]

Hello Mike,

I'm not very good with gallons, do you know the dimensions of the enclosure? (cms/inch) The enclosure seems to be set up right.

What species is it?

Three days is still a little soon, some geckos take atleast that to settle in, I'd hold back on the feeding, and remove any (if any) prey from the cage to prevent the gecko getting stressed. Wait a little longer (couple of days or so) and see if the gecko becomes more active, that is a good sign it is ready for feeding.

[Brian]

Does it look well fed?

I have a few usually older males with extremely slow metabolisms.

A few are docile, but it's much more common I think to run like crazy or go into attack mode.

Is the backbone/hips visible?

[carrier]

Hey, thanks for the replies. I've found some droppings so I suppose he's been eating. A new problem has risen , though.. I have noticed some dry skin on his toes. I have been keeping the humidity pretty high recently (70% or so)..What have I been doing wrong and how can I fix this? He has also been walking around the edges of the tank poking around at the glass and soil quite aggressively while ignoring the food in his tank. What should I do? Thanks...

[Brian]

Excessive escape/digging behavior indicates
1. extreme temperture
2. gravid female
3. to small enclosure in reality or according to the gecko

Skin on toes IMO is due to low humidity or poor diet / health. With these the first shed you see can be the worst if who ever you got it from wasn't feeding the bugs a good diet. Happens in females that overproduce more then they can handle.

You can try and remove it yourself. I've done it before by grasping them behind the head and removing it by hand or GENTLY with twisers. Be firm , but gentle. Don't even attempt this if you don't think you can do it without hurting the gecko. They will go into flight or fight usually and IF they bite they will make you feel it. Simply take it like a man or woman and let the gecko release when it sees fit since you do not want to hurt the jaws if it's not eating well to start with.

[carrier]

Forgot to follow up on this but he is doing great now. Thanks for the replies.