6 Month Old African Fat Tailed Gecko Not Eating

[Jadeninja9]

On October 27th I purchased a baby African fat-tailed gecko from a breeder. The breeder was feeding the gecko a diet of mealworms mostly and occasionally fed her crickets. She said the gecko was eating normally before I got it, and had given the gecko a cricket the day she gave it to me. The gecko is extremely friendly with me when I handle it since the breeder says that they handle all their gecko's frequently. Though, when the gecko sees me walking around my room while it is outside of a hide, it immediately darts back into a hide. Here's a picture of the gecko and her setup:

The hot side is on the right side of the tank, I'm using an under-tank heat-pad and it's set to 92F. That purple thing is supposed to be a water dish, and so is the dish next to it. Since, the gecko is getting any supplements, I gave it a bottle cap filled with calcium alone which is out of frame in the bottom left corner of the tank. Originally the gecko would spend almost all her time in the hot hide and occasionally would go into the cool hide(far left), but now it spends almost all her time in the humid hide(middle) and occasionally goes in the hot hide while never going into the cold hide except for doing her business. Even thought the title says my gecko isn't eating, it actually ate 4 mealworms from Nov 8-9. It still defecates every 2-4 days. I mist the humid hide once a day. I'm planning on offering the gecko some Dubia roach babies once the babies grow bigger. I've been talking to the breeder on why the gecko hasn't been eating but so far nothing has worked. Can I get any help? Thanks.

 

[Herpin Man]

A couple of things come to mind.
With winter approaching, many herps, including fat tails, reduce their food intake, even though you are keeping them warm enough. My fat tails are eating, but not to the degree they were a few months ago. So, it could simply be a normal seasonal slowdown.
Fat tails can also be very selective. Sometimes they will refuse a particular prey item. Try something else.
I find that my geckos prefer superworms over mealworms, they prefer crickets over superworms, and they prefer dubia over anything else I have ever offered.

 

[Jadeninja9]

I don't think that the gecko would completely stop eating for winter though. And he was eating mealworms almost every day from the breeder. When I put a mealworm in front of him he just walked over it and wasn't interested.

 

[acpart]

Does the gecko's tail look any thinner? If not, it's probably maintaining weight. I have a lot of geckos and some of them actually don't eat all winter, though the juveniles usually do. Sometimes the fat tails get out of the habit, though. You could try holding her and gently pushing a mealworm or cricket at her mouth. Hopefully she'll bite it and eat it. Maybe this will remind her about eating. Many AFT's won't eat mealworms. I understand that yours was eating them for the breeder. Crickets and roaches move around more and may generate more of a feeding response.

Aliza

 

[Jadeninja9]

Thanks for the help, I'll try that. I remember when I held a mealworm in front of its face it actually licked its lips, but I don't know if that says anything.

 

[Jadeninja9]

So today I did what you said by holding her and gently pushing a baby dubia roach at her mouth. She licked it a few times but didn't bite. I also put her in a large plastic tub with her food dish in there, and put 6 baby dubia roaches in the dish, but she was uninterested and would just step over the roaches. I'm woried that she isn't getting enough vitamins, so I also dabbed my finger in Vitamin supplement and rubbed a bit on her mouth and she eventually licked it up. Do you think she looks thin?

 

[acpart]

She possibly looks a little on the thin side, but overall, not too bad. I recommend that you keep offering. Make sure her poops if you can see them look solid and not like diarrhea. Consider a vet visit (arav.org) if you continue to be worried.

Aliza

 

[Jadeninja9]

She possibly looks a little on the thin side, but overall, not too bad. I recommend that you keep offering. Make sure her poops if you can see them look solid and not like diarrhea. Consider a vet visit (arav.org) if you continue to be worried.

Aliza

Yeah whenever she poops they're solid. She hasn't gone in about a week though.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I'm woried that she isn't getting enough vitamins, so I also dabbed my finger in Vitamin supplement and rubbed a bit on her mouth and she eventually licked it up. Do you think she looks thin?

Hello ~

Please share which brand and frequency of supplements you've been using.

When she was eating did she get her supplement?

Some calcium, vitamin D3, and multivitamins are all necessary.