fussy knobtail and his burrow

[delly]

hey guys.

i have got a little male knob tail who will refuse to come out of his burrow of a night. i also have 2 females which come out out every night. all my three little knobbys have the same temperature, their burrows are moist and holding well. but my main question is why isnt he coming out anymore hes been staying in his burrow for nearly a week now, he hasn't ate anything, but he was really fat before. so why inst my male knobby coming out of a night.
winter is started to come and the temperature is falling, in my tank (the hot end) the temperature stays at about 28-30 degrees, is he getting ready to hibernate and staying in his burrow.
if you could help that would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

delly

 

[Ira]

I'm assuming you have a smooth skinned species, maybe N. levis perhaps? My male N. levis levis seem to stay buried for much longer and come out much less at night than my females. Maybe it's natural?

 

[delly]

I'm assuming you have a smooth skinned species, maybe N. levis perhaps? My male N. levis levis seem to stay buried for much longer and come out much less at night than my females. Maybe it's natural?

yeah could be, i've got pilbariensis.

any other ideas why my little male wont come out.

 

[smallpaul]

Both my male and my female have not dug any burrows yet, they spend the majorority of their time in the hot end.

 

[delly]

Both my male and my female have not dug any burrows yet, they spend the majorority of their time in the hot end.

all my little geckos have dug burrows the females come out every night, but the little male digs his burrows and stays in there 24\7 he doesent come out. WHY inst he coming out.

 

[Glider]

Sometimes the gecko's are just very secretive and will completely refuse to come out while humans are present, but if no food is being eaten there may be a problem.

It may sound silly, but have you collapsed his burrow and made him build a new one? Depending on the type of sand you are using, it is possible the sand has hardened over the burrow entrance and he's trapped.

 

[delly]

Sometimes the gecko's are just very secretive and will completely refuse to come out while humans are present, but if no food is being eaten there may be a problem.

It may sound silly, but have you collapsed his burrow and made him build a new one? Depending on the type of sand you are using, it is possible the sand has hardened over the burrow entrance and he's trapped.

i use fine red sand and mist it every day so it stays moist and holds his burrow. i had to dig him up very carefully so he could eat. when i got him out out i offered him a cricket and bam he ate it straight away, so hes not fussy with his food. hes just fussy and wont come out. could it be hes getting ready to hibernate.

thanks for your help

delly

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I make my levis all come out when it's time to eat so that I can keep track of who's eating and how much. If he's going long periods of time without eating, you might want to try doing the same.

 

[oli]

Yeah I'd keep the warm end dry, moist hide on the cool side. If he stopped eating and is visibly losing weight I'd be worried and their could be a problem. I do notice that my males do not eat nearly as much as the females do, especially when the weather gets a little cooler. Maybe he is trying to hibernate, who knows? But if the temps haven't fluctuated that much, he shouldn't be hibernating. I do what Ethan does if they are in a burrow for quite some time and it's feeding time. I will just dig the animal out carefully flatten the sand where he was digging and feed maybe a little bit later so he's not still scared from being forced from his burrowed den. I am suprised how much females can eat, and how little males eat and stay quite fat/healthy looking. Some of my males have beautiful fat tails and they only eat 1 cricket every other day or every 3rd day, and this is as much as they will eat sometimes.

 

[delly]

Yeah I'd keep the warm end dry, moist hide on the cool side. If he stopped eating and is visibly losing weight I'd be worried and their could be a problem. I do notice that my males do not eat nearly as much as the females do, especially when the weather gets a little cooler. Maybe he is trying to hibernate, who knows? But if the temps haven't fluctuated that much, he shouldn't be hibernating. I do what Ethan does if they are in a burrow for quite some time and it's feeding time. I will just dig the animal out carefully flatten the sand where he was digging and feed maybe a little bit later so he's not still scared from being forced from his burrowed den. I am suprised how much females can eat, and how little males eat and stay quite fat/healthy looking. Some of my males have beautiful fat tails and they only eat 1 cricket every other day or every 3rd day, and this is as much as they will eat sometimes.

i dug him up last night he looks fatter than the females and he had 3 crickets that night but he still is really fat. do you think by making his moist end alot smaller so he cant really burrow and place a hide in the moist end so i can keep an eye on him. thanks for your help and thank you riverside.

 

[Glider]

If he's still in great condition there's no real reason to worry.
It could be that he's coming out in the middle of the nigt when you're not there. I have found with some of my new additions that they are painfully shy and it can taken them months to feel comfortable being out and about while people are there. And then I have others that dont even bother to hide, they just sleep out in the open!!

And Oli said, adult males can eat seemingly very little, but remain fat and healthy. I have a chubby male Pilb that will only eat 3 crickets twice a week, but his girlfriend gets fed 12 large crickets every three days and rarely has any leftover

How old are your knobbies?

 

[Ira]

Yeah I'd keep the warm end dry, moist hide on the cool side. If he stopped eating and is visibly losing weight I'd be worried and their could be a problem. I do notice that my males do not eat nearly as much as the females do, especially when the weather gets a little cooler. Maybe he is trying to hibernate, who knows? But if the temps haven't fluctuated that much, he shouldn't be hibernating. I do what Ethan does if they are in a burrow for quite some time and it's feeding time. I will just dig the animal out carefully flatten the sand where he was digging and feed maybe a little bit later so he's not still scared from being forced from his burrowed den. I am suprised how much females can eat, and how little males eat and stay quite fat/healthy looking. Some of my males have beautiful fat tails and they only eat 1 cricket every other day or every 3rd day, and this is as much as they will eat sometimes.

My levis are like that. The male eats next to nothing in comparison with the female. She is always out and rarely goes in her burrow. She sleeps out in the open too. The male comes out on rare occasions in the middle of the night. That's about it.

 

[delly]

If he's still in great condition there's no real reason to worry.
It could be that he's coming out in the middle of the nigt when you're not there. I have found with some of my new additions that they are painfully shy and it can taken them months to feel comfortable being out and about while people are there. And then I have others that dont even bother to hide, they just sleep out in the open!!

And Oli said, adult males can eat seemingly very little, but remain fat and healthy. I have a chubby male Pilb that will only eat 3 crickets twice a week, but his girlfriend gets fed 12 large crickets every three days and rarely has any leftover

How old are your knobbies?

yeah i thought that he is coming out really late when im there but i make all the hot end leveled out so if he comes out i know because he left his tracks on the sand. Im not to sure how old they are but they are easily over a year old. i do notice to females eat alot more all the time.
thanks for your help glider.

thanks
delly