[mazza]

Hi everyone,

I am new here so hello!

Also have a question regarding one of my geckos. This is a long post, apologies, just want to describe the situation as thoroughly as possible.

I've four geckos; bought two at the end of August last year, the other two I bought in October. The latter ones are about a month older than the others, yet they have pretty much outgrown them. The gecko in question is a hypo (the others are regular leos with one being mac snow).

While the others are growing nicely and have lovely thick tails (although the sibling of the gecko with the problem walks with excessive hip movement) she remains very thin and tiny in length as well. Her tail is pretty skinny too.

I keep an eye on them and spot-check their terrarium daily but I've never spotted dodgy poo or regurgitated food or any sign of illness, apart from her being asleep most of the day AND night, plus being way too small. She also isn't keen on using the moist box too often.

I keep them in separate terrariums in pairs and I'm taking care of them as per care sheet. I also placed a bowl with some crushed egg-shells to provide extra calcium, just in case. She eats 1-2 crickets every other day (doesn't eat any other type of food) but not much, when fed in the terrarium. Sometimes I drop her in the cricket-den so she can have a proper feeding frenzy, then she eats up to 5 smaller crickets in a go. It really puzzles me why she wouldn't eat in the terrarium though? Someone said that she might have too big of a "respect" towards her sister, hence the lack of interest shown in eating. Is this at all possible?

All in all it seems to me as though she was going through winter in some sort of a semi-hibernated state but I do get worried about her sometimes, because it's like she's withering away.

Has anyone ever seen behaviour like this before? She's not getting ill, is she? I'd really appreciate your views, not much I wouldn't do just to see her being as healthy, strong and energetic as the rest of them.

Thanks!!

[acpart]

It is possible that she's being bullied by the other gecko in with her. You may not see the other gecko attacking her, but one sign is that the geckos always seem to be "cuddling" together. Sometimes this is actually the dominant gecko following the other around and sitting on her wherever she goes. It's interesting that she'll eat in the cricket container, especially since many geckos, when moved to a different location, won't eat. I think you should house this gecko by herself in an enclosure small enough so the crickets don't have far to go and see if she'll eat more and grow.

Aliza

[J.P.]

try to avoid the crushed egg shells. use calcuim powder instead.

maybe she would rather sleep because she is afraid to go out when there's a bigger gecko outside.
and her eating in the cricket bin is a sign that she has good feeding response whenever the big gecko isn't around, so put her in her own enclosure and see what happens.

[mazza]

Thank you both for the advice, I'll try to put her in a separate tank then and hopefully she'll catch up. I'll keep you posted