Gecko sleeps 24/7

I got my gecko yesterday and she sleeps 24/7 and the person who sold it to me said the gecko eats once a week. I am taming my gecko atm and just leave it after wards put worms on dish bcoz she sleeps 24/7 is my gecko sick ?

Geckos need to eat once a day when they are still growing. When they are adults they are fed every other day. What are your temps at? Should be 90-95F on the hot side and in the 80's on the colder side.

Your gecko could by dying if the person has barely fed it and who knows what else. Also it could just be in hibernation or a similar state. Please raise the temperature if it's not already correct.

This is what I think people should never do, not research their animal before they get it. Please take the time to research your leopard gecko or whatever kind of gecko you have. Look for care sheets online by simply typing in "Leopard Gecko Care Sheet" on Google. Read several different ones and ask questions on forums so you can gather your own way to take care of him/her.

I wouldn't bother trying to tame him just yet. Leave him be and just get everything right before you handle him. Feel free to ask any questions because if I'm not around to help, someone else will be.

Hi there and welcome to the forum. It isn't unusual for a new gecko to hide s lot when you first get them settling into a new home, even if you keep he viv exactly the same, the ambient stimulis is different. Sounds smells sights. All impact their temperament. A settling in period can last a few days to a few weeks and can be a bit unnerving for a new owner. If you take a minute to fill out our care questionaire e can critique your husbandry to make sure there aren't any problems there hindering your leos settling in http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t134-please-read-and-fill-out-with-your-health-questions

Thyunholy you should try to be a little less of an alarmist by saying their leo could be dieing seeing as how we know nothing yet about their husbandry. Leos are pretty tough little herps and can endure a lot of miscare and still make it back. Everyone knows that you should research your new pet which is why I'm sure the op is here, trying to learn all they can about proper care. Please try to remember we like this to be a friendly forum, we don't want to lecture or scare new owners on their very first post. Also leos don't exactly hibernate, they brumate, they go thru a slowing down period when temperatures and humidity drop to cooler drier levels and daylight decreases.

For the original poster, I'm sure we can figure out what's going on with your leo. Just copy/paste the care questionaire into this thread and answer as much as you can please.

She's active and eats like every 3 days or 7 days. She sleeps 24/7 but if i put her out she walks around and she's fat. My gecko is around 7 inches or 8.
This is my 2nd gecko. I stopped using sand coz of my 1 yr old gecko died bcoz of it. And she is 7 months old

hatched last august 2011 but the person doesnt want to sell the babies coz some might have issues so i waited.

All that information is great but it doesn't entirely help hon. If you would take a minute to fill out the care questionaire it would be much more helpful. We need to know much more, temps, substrait, hides, suppliments, etc. She's a pretty chunky monkey so I wouldn't be too worried if she misses a meal or two. For an adult leo of her size eating 3x a week is fine. You should feed appropriately sized feeders tho. Someone her size would likely do better on superworms. She'd likely only need 2-3 per feeding.

Also next time you have more to add could you please edit your post insread of making multipul posts in a row. It maes it easier for members to use the search feature. Thanks

All that information is great but it doesn't entirely help hon. If you would take a minute to fill out the care questionaire it would be much more helpful. We need to know much more, temps, substrait, hides, suppliments, etc. She's a pretty chunky monkey so I wouldn't be too worried if she misses a meal or two. For an adult leo of her size eating 3x a week is fine. You should feed appropriately sized feeders tho. Someone her size would likely do better on superworms. She'd likely only need 2-3 per feeding.

Also next time you have more to add could you please edit your post insread of making multipul posts in a row. It makes it easier for members to use the search feature. Thanks

Care Questionaire:

About your leo:
- Sex (Female)
- Age & Weight (7Months)
- Morph (Can anyone tell me ?)
- How long have you owned your leo (3 Days)
- Where was he/she obtained (Breeder)
- Is your leo wild caught or captive bred (Captive Bred)

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo (10 Mins Ea Night)
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how (She sleeps almost all the time when she is in her cage and active when out.)
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.(None)
B) Fecals
- Describe-Do they look any different than normal (Nope)
- When was the last time he/she went
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem/issue you are experiencing and how long it has been going on (Sleeping all the time)

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size (same length of a 10 gallon tank)
- Type (Rack)
- Type of substrate (Paper Tower)
- Hides (Regular Hide)
B) Heating
- What is your main heat source (UTH [Zoo Med])
- What are your cage temps (89F on how side 80F or lowe at night on cool side)
- Method of regulating your heat source (Thermostat)
- What are you using to measure your temps (Stick on temp gauge)
- Do you have any lights (Normal tank light (yellowish))
C) Cage mates
- How many (None)
- Describe health, or previous problems of cage mates (None)

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What are you feeding (Super Worms)
- How often are you feeding your gecko and how much per feeding? (2 Superworms)
- How are you feeding (Left in dish)
B) Supplements
- What calcium suppliment are you using (Repti Calcium)
- What multi vitimin are you using (Repti Calcium)
-How are you implimenting your suppliment program (24/7 in a bowl)
- What are you gutloading your feeder insects with (Mealworms, Superworms)


Sorry for posting it late.

89 is kinda of low for the hot side try bumping it up a little bit to like 90-95.

Plus she could be active when your not around remember they are more active in the night time!

The hot side ranges 89 ++ but sometimes our place gets cold coz of snow since its winter time and who knows what morph is my gecko ?

yes still 89 is about the lowest you want it to go and you should try to get it up and stay up cause you will see that your leo will be more active when its warm.

She's active now for no reason o.o idk what happened but shes our of her hides unlike the past day but she didnt eat yet.

My leo will ignore his food if it isn't moving. Pick up a superworm until it starts wiggling around and put it back in it's dish or right in front of your leo to get her attention. She could be stressed and that's why she's not eating. The first day I got my leo he slept for awhile after he got comfortable. She also could have gotten active at night when you weren't around.

She's doing fine now -_- i worried too much. She's just roaming around the tank and hides inside the moist hide (during winter time ?). All im waiting for is for her to eat something xD

Your using a stick on temp gauge so your getting air temp not surface temps of the floor. The surface temps of the floor is what you need to know more then the air temps. Leo get their heat from their bellies.

But is it normal that she stays more on her moist hide rather then her heat hide ?

Mine used to stay in his moist hide all the time. Your leo is probably still adjusting to her home, so it might take her a while to start getting comfortable hiding in different places. She'll also become active on her own schedule in time, she just sounds like she's adjusting

For my leo, he just didn't like his hot hide, so I got him 2 hot hides that he likes and he stays in those most of the time. Though I wouldn't recommend too many dramatic tank changes yet that would stress out your leo, I would still keep it in mind if your hot hide leaves her too exposed.

You should also get a multivitamin like Reptivite and dust your insects with that 1-2x per week, along with calcium+D3 1-2x per week. Here is a very helpful post on supplementing: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t2888-how-to-basics-on-supplimenting-your-leo

Depending on where your moist hide is at in the tank it could be different in temperature from your heat hide and that's where she wants to be.

If the moist hide is on the cooler end and you are concerned that she isn't getting enough warmth, move the moist hide on the warmer side of the enclosure or just add another moist hide on the opposite end of the enclosure. I don't know where your hide is in your enclosure, I'm just giving advice on multiple situations.

She could just be ready to shed. I don't use moist hides, I just mist the tank a couple times a week and give Gecko a quick spray. Water dish is also kinda big so it's mostly on the warm side of the tank and there is aluminum foil on half of the lid so it holds humidity a little better. Moist hides are fine, I just don't wanna mess with it. Also have read about people's leopard geckos eating the substrate they put in their gecko's moist hides.

She could just like the moist hide too, but I think she needs to be at least at 90F-95F degrees most of the time unless she wants to be on the cooler end. I personally, would put a moist hide on both ends if I didn't mist a couple times a week and didn't have my dish giving off humidity.

Leos that spend too much time in cool moist hides have a risk of developing upper respratory infections and skin infections (skin rot) from being exposed to too much moisture. You only have her in a 10 gallon tank so there isn't much room to add too many hides. You should use a probe thermometer placed on the floor of the viv right over the uth so that you can get accurate floor temps. As mentioned Belly heat is what is most important to a thigmathermic herp like leos. It is how they regulate their core temperatures and aides in digesting their food properly. Proper heat also helps their metabolism. If it's too cold they slow down, and usually don't eat as much, and could brumate. Also like mentioned she could be feeling a bit exposed if the hides are too big for her, trying smaller hides could be helpful, but most important is making sure you have an accurate way of reading your floor temps. Probe thermometers are pretty inexpensive, under 10$ and you can find them at most hardware stores.

I use Repti calcium for her food but idk what other vitamins to use

The moist hide is on the cooler side and a normal hide on the warm side.

She's 7 months old and looks like an adult size when i checked some petstores and her skin is pretty bright still so i doubt that she's close to shedding.

If the moist hide is on the cool side (which it should actually try to be on the warm side since it really should be a humid hide. Even half on half off the hot side is better than a totally cool moist hide) then I'm guessing the hot side is too hot and she has no other cool hide to choose from aside of the moist hide. Getting that probe thermometer will help loads, as well as adding another cool dry hide for her to be able to thermoregulate to.

As far as the multi vit goes, you can use any general lizard multi vit such as



or an all in 1 suppliment such as

The typical leo set up for hides is this:
-1 dry hide (at least) on the hot side of the tank
-1 moist hide half on the heat mat and half off the heat mat
-1 dry hide (at least) on the cool side of the tank

So, you will have a minimum of 3 hides. You only need 1 moist hide but you can put as many hot/cool hides as will fit in your tank and still leave room for your leo to walk around. Also, make sure your water dish is on the cool side of the tank if it isn't already. That way the whole tank won't get too humid

Here is a link to more information on setting up a happy home for your leo:
http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t166-proper-housing-for-leopard-geckos

Here his my set up just for reference The hot side is on the left of the picture and the cool side is on the right.

How big is the tank ? And can you take a picture from top view i would really appreciate it

Does anyone know how can i raise temp ? Since im using a heat pad and the temp gets only to 85 and i have no clue how to raise it

This is my current vitamin. Is this for food only or can be put in a bowl too ?

My tank is 10 gallons so it should be the same size as yours Here is a top view. I have the moss in his moist hide removed at the moment, but the square container is his moist hide. I moved the plant out of the way for the picture so that you can see how the hides are arranged.


If you want to see more setups for ideas you can go here:
http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t244-show-off-your-set-ups

Have you gotten a probe thermometer yet? It is VERY important that you get one to measure the surface temperature of your viv instead of the air temp. A lot of heat pads will heat the floor to 100 degrees or above, which makes it too hot for your leo and means that he will avoid it and not digest food properly. The floor temps need to be between 90 and 95 degrees. I can not stress the importance of a probe enough. I very strongly recommend you get one as soon as possible.

Because the heating pads do not heat exactly to your leo's needs as well, you need to hook that up to a thermostat. You can buy these at almost any pet store, and it will allow you to adjust the heating mat to the right temperature. Again, please read the post I linked to about proper housing as it will give you a lot of the information you are looking for.

As for the supplements, you want to dust your insects with a calcium+D3 powder 1-2 times per week. That is the powder that you have pictured above. The calcium you leave in the dish should be pure calcium. You should dust your insects with a multivitamin in addition to calcium+D3 1-2 times per week. The link I posted to supplementation should give you all of this information in depth.

I think what will help you the most is if you please read the stickies about leo care (such as the ones I've linked to). The people on the forum are always glad to help you and answer your questions, but it would be much easier for you to look there and then ask any questions you may still have

I went to this small home supply i got a normal thermo just for air and still looking for a probe thermo atm the air heat is is 85F might be more if i can measure the ground.

Ground temperatures are more important because they receive their heat from their bellies, so you really wanna find out what the ground temps are.

As for calcium, I dust feeders with pure calcium every other feeding, once a week I dust with D3, and there is always pure calcium in a dish for my leo when there is no food dish in the tank with him. If you are using a UVB light you may not need D3 at all. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) Also, you do not want to dust with D3 everyday. I have read that too much D3 can be toxic and I have a family member that had a bearded dragon get sick and die after the petstore told them to use D3 and said nothing about pure calcium. I speculate that, that caused his early death because he did not have problems before hand.

To my understanding D3 helps absorb the calcium, so therefore people who use UVB lighting will not need D3 because your reptile will produce it's own D3 via UVB, at least not as often as someone who does not have UVB.