# My gargoyle gecko will not eat!



## BeauGecko (Sep 28, 2016)

Hi all,

This gargoyle is my first ever gecko so I am a little new to it all but I am at my wits end at the moment because it just won't eat. I got the gecko in January so have had it a few months now, it is a supposed male (possible pores showing) and was 12 months old on the 25th August. Now, when I got this gecko...being new to gecko keeping, I made what I now realise was the mistake of hand feeding him from the moment I got him and he fed fine during this time however, as of the 29th of August, I stopped hand feeding him and he has refused to eat since. 

The most my gecko has ever weighed is 15g. On July 9th I went on holiday for two weeks and the breeder I had him off cared for him in my absence. Before he went, he weighed 12g and weighed 8g when I weighed him after coming home (which as far as I am concerned is a fairly substantial drop in weight) and I know that she didn't hand feed him. He now currently weighs 7g but has maintained this weight since the start of August. Although he is maintaining this weight, I haven't seen any fresh faeces in the viv since the 5th September (note: I have live micro fauna living in the tank). He is still fairly active, he moves around his tank during the night and puts up a right chase when I try to get him out so he isn't lethargic. His eyes and nose appear clear and his breathing isn't laboured so he doesn't really appear sick. His breeder has told me not to worry too much about his weight and eating habits as they fluctuate naturally but I cannot help feeling a little anxious about the whole situation. 

He is housed alone in a 45x45x60 Exo terra glass vivarium with an ambient temperature of around 18-22 degrees Celsius with the humidity maintained between 60-80%. The viv is naturally planted in what I believe is Arcadia earth mix with moss, bromeliads and air plants along with vines, logs, cork bark, a cork bark tube and some handling plastic vivarium plants so he has plenty of hiding places. I feed him three days a week on Pangea gecko diet and he has an occasional jelly pot. I have tried him with small crickets but he wasn't interested in the slightest and the only way he will eat his gecko diet is if I feed it to him (so I know that he has an appetite although he has never been a huge eater). 

Sorry for the boarderline essay but I want to provide you with as much helpful information as I can; I really want to get to the bottom of this. In short:
Has hand feeding him made him spoilt...he just doesn't want to eat unless I hand feed?
Should I just persevere as I am doing and hope he starts eating alone?
Should I add a second food dish in the viv to give him more choice? Ect
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.


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## Sky7ine (Jan 30, 2012)

I'm sorry but i would ignore the advice of the breeder a drop in weight of half the body weight is something to worry about. 

First off i would have a fecal test done to rule out any parasites sooner rather than later, Your temps are on the low side for them 18-22 degree's is more of a night time temp you want to up them during the day to around 24c-26.

Hand feeding is one of the worst things you can do and please dump the jelly pot in the bin they are one of the worst things you can feed any gecko, i've always found gargs don't tend to bother with live food to much so you can cut those out for the time being keep offering the cgd and hopefully with the bump in temps that should help, you can also offer them a small pinky once every few weeks.


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## BeauGecko (Sep 28, 2016)

Hi Sky7ine, 

Thank you for your reply it was very helpful. I will try to bring his ambient temperature up during the day and see if that helps. I have been told by so many people that these geckos do not need additional heating but it seems as though that isn't the case; I guess a lot of people are still learning about new and improved husbandry methods all of the time. I will definitely dump the jelly pots as well, I didn't realise how bad they are for them! 

As my gecko is still rather small, do you think it would be beneficial to add a second feeding station or just leave it with the one that's already in there? 

Thank you for your help


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## silversceptile (Sep 3, 2016)

BeauGecko said:


> Hi all,
> 
> This gargoyle is my first ever gecko so I am a little new to it all but I am at my wits end at the moment because it just won't eat. I got the gecko in January so have had it a few months now, it is a supposed male (possible pores showing) and was 12 months old on the 25th August. Now, when I got this gecko...being new to gecko keeping, I made what I now realise was the mistake of hand feeding him from the moment I got him and he fed fine during this time however, as of the 29th of August, I stopped hand feeding him and he has refused to eat since.
> 
> ...


 Rhacodactylus genus geckos are famous for taking massive breaks from eating, never ever seen a gecko starve to death, offer CGD as you usually do even if he's not eating it so that it's available to him, I've seen Rhacodactylus geckos go for up to 2 months without eating. Hand feeding (unless with insects) really isn't the best for these animals, and as the last guy said bump your temps up a bit. :2thumb:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Sky7ine said:


> *I'm sorry but i would ignore the advice of the breeder a drop in weight of half the body weight is something to worry about.*
> 
> First off i would have a fecal test done to rule out any parasites sooner rather than later, Your temps are on the low side for them 18-22 degree's is more of a night time temp you want to up them during the day to around 24c-26.
> 
> Hand feeding is one of the worst things you can do and please dump the jelly pot in the bin they are one of the worst things you can feed any gecko, i've always found gargs don't tend to bother with live food to much so you can cut those out for the time being keep offering the cgd and hopefully with the bump in temps that should help, you can also offer them a small pinky once every few weeks.


Agree with the above statement. In-fact D Mader's edition reptile surgery and medicine does breilfy mention that any animal that has lost 10% or more of there current body condition is cause for concern. 

I also agree with providing a higher temperature than the lower end temperatures. I personally may even go into the higher range if my animal was not eating at the basking point providing there is room to escape throughout a vertical gradient, that way your gecko could choose what it needs as and when it needs too. 

Good luck.


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## davy27 (Jul 17, 2011)

Try putting a feed station hidden in the plants I have 3 feed stations in my viv for my Crested geckos one will eat anywhere the other only when hidden lol


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