Gargoyle won't eat on his own

[jordan33]

Hello, I'm new here, realizing I might need some advice I thought it was time to join up and seek help. I've tried searching around for a solution to my problem, but haven't seen anything very helpful.

I got my first gargoyle gecko a few months ago after setting up his tank with plenty of plants and hiding spots, and a branch for him to climb around on. I followed the advice I'd seen and left him alone for the first two weeks, I didn't touch him or handle him to let him acclimate. I began holding him for only a short time because he wasn't eating at all, which I expected at first. I started off with Repashy CGD and he seemed fine eating it off my fingers, so I would feed him a little, then put him back and hope he would seek out his food dish to keep eating, but he never did.

Now that I've had him for a few months, he still refuses to seek out his food. Even hand feeding only works for a few licks now. I've tried leaving the food in there without hand feeding for whole weeks at a time (changing it out with fresh food, of course), and still, he won't touch it. I switched to Pangea complete formula in different flavors, and still nothing. I thought about temperature and lighting, I went a while keeping a light on during the day, thinking that being warmer might help, but no luck there. He doesn't move much, even though I really try not to handle him much and disrupt him, so could he still be stressed after all this time? I want to try crickets, but since he's still small, I'm nervous about impaction.

Sorry for such a long post, but I didn't want to leave anything out. I'm not sure if there's something I should be doing, or not doing. I keep the humidity around 80, sometimes higher, and I let it dry out in between misting. Maybe I should be holding him more often instead of leaving him alone? Could that make him more comfortable? Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Are you finding poop in his enclosure? How big is he and how big is his enclosure? What temperature are you keeping him at? Sometimes really big tanks can make them insecure. I rarely see my cresteds eat and their food often looks untouched but they poo and grow so I know they must be eating something! I don't think crickets or dubia would hurt him but mealworms are out for the cooler geckos species. If your temps are over 80 or under 70 that could be an issue too.

 

[jordan33]

I very rarely see poop. His tank is a little on the larger side, 18x18x24, but I didn't want to get something smaller, for the sake of when he reaches adulthood. The temp issue I have thought about, and during winter months it was colder, but even when i was keeping it around 78 he wasn't moving much still. If the issue is the tank size, what can I do to make it better? Just cram it with more plants and things? I don't know how crowded is too crowded.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

How big is your gecko? I keep my crested babies in 6 qt bins until they're about 6-8g. They cost $1 and about 30 minutes to cut one end out and screen it in. An easier alternative might be a small or medium critter keeper. I upgrade my cresteds to large critter keepers from about 8-20g and then put them in a bigger cage. Critter Keepers tend to be $5-$20 depending on size. Your little guy might have a hard time finding food in a cage that big and you might have a hard time noticing poo if it's hiding in all the foliage. IMO small, simple and less crowded is better for everyone

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Also, I feed in small soda caps or tea light candle holders and change food every 2-3 days. Some geckos like it fresh and some will only eat it once it's "ripened" (blegh). I've never had a baby eat a whole cap full but every now and again I can see tongue grooves on the surface. I focus more on whether there is poo in the cage rather than how much they're eating. They also make side mounted suction cup dishes. I don't know if those are better for gargs or not. My cresteds eat fine off the floor.

 

[jordan33]

He's only about 4 g. So I will try a small critter keeper for now and see if that helps. What kinds of things do you keep in it? just a few plants to hide under? I dont want to over crowd it, but I want him to feel secure in there. Is provided a branch to jump around on necessary at this size for now?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I provide a toilet paper roll or two and enough leaves to give cover in 30-50% of the container with a paper towel on the bottom. I also cut up a pool noodle and wedge it across the shorter width as a perch. I usually find my guys in the toilet paper roll or in the middle of all the leaves. I feed out of a soda cap at one end and give a little bowl of 3-4 appropriately sized dubia once a week. I don't know if gargs have different requirements than crested tho? Might want to check some care sheets but I think they're very similar.

 

[jordan33]

As far as everything I've read, they're treated just about the same. I'm going to try that for a while to see if it works. I think it could help out a lot actually. The size of his tank was the only thing I hadn't considered at this point, so it's more to go off of than I had before. Thanks so much for your advice!