Eating less than normal.

[jenna]

So I have a male tokay have had him for a year. Just upgraded his tank to a 20 gal about a month ago. I feed him dusted crikets ever few days and also meal worms every now and again. He just shed with out any problems. He usually attacks his food like a little shark, eating 2-5 at a time. But lately that not the case. He might eat one or two. Every 3-4 days. Has not lost a noticable amount weight. And he is not pooping either. He did last night but it was little; usualy its bigger. His tempature is around 80 dagrees droping to about 65-70 at night , with a 50-80 % humidity. Should I be worried about his lack of diet?

 

[Josh2]

A month in he should be used to his new enclosure... Have you tried upping his temp to a solid 70+? I wonder what else could be causing him to not be hungry

 

[Amanda1]

Could be that winter's coming on. I think mine can tell when the season's change, even though the temps inside stay the same. Also sometimes they just go through phases where they don't eat as much. I wouldn't worry too much unless he starts losing weight. Also if he just shed he may have eaten his skin (not sure if tokays do that but cresties do), so he may be full from that.

 

[jenna]

Ya I changed the tempature so it stays about 80 dagrees. I am keeping an eye on him. I plan on trying to feed him tonight. It has been 4 days sence he last ate so I got my fingers crossed he will have an appatite!

 

[Jetfire]

If his enclosure faces a window where he would be exposed to the natural changes in daytime length, sometimes they'll start to go dormant for winter, no matter what you keep the temps at. Not saying it happens alot, but if it's a wild-caught gecko, it might be plausible.

 

[jenna]

Thanks, but he dont face a window. I am wondering though if it may be winter coming on. I bought him form petco so he was wild cought. He is less active, although last night he made an attempt to go after a criket then changed his mind. Most of the time he is hanging out in his cave. This morning he was on the side of his tank. So I guess time will tell.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Yeah i think mine noticed the change too. Its really hard to feed them some times because they only eat every other day or more in the wild, So i guess because they eat every day with me they prefer to skip days because they dont feel hungry. What heat source do you use? Its easier for them to identify winter if you use lights because the Nights get colder.

 

[jenna]

Yeah i think mine noticed the change too. Its really hard to feed them some times because they only eat every other day or more in the wild, So i guess because they eat every day with me they prefer to skip days because they dont feel hungry. What heat source do you use? Its easier for them to identify winter if you use lights because the Nights get colder.

I use a 65 watt day light. I turn it on around 9 am and off at 8 pm.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Yeah i use about 9 Different bulbs with different watts because the amount of lizards i have. Im also dealing with some feeding trouble... Athena wont get off waxworms though im not in the mood to deal with her being fussy so she will just have to get her way till that tail is fat enough, Eclipse wont eat at all ever since her shed 3 Days ago, Venus is losing her GREAT eating habit. Im starting to hate winter -.-

 

[GiggleSheep]

My female had the same problem a few months back. She didn't eat for an entire month, but the day before I was going to take her to the vet, she randomly started eating regularly again. I still have not discovered the exact reason, but it seemed to me like there was some form of stress present. Tokay geckos don't generally hibernate, as they come from extremely hot and humid environments, and for the most part only show trace evidence of dormancy at all. They remain active and even breed every month of the year, so I find it unlikely that that is the cause. Unlikely, but not impossible. Hopefully, you will have an easier time than I did.

 

[jenna]

So today I thought "lets try to hand feed tokie"....Well It went well no missing fingers and he took 3 crikets!! I was so happy!

 

[GiggleSheep]

Glad to hear it! If it's capable, try to get him to eat a pinky, just in case he decides he wants to continue not eating. That'll help with any weight issues for a little while at least.

 

[jenna]

Glad to hear it! If it's capable, try to get him to eat a pinky, just in case he decides he wants to continue not eating. That'll help with any weight issues for a little while at least.

I don't know if I can do that. I know wax worms are high in fat. I could try a few of thoes.

 

[GiggleSheep]

Those are probably best if he isn't fully grown. Anything with high fat will do swimmingly until he is at a healthy weight again.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Giggle, Pinkys are really bad to feed your geckos! Its a REALLY slow death for the pinky and the gecko will most likely throw it up later. Please just stick with waxworms though i warn they can become addicted and stop eating mealworms so feed them in moderation and always feed the mealworm first. So 1Meal:1Wax.

 

[Caleb C]

Just feed it what you normally would. If he has a bad appetite, don't try to stuff him, just slowly have him eat like he normally would. He will slowly gain the weight back.

 

[GiggleSheep]

Darkmaster, I feed mine frozen thawed, thus removing the slow death from the picture. I give them two each every two months (adult tokays only). The only reason they are bad is because of the high fat content. In my 3 years of keeping tokays, they've never regurgitated anything. In fact they seem to prefer pinkys to crickets.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Oh sorry, I keep a Leopard gecko and that is a BIG no no with Pinkies and any thing pretty much larger then the space between their eyes. I guess feeding a tokay those would be ok.

 

[GiggleSheep]

No worries, there are as many diet preferences as there are people so hearing different advice is great.

 

[jenna]

Good news everybody! Tokie is back to him self! He gobbled down 4 crickets last night like a little shark! yay!