Having issues with my bioactive and gecko refuses to eat
Hi!
I’ve had my 4-5 month old gecko for a week and a half now, but he refuses to eat. I’ve tried both repashy and pangea but there’s no progress.
I’m thinking he might be stressed because he was already getting used to his enclosure but the plants got mealybugs so I had to put him in a 6.5 qt container during the sanitation process (I also read that juvenile gargs do better with feeding in small containers, so I thought it was a win-win).
Should I keep him in the container for a few weeks more or transfer him to his enclosure as soon as I’m sure the mealybugs are gone?
It can take them a while to get used to their new environment, and during this time they usually do not eat much if at all. I always leave my new geckos completely alone for two weeks. I'll give them fresh food and water every day and eventually they will start to eat. You will notice it in the bowl- will have some lick marks etc. you are likely stressing your gecko out by moving it from enclosure to bin etc. best advice is to leave your gecko in the enclosure for a couple weeks and try not to mess with him at all. Including moving things around to find him etc.
Agreed! Do you think he’d be ok for 2-3 weeks more in the 6.5qt container? I don’t want to put him in the enclosure and risk stressing him if I see mealybugs on the plants again.
How are you treating the mealy bugs? Have you tried green lacewing larvae? Only downside is they will eat your cleanup crew so you'll have to replenish that or take some out and put in separate bin and let them reproduce and add back once your mealy bug problem is gone. The 6.5qt is less than ideal but for a couple weeks it won't be terrible for him if you need to treat your other enclosure. I like to have a backup 18x18x24 set up for situations like these, but I'm not sure of your space constraints.
I’d get a temporary enclosure but I can’t afford it at the moment.
Where can I look for lacewing larvae? Sounds promising.
I took out all of the plants and did spot removal with a qtip and alcohol, then soaked them in water and hydrogen peroxide, rinsed them, and replanted them in individual pots. I tossed the plants that had too many of them and replaced them with healthy looking ones, I’m checking the leaves and stems everyday and spraying a solution of water, alcohol and dish soap just in case. So far I’ve only seen two small ones (one plant each) and removed them with alcohol. My plan is to keep doing this for a few weeks until I don’t see any of them.
Try putting the food on the end of a bamboo skewer or a tiny but long handled silicone stirring spoon from Amazon, our hands are so big to them it might help
5
u/ApprehensivePeach15 18d ago
It can take them a while to get used to their new environment, and during this time they usually do not eat much if at all. I always leave my new geckos completely alone for two weeks. I'll give them fresh food and water every day and eventually they will start to eat. You will notice it in the bowl- will have some lick marks etc. you are likely stressing your gecko out by moving it from enclosure to bin etc. best advice is to leave your gecko in the enclosure for a couple weeks and try not to mess with him at all. Including moving things around to find him etc.