My crested gecko doesn't want to eat

[Gerro31]

Hi, it's my first post on this forum so I would appreciate if you were understanding towards me.

My problem is that I bought a crested gecko on Wednesday and it hasn't eaten even a half of the cricket since then. My colleagues from Poland advised me to squeeze cricket's head and put the liquid from it on the gecko's nose so that it can lick it and finally decide to eat the whole worm.

I decided to do so, but after the gecko had licked the liquid (it was from the cricket's "stomach" let's say, because I did not manage to get any liquid from its head), it wasn't completely interested in eating the remaining part of the cricket's body.

I'd like to add that my gecko eats neither worms nor crickets and the only thing which seems to be tasty for him is food for babies made by Gerber.

What shall I do? Any ideas? Shall I way a couple of days and see how the things will be going? And one more question: what should I do with the calcium in powder- shall I put it in the separate dish or with Gerber or crickets?

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[StickyFeet.]

Hello and welcome to the forums! Congrats on your new Crested Gecko purchase.

The best you can do for your Gecko right now is to leave it alone and give it time to settle in. Remember that your Gecko is now in a new home, and Wednesday is enough time for it to settle in. It is recommended that you do not handle and over stress your new Gecko for atleast 10 days until it settles in. However, some Geckos can take up to a month to feel completely comfortable and settled in.

How old is your Crested Gecko and how much does it weigh? If it is a young Gecko, sometimes you do not notice that they are eating that much because you wont see any lick marks out of the food dish. Cresteds have small stomachs, so even if we don't think they are eating, they could be full.

A crested gecko will not starve itself. The best you can do is leave the Gecko alone for now and only disturb it to mist/feed/clean.

Also, the Gerbers baby food is a terrible and very unhealthy choice for your Geckos. The diet that you should be feeding your Geckos is Crested Gecko Diet, also known was Repashy MRP.

If you can, try to order some of the Repashy online. It is a meal replacement powder that has everything in it that your Crested Gecko will need. The baby food has no nutritional value in it, and they are usually made up of a lot of sugars and unnatural preservatives. It does not have the calcium, D3, proteins, vitamins and minerals and prolonged use of baby food can lead to severe health issues such as metabolic bone disease.

I see you are located in Poland, so i'm not sure of the availability of Crested Gecko Diet there but here is a link to an international shipper:
http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/crested-gecko-diet.html

Get in contact with them and they should be able to help you out of there is none available to you in Poland.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Gerro31]

Thank you very much for your reply. As I noticed in the morning, my gecko had probably been before losing its skin (I don't know how to call it in English, sorry. Moult? I took it that word from a dictionary)- maybe that's the reason why it hadn't wanted to eat. I came back home a few mintues ago and he supposingly ate a cricket while I was away, so the situation may be not that bad. As far as I know, my gecko is about 3 months old, but I have absolutely no idea how much it weights. I reckon I have already seen that gecko food, but there is no shop that sells it in Poland, but I'll probably try to search more- maybe I have missed something. Speaking of Gerber food- the man who sold me the gecko is a vet and he advised me to feed him with it (with crickets, vitamins, calcium of course). Nevertheless, I'll see how things look like tomorrow when I'll clean its 'home'. Keep your fingers crossed, so that he ate that cricket.

 

[Gerro31]

I've got another question to ask.

How should I give vitamins and calcium to my gecko? I mean- should I put it into the dish, sprinkle it on the cricket or something?

I'm sorry I didn't edit my latest message, but I wasn't sure if the question would appear in "New Posts" section if I did so.

 

[Spyral]

It depends on if you are able to find Repashy's Crested Gecko Diet (CGD) that Sticky Feet recommends. It is a REALLY great product and has pretty much eliminated dietary problems with crested geckos.

People have, of course, gone the route of babyfood (before CGD was created). In that case, you really want to provide a lot more live food (crickets, roaches, silkworms, etc). You "dust" them with a pinch of vitamin & mineral powder. Put them in a container with the powder.

You should consult your vet on how to use the powder with babyfood!

Here is a good recipe if you do not have access to CGD:
www.RhacsCanada.ca • View topic - The Fruit 'n' Yogurt Diet

Good luck, and hopefully you'll be able to find CGD because it's so easy and good for your geckos.

 

[Gerro31]

Whoa! Today I managed to see my gecko swallowing a cricket! Daddy is so touched! :')

 

[Matt L.]

haha its pretty cool to see them eat right what i do is i put the crickets into a bag with the calcium powder and vitamin powder in it then shake it up so the crickets are coated in it then i feed the geckos the crickets. Keep in mind that the geckos are nocturnal so they'll probably be eating while you're asleep have fun and good luck (Crested Gecko diet is a definite but dont feed too much so they get fat )