Underweight Gecko

[babysweet]

Ok, I'm a little concerned... I picked up two Geckos today, one from the Reptile Store (named Skye) who's about two and a half months old, weighing in at 4g. Gorgeous little patternless gecko with grey blue eyes... absolutely stunning creature.

The second one was from a private sale in Hamilton (not going to mention a name) and we're worried about the little fellow. Joey weighs in at barely 3g, and his former owner told us that he was 3 or 4 months old. He's so tiny... I'm nothing close to a gecko expert, and I can see quite visably that he's underweight. He's somewhat active, although he can be overly placid at times. He had no food dishes in his tank when we picked him up, just a few dead crickets.

We brought him home (I know, I know... but I couldn't leave him), cleaned out his tank, and put in only a fake plant, piece of wood, a coconut hide and some paper towel. We mixed a combination of CGD and peach/banana baby food, and gave him a handful of crickets. He showed a bit of interest in the crickets, and even attempted to grab one or two, but failed miserably at both attempts. He's now ignoring them completely.

With our other three, I can take a bit of food on my finger, and the little fatties greedily lick it off. This guy seems quite put off by it. In fact, the few times that he got it on his face, he shook it off and cleaned his face with a bit of paper towel!

Our other geckos have all come straight home and wolfed down crickets within seconds of their arrival, and taken food immediately.

I'm concerned about little Joey, but I don't really know what to do next. I've hand nursed every walk of animal *except* a reptile, but I have no problem force feeding him if that's what's necessary to get him started. Of course, I won't attempt it unless it's required.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? I would normally just wait and see, but he's so little, I know they can crash quite quickly at this size.

All help will be thoroughly appreciated. :) Thanks, and apologies for the newbie questions..

ps - I took a pic with my keychain digi (still don't have my good one back) and couldn't seem to attach it. So you can see it in the gallery. Oh, and for clarification... I didn't have a quarter, so in the pic I used a looney. Sorry to the US members.. ;)

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=32149

[HeatherRose]

You might just want to let them settle in... if you brought them home today, I would give them a few days just to get used to their new environment.

If the gecko can't catch anything, is 'rubbery' and not too active, it might have MBD. You said he's active, is he climbing?

I wouldn't force feed him, it just doesn't seem necessary just yet.

Why not give him a few days, then start off by dabbing a bit of babyfood on his nose? Keep in mind that a couple licks will fill them up, they have tiny little stomachs :)

[CDN-Cresties]

Personally this is what I would do. I would give the little guy a few days to adjust to its new surroundings and continue to provide some dusted calcium/d3 crix. I would also just feed the CGD straight instead of mixing it. Some geckos take longer than others to settle in but it was a good sign that it tried to catch a cricket, some times cresties are shy and wait until no one is watching to eat. .Oh and I would quarenteen any new addition from my collection.

To attach a photo to a thread you have to right click on the image, copy the picture location and then paste it between IMG tags. An example would be this:

[IMG]Paste Pic location here[/IMG ]

Make sure there is no space between the G and bracket Good Luck :)

[babysweet]

Thanx guys, I appreciate the reassurance. The crickets are dusted, and the only reason I added the babyfood was to entice him to eat anything at all. Of course, I now see your point... GSD is higher in nutrients, and would thus be a better choice for such a little cresty. Noted!

He is definitely climbing, and I'm not panicked about him just yet. But, I'm new to this, and better safe than sorry!

As for the pic attachment, I'll try again next time, but when I added it (just as was suggested) all I got was the standard white box with a red x. <sigh> Ah, well, better luck next time. Not a good picture anyways.

Appreciate the help, and I'll update as things evolve. Thanx again!!

Kim

[CDN-Cresties]

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/7911Photo019.jpg

Thought I would give it a go :)

[babysweet]

LOL... go figure...

Thanks for your help! :)

I'll get the hang of it eventually....

Kim

[CDN-Cresties]

lol no prob ;)

[Thrush]

Wow, your gecko sounds identical to my problem crestie.
By the looks of your picture, mine is about the same size.

Mine's about 5-6 months and looks like a he's only 3. Mine also went for the crickets and missed or dropped them the first few times, and now crickets can walk on him and he doesn't care!!

Mine also wipes his face off if I put food on his nose, and he's still able to climb, and is somewhat active.

Argh!!
I wish I could get better advice for this guy. I spend about 45 min every night trying to coax him to eat, and it's like pulling Teeth. Not fun. :(
Thrush

[CDN-Cresties]

He must be eating something since the last time you have posted Thrush. How much does your crestie weigh?

[babysweet]

Well, I got him to eat about a drop of CGD by lightly touching my CGD'd finger to his mouth while he licked. He wasn't really licking the CGD off my finger, he was licking his face, and my finger was just close enough that he licked it, too!

Not ideal, but I'll take it. He seems a bit more active after his bit of food. I just can't get over how TINY he is! He looks about half the age of our other cresty babies, and yet he's a good three weeks older than the biggest one.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm sure he'll get into his groove soon, and I'll post some pics as he gets fatter. ;)

Kim

[Betty Miskie]

I just finished weighing our not quite 3 month old cresties and they are as following: Jan. 1st baby weighs 7 grams and Jan. 2nd baby weighs 5 grams. They are hand fed with the "Hilde" crestie diet food (mango, pear, banana and yogourt) and I alternate day feeding. One day baby food mixture, next day crickets. I hand feed every night until they are well established and then I alternate days.
I personally started feeding ours cgd and felt they had a slow start. Since feeding ours the new way, I have big healthy looking cresties that love their babyfood as well as crickets.
My way, not saying it is the right way.
Betty

[babysweet]

I like the idea of the CGD because of my relative newbie-ness to herps, and the fact that I've had difficulty finding actual numbers as far as nutrients required by cresties (or any gecko for that matter). The only thing I've found is "enough, but not too much." CGD takes the worry out of it.

That said, I feed our dogs and cats a raw diet, and I've always found natural feeding to be better in the long run.

I'm just not sure where the middle ground is on this one. I understand why people feed commercial diets, and I understand why they don't.

Our two 3 month old geckos are 6g, and our 2 month old is 4g. It's only the little 3-4 month old pipsqueak Joey who's 3g.

[Betty Miskie]

Every gecko weighs differently. If your little one is eating and hunting, I would probably think he/she is fine. I purchased one about a year ago that never seemed to gain comparing it with its sibling. Then, when it was around the 6 month mark, it started to enjoy the crickets. It now is weighs in at 62 to 69 grams.......... Our biggest crestie!
Betty

[CDN-Cresties]

There's no doubt that CGD alone will lead to slower growth rates. But if you alternate with crix, there shouldn't be a problem. I find that its better to get them on CGD when they are younger because they take to it more quickly then adults who haven't been exposed to CGD. But there are a variety of diets out there that work. If you run a search in this forum for "recipes," you'll find some good info. :)

[Thrush]

The only reason my crestie is still going seems to be that i push food into his face. I wish I had a scale, and I may get one soon, so I don't know his weight.

He won't even look at bugs. but I guess I'll keep trying.
in fact, time to feed him right now :)

[labomb]

when I have had to hand feed a gecko that refused to eat I tried using a syringe. I would mist his face and when he stared licking i would squeeze the food onto his tongue. it worked with alot of patience.