New owner questions

[ArchiesFamily]

We acquired a leopard gecko on Saturday; his previous ownders decided they didn't have the time for him. He's a handsome guy who's age is estimated to be around 2 1/2 years. He looks healthy, not skinny, bright colors, and was pretty calm handling him when we picked him up after being a bit wiggly at first. We were told he's use to eating mealworms and large crickets.

It's now been 3 days and while I'm sure he's still adjusting I have a few questions to just confirm we're doing okay. As a note we've not tried holding him since we met him at his previous owner's home.

He has a UTH, tile flooring, a warm hide over that uth that registers between 89-93*, a cool hide that registers around 78-80*, and a moist hide in the middle. His tank is 20g long.

We are offering mealworms 24/7 in a puddle of calcium without D3. We added a few small dubia on day 2. Last night we tossed in a few crickets as well. He doesn't seem to be hunting on his own at all. If we put the mealworms right in front of his warm hide he will s.l.o.w.l.y. come out and eat it. Before he chomps it though he seems to make nudges at it as if he can't really see it. He'll lunge up to 3-4 times before finally biting it. He is sooooo extremely slow I have no idea how he could catch the crickets. There is a small water bowl in there as well.

So, my questions are:

Is it normal for him to not be hunting his food, yet eat 5-6 mealworms at a time if we put them outside his hide door? Maybe because we are bringing the food to him he's not hungry at night? My mother heart says, "eat, eat" .

Is it normal to move turtle-slow?

Do leo geckos have bad eyesight, poor depth perception?

There has been no waste since we got him on Saturday unless it's inside his warm hide where he stays. How often do they use the bathroom?

Am I missing something in his viv or any of his care?

I'm sorry this got so long. I just want to get this right.

 

[Grimleo]

They can be fast little buggers, but usually they move around really slow, yeah. Though he sounds a bit lazy. I am very sure if he needed to, he could go faster. I wouldn't worry. If we get him going again he should look a lot better. =)

Do you feed him during the day? That might be the problem. Imagine trying to catch a squirrel in your house with all of the lights off. Yeah..x.x They are nocturnal and their vision is MUCH better at night. Pretty much the deal with any gecko, or nocturnal species. It's not really a problem, but you would see him a bit more active at night. Or at least should. Sometimes they can have good eyesight even during the day. Enough to get some food in. But I wouldn't expect it. Most of my geckos are oh so clumsy during the day, and turn into little devils at night, lol.

Typically they poo every day to every other day, but adults eat a lot less so their BMs should be a little less frequent. Though it would be nice to know if the previous owners were having this problem, and if they had him on large loose substrate or anything dangerous like that.

Remember, they hunt, eat, and move around at night, so this is when you should be seeing him doing all these things. Sounds like you have the hides and temperature and such correct.

You've not had him for a week, these problems are normal. If they persist for much longer than a week, that is when you should worry. If the little guy even has any real problems right NOW, it would only because of improper care on the previous owners part. When people "don't have time" for their animals anymore, it just means they are giving up. Sounds to me like they were doing something wrong and were too lazy to find out what was really even wrong.

Thank you for taking him in =)

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Corey,

Thank you so much for taking the time to type that all out. I really do appreciate it.

My concern right now is that there has still not been any poo. He's eating 5-8 large mealworms a day, but no poo. His previous owners did have him on the loose bark-like stuff.

I lifted up his warm hide last night to check for poo (there wasn't any) and picked him up. He fussed for about 20 seconds then sat still in my hands. His colors do not look as bright as they were last weekend. Other than preparing to shed, is there any other reason for this to happen?

Maybe we need to get an infrared light so we can try seeing him at night. My son doesn't seem to be hearing any movement at night, but since the gecko is turtle-slow he probably doesn't make any noise.

 

[Grimleo]

Not hearing them and not seeing them is very normal, but they are normally very active at night with the proper setup, temps, etc. Depending on how much he learns to trust you, he will wait until he sees no movement to even come out of hiding. A red infrared light is a good idea. It's very fun to watch them sneak around =) It really is amazing how quiet they are.

But this does concern me. Any sort of loose substrate, even some as small as calci sand from petco, can be too big for them to digest completely(if at all), and pass with no problems. Any type of bark for a leopard gecko is a HORRIBLE idea. It's probably the worst substrate you could possibly put them on. The poor guy sounds like he is impacted. It would be a very good idea to go to your sink and fill it up, or fill up a small plastic tub with warm water(not hot) and let him sit in it. You can also GENTLY rub his tummy to try to get whatever is in there, out. He might squirm a bit but it's okay. If you CAN, take him to a good vet that specializes in reptiles, and have them check on him. Much like you would care for an impacted beardie. But like I said bark is REALLY bad and that is most likely the problem.

I hope you can help the little guy =) Crossing my fingers for you. Feel free to keep asking questions, tell me your concerns. I will try my best to help.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

I was hoping he wasn't impacted. ugh. You don't normally soak a gecko though right, like a beardie needs a bath? Should I wait for tonight before he's active to soak him some or do it now and wake him up? Should we continue to feed him or provide food and let him find it in his bowl or take all food out until he poos?

Do you feed mealworms? I just got in a batch of small superworms yesterday and can switch over to them if the mealworms aren't good for geckos. I just bought the mealworms thinking it would help the transition since it was what he was use to eating. The superworms are really too small for the dragons right now, I should have ordered the large.

I was downstairs and got to laughing at your "trying to catch a squirrel in the dark" comment. It's just a funny image. :lol:

 

[Grimleo]

Wait until tonight to give the bath. And no, normally you wouldn't. You wouldn't normally give a dragon a bath, either. But it can be healthy when you help them shed, and the warm water definitely helps aid in digestion and moving along a BM. I realize that during the day they sleep and normally wouldn't wake up just to go potty, so definitely do it tonight. x.x

I would say cut back on the food until he is able to pass a BM. You can help a lot, though, by giving him a couple drops of olive oil(not mineral oil) on his nose, or just try to get him to lap it up. With the bath and olive oil, it will hopefully help getwhatever is in him, out. x.x

When he does get the stuff out of him, keep him on mealworms and crickets(or roaches, whatever staple) definitely don't give him too many superworms. Maybe 3 or 4 small ones a week. and 1 or 2 large ones a week(when you have them, and if you want to). They have way too much fat for a leo. Mealworms are a good feeder for a leo =)

Ya! xD It's the Corey version of trying to catch a greased up pig, lol.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

I had no idea the superworms were too fatty for the geckos. Is there a site like the beautifuldragons site that gives the info on nutritional foods for geckos? What do you use as your main feeder?

We'll do a warm bath and some olive oil tonight before bed. I'm also going to the petstore today and buy an infrared light to see what's going on when the lights go out.

 

[Grimleo]

Good =)

I don't think there is a site that is as well-put together as beautifuldragons.com, but then they only eat bugs when dragons eat bugs and plants, lol. I think this link can help you out a lot. That whole site is a very good leo care sheet hope it helps.

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Should there be a link in your post or am I just missing it?

 

[Grimleo]

Haha...my bad..http://lgcaresheet.webs.com/foodcalciumrequirement.htm
Sorry bout that =P

 

[ArchiesFamily]

Thank you so much. I've bookmarked that site to keep.

And guess what? We had poo this morning!! Last evening we soaked him in a warm bath and I dropped olive oil on his nose. He wouldn't really lick it though. Once pack in his viv I noticed him licking then, not much left at that point :roll: . Thanks for helping me along with this.

 

[Grimleo]

No problem! Glad I could help =) I am so glad he got a BM going. I hope he looks better from this day forward, and I am sure he will =)