One seems fat, and one seems skinny...

[GeckoGirl1990]

I'm a bit discouraged right now because I've only had cresties for about a month and I'm already worrying about their health..

My female is from petsmart. She's the sweetest girl and very handleable. She's a subadult, but I don't have a scale for weighing her right now. She eats well, I've fed her CGD almost every night and she's had crickets about twice a week (sometimes canned, sometimes live). But lately she seems to be much chubbier than she was when I got her, almost like she's bloated.. (really hoping she's not pregnant!! :shock: I couldnt really see an outline of eggs..) And she just had a runny brown bowel movement...

My male is from Pangea. Very skittish at first but handleable. He's smaller than the female, younger, and with a seemingly small waist... My problem with him is that I can't get him to eat! (at least not in front of me) I've had him since the 14th, and he's only eaten 2 crickets the whole time I've had him. I feed crickets in separate containers so I know for sure. I offer him CGD pretty much every night, a bowl at the bottom of his cage. But it doesn't look like he eats any of it. He splashes it all over the walls of the cage so he has to know its there... I've even tried putting very small amounts in the bowl to be able to tell if it was consumed, but no success. I know he may still be getting used to his new home.. but I wasnt expecting it to take this long.

How can I tell if a crested gecko hasn't been eating enough? I can't judge by the tail thickness like in my other geckos...
I just want some peace of mind :sad:
The male is the dark harley, and the other pic shows Neytiri's big belly...

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

I figured I should also mention that they are housed separate... anybody have advice? =/

 

[StickyFeet.]

Do you know if she was housed with any other Cresteds when you got her?

 

[Holly12]

Well yes she does have a big belly my AFT female is like that come to find out from vet that she stores all of her fat in her belly not in her tail. Could that be the same case with your girl? they both look very pretty I love thier colors and ya know I give your male some more time to get use to his new home. It sometimes take a long time with some geckos but he should come around soon. If not a vet might be something you might be taking him too. I wish you good luck with both of them let us know how they are doing.

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

When I bought Neytiri she was alone in the cage, but who knows if there was another one in the cage that was bought first.... I'd hope the employees would know better than put two adults together =/ I've heard that female cresties will sometimes lay infertile eggs even when they haven't been with a male. Could this be what she's going through? If so, should a make a laybox?

I just tried spoon-feeding the male with repashy. He licked at it for about 5 seconds, then shook his head as if saying "yuck!" and proceeded to wipe his face on my bedsheets =/
He drank some water from a dropper...

 

[Eel Noob]

Nice cresties.


What size enclosures are they in?

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

the male is in a 12x12x18 exo terra and the female is in a 20 gallon tall tank. But i'm beginning to hate the exo terra because its not well ventilated and it smells really stagnant... I have a live plant in there so I keep looking around for some kind of mold or growth but havent found any yet... :?

 

[Turtlestork]

I would invest in a scale to get a better idea. I got mine at USPS, its just a six pound mail scale. It does the job!

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

Yeah, or a kitchen scale from WalMart... whatever's cheaper =)

Anybody read the part about Neytiri's runny bowel movement? Is this something to worry about? I've only seen it once..

 

[StickyFeet.]

For your male - What flavour of CGD are you feeding? They can sometimes be picky and while one may love "x" flavour, the other will hate it. Also, the consistency might be whats throwing him off. Some like it liquidy, and some like it thick. Try a different flavour perhaps, and maybe that will make a difference. Have you noticed any poo in the male tank? If you have, he's got to be eating something. Have you thought of feeding him crickets in the enclosure? They enjoy hunting for them, and by morning I never see or find any crickets leftover in my tanks from the night feed. None of mine will touch crickets when I at first tried placing them in a seperate container. They would just sit there and stare at me waiting to come out.

For your female, keep monitoring her poop if you can. Runny poo isn't a good sign, but it's no reason to panic just yet. I would put a lay box in with her just in case. They can lay eggs even if they have never been with a male, and most of the time it's to say "hey, look, eggs! I'm ready".

Definately try to get a scale and some weights posted if you can as numbers can help us judge a little better. I notice though that my female Cresteds plump up much more quickly than my males will, so that is just a thought too.


Anyway, hope this helps! Please keep us posted!!

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

I've been feeding them the "original" flavor of Repashy. I could e-mail the guy at Pangea and ask what flavor they were feeding him.. I've tried mixing it both thick and thin.
I really haven't seen poo in the cage, other than maybe one 'real' one and a few small white ones. Thats why I started getting worried =/
I've only tried feeding him crickets outside the cage because his tank is set up a little awkwardly for crickets I think... I basically have a potted zebra plant in there with some bamboo and sticks running diagonally here and there. I'm afraid they'll get underneath the coconut 'carpet' I have in there and never come out....He did eat two crickets in the separate container once, but at this point I'm about ready to just put crickets in the cage.

I have a ton of what I think is eco earth (got it from a friend), can I use that in the temporary laybox? I have a large margarine container that I think will work..

Thank you Stickyfeet

 

[StickyFeet.]

The eco earth will work perfect, just make sure it's damp and to keep it damp as those are their ideal laying places. They love to dig, so don't be surprised if you come home and they've flung dirt everywhere lol.

Definately see what flavour he was on before, they can be very picky to the point you want to pull your hair out lol.

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

Well, I put 3 fairly large dusted crickets in the male's cage last night and I think he ate them all! I witnessed at least one getting eaten. *sigh of relief*

I pinched the jumping legs off them so they basically stayed on the floor of the cage.

I just hope he grows out of crickets a little bit and warms up to the repashy. Part of the reason I was so excited about getting cresties was that "they don't need crickets at all!!" =P