Hello everyone, I have had my male white line gecko for about 6 weeks now, and I am concerned with the amount of time he is spending on the ground in his log hideout, as well as his eating habits and over all active level change since I got him.
Some background info: Kaiya (named after the baby princess from the movie Willow, needless to say we thought he was a girl at first :shock: ) is a Captive Bred, is about 6-7 inches long, and when we got him from PetSmart they told us he was probably around a year and a half old. He does not seem to be the type of White Line that will lose his coloration, his lines and tail are still vibrant white, and I have heard him chirp only once. He has recently moved into a new enclosure, but he first moved into an all glass, 10 gallon long tank which I equipped with as much climbing as I could fit into the small space but mainly located on the cool side (I was afraid of him burning himself by getting too close to the heat lamp), lots of fake leaves for coverage and sitting on, a log for hiding (and apparently pooping on), and a small waterfall at one point, not to mention the water dish and extra food dish every once in a while for when I tried to give him wax worms and baby food. I misted the cage between 3 - 4 times a day, but the humidity stayed mainly between 50 and 80, with a goal of keeping it right around 75. The cage's cool side ranges from 76 - 83 degrees F during the day and the hot side stays no higher than 87 degrees F. PetSmart told us they had been feeding him 5 large crickets every two days, so I tried to keep up with that feeding schedule. However, he did not eat for the first two weeks in his new cage, hence me trying to give him a couple wax worms, about four different types of banana based baby foods, honey, my boyfriend even tried giving her a moth from our porch but I was too concerned about it having pesticides on it so I secretly let it escape the next time I misted the cage :coverlaugh: . Anyway, he ate two wax worms, none of the baby food, wouldn't even lick at the honey, and although I tried feeding him the five crickets every other day, dusting them with a calcium/vitamin powder once a week, he seems to be eating only about one to two crickets a day, if he eats any at all. This concerns me, but considering the facts that he is at least eating SOMETHING, he has shed once since I've had him, and his log is covered in poop, I have had to convince myself that he is okay when it comes to his appetite.
The thing that really concerns me, is the fact that white lines are arboreal geckos, yet Kaiya seems to spend morning, noon, and night in or on top of his log, except for some mornings when I would find him hanging out on the sides of the glass on the warm side of his old cage underneath the heat lamp. I thought this might be due to the fact that his previous enclosure was only 12 inches tall, so I wasn't going to freak out about it, but I moved him into his new enclosure three days ago (an exo-terra 12x12x24 with three live plants: a small pink polka dot plant, a jade, and a dracaena, and about two inches of hydroton balls at the bottom, mesh, and then coco fiber substrate, fake leaves/vines at the top, fakes bio-vines, and three "logs" from outside which I baked in the oven at 325 degrees F for an hour and a half each, and with a little adjusting of the lights, the temperatures have remained the same, yet the humidity is hovering between 60 and 70 percent). For the first half of the day in his new enclosure, he clung to the very top of the foam rock background behind his leaves or on top of them, yet he has once again resigned to his trusty log. Is this normal for an arboreal species? Should I be concerned or am I blowing things out of proportion? Should I be concerned about his eating? Should I look into other feeders besides crickets (I was going to get mealworms when I picked up the wax worms but the people at PetSmart told me they would be too aggressive for Kaiya)?
When he was in his Petsmart five gallon tank he was responsive and unafraid of me, as I stood by the glass he followed me around with his eyes and seemed inquisitive, and was apparently eating 5 crickets every other day (I spoke directly with the person in charge of feeding to make sure this was true)!! Yet ever since I brought him home he seems DEATHLY afraid of me (I do not try to handle him at all, yet every time anyone walks into the room and he happens to ACTUALLY be out and about, he scurries away to his log), he's not interested in food, and spends most all of his time hiding in his log...
Some background info: Kaiya (named after the baby princess from the movie Willow, needless to say we thought he was a girl at first :shock: ) is a Captive Bred, is about 6-7 inches long, and when we got him from PetSmart they told us he was probably around a year and a half old. He does not seem to be the type of White Line that will lose his coloration, his lines and tail are still vibrant white, and I have heard him chirp only once. He has recently moved into a new enclosure, but he first moved into an all glass, 10 gallon long tank which I equipped with as much climbing as I could fit into the small space but mainly located on the cool side (I was afraid of him burning himself by getting too close to the heat lamp), lots of fake leaves for coverage and sitting on, a log for hiding (and apparently pooping on), and a small waterfall at one point, not to mention the water dish and extra food dish every once in a while for when I tried to give him wax worms and baby food. I misted the cage between 3 - 4 times a day, but the humidity stayed mainly between 50 and 80, with a goal of keeping it right around 75. The cage's cool side ranges from 76 - 83 degrees F during the day and the hot side stays no higher than 87 degrees F. PetSmart told us they had been feeding him 5 large crickets every two days, so I tried to keep up with that feeding schedule. However, he did not eat for the first two weeks in his new cage, hence me trying to give him a couple wax worms, about four different types of banana based baby foods, honey, my boyfriend even tried giving her a moth from our porch but I was too concerned about it having pesticides on it so I secretly let it escape the next time I misted the cage :coverlaugh: . Anyway, he ate two wax worms, none of the baby food, wouldn't even lick at the honey, and although I tried feeding him the five crickets every other day, dusting them with a calcium/vitamin powder once a week, he seems to be eating only about one to two crickets a day, if he eats any at all. This concerns me, but considering the facts that he is at least eating SOMETHING, he has shed once since I've had him, and his log is covered in poop, I have had to convince myself that he is okay when it comes to his appetite.
The thing that really concerns me, is the fact that white lines are arboreal geckos, yet Kaiya seems to spend morning, noon, and night in or on top of his log, except for some mornings when I would find him hanging out on the sides of the glass on the warm side of his old cage underneath the heat lamp. I thought this might be due to the fact that his previous enclosure was only 12 inches tall, so I wasn't going to freak out about it, but I moved him into his new enclosure three days ago (an exo-terra 12x12x24 with three live plants: a small pink polka dot plant, a jade, and a dracaena, and about two inches of hydroton balls at the bottom, mesh, and then coco fiber substrate, fake leaves/vines at the top, fakes bio-vines, and three "logs" from outside which I baked in the oven at 325 degrees F for an hour and a half each, and with a little adjusting of the lights, the temperatures have remained the same, yet the humidity is hovering between 60 and 70 percent). For the first half of the day in his new enclosure, he clung to the very top of the foam rock background behind his leaves or on top of them, yet he has once again resigned to his trusty log. Is this normal for an arboreal species? Should I be concerned or am I blowing things out of proportion? Should I be concerned about his eating? Should I look into other feeders besides crickets (I was going to get mealworms when I picked up the wax worms but the people at PetSmart told me they would be too aggressive for Kaiya)?
When he was in his Petsmart five gallon tank he was responsive and unafraid of me, as I stood by the glass he followed me around with his eyes and seemed inquisitive, and was apparently eating 5 crickets every other day (I spoke directly with the person in charge of feeding to make sure this was true)!! Yet ever since I brought him home he seems DEATHLY afraid of me (I do not try to handle him at all, yet every time anyone walks into the room and he happens to ACTUALLY be out and about, he scurries away to his log), he's not interested in food, and spends most all of his time hiding in his log...
