Im a first time Gecko owner, but my sister had Crested and Leopard geckos in the past that I've helped take care of in the past . Ive known i wanted one for awhile so i waited to get into a bigger place and I did plenty of research on what species I wanted. I love Leopards but they mostly diet on bugs and I didn't want to have to handle bugs too much so I was tied between Crested and Gargoyles. Tho Cresteds are cute and derpy, they are known to be a little spazzy (dropping their tails very easily, kinda dumb, a bit boring in looks unless you drop big $$$ to get a different morph) so I settled on a Gargoyle.
Eventually, I got this girl at a convention on March 17th from a reputable breeder . I believe she was born somewhere around Mid-Late October to early November. Though she barely ate during the first 2.5 weeks, she finally started to devour her food *Pangea Watermelon * and would eat/lick the bowl clean every few days or so, as well as drink the water on the sides of the tank. She is a bit shy when it comes to handling so I don't handle her too much plus I don't wanna stress her out. I know she's shed cuz I found a little bit of it on her back one time which I with my sister help got off. I clean her tank out every week or so, replacing the paper towels, cleaning the wood, and the tank itself. And dw I never use soap as i don't want her to get sick.
Last week when cleaning her tank I weighed her at 9.5 grams and I was over the moon as it seemed as if she was FINALLY starting to gain weight.
Unfortunately, last night at my sister's place, where she is staying while I'm on vacation, my sister weighed her on her scale and she is back down to 8.9 and I'm so upset. Maybe It could be due to a difference in scales, error and/or maybe she took a big dump (my sister said she laid a massive poo and her poops have been pretty small) but I worry about her being sick or having a parasite but I don't know how she got it as the breeder guy is extremely experienced and reputable and I doubt she would've caught anything from stuff at my place?
She's in a acrylic 8×8×12 tank with paper towels on the bottom as substrate to monitor her poops but she mostly poops on the bottom corner of the large cork wood piece I got for her. She has plenty of fake plants and sticks/pieces for her to hide/frolic in and she usually chills during the day and is more active at night which I know is normal for this species.
Currently I keep the quarantine tank in my room so to keep her away from the cats whom I heavily supervise is they come in and never let them stay overnight as I don't want them jumping on the shelf and bugging/knocking the tank over. She doesn't seem to mind their presence much and almost seems curious (sometimes goes to the front of the tank to stare at them and doesn't show any signs of stress from what I've seen) but yeah I don't leave them alone together.
Above the tank I got a lamp hanger fixture with a Deep-Hood light fixture hanging above. I originally had her on a Daylight Blue bulb but now I have a regular light bulb in it as I got her a 12 Inch Arcadia Pro T5 5.0 UVB Shaded-Dweller 8-Watt shes been on for about 2 weeks.
The temperature inside during the day ranges from about 75-80 Fahrenheit and it's about 68-70 during night. The humidity in the tank usually stays about 60-70 ish peaking about 85-95 when I mist in the morning and at night. I did make a mistake of overmisting at first making the humidity stay high and causing mold but after I cleaned/got rid of the mold pieces and switched to the UVB it hasn't been a issue since.
As for food, she started on Pangea Waternelon as that was what her Breeder fed to her and then recently I've switched her over to that and a mix of Fig and Insect food which she loves. I've tried to introduce her to bugs such as a meal worms, Dubias and Horn worms but she has shown no interest and acts scared of them /: I've tried ripping them apart, smearing her goop on it etc but no interest so I'm likely just gonna stick to feeding her a Insect-Calcium food mix to make up for it.
I've asked the breeder and expressed my concerns but he told me that usually these geckos take a bit to settle in and gain weight/grow and that what I've been reading online too that sometimes these species grow at a different pace. However, my sister got a Chahuoa gecko the same exact day (different breeder) and he was around the same weight and age, but now he's 25 grams. While I know they're different species but i still can't help I'm doing something wrong as mine has barely gotten any bigger. Maybe I'm overreacting a little cuz she is eating more and more now and is getting more friendly/active (still won't take bugs) but I would like some advice please. Im hoping she doesn't have parasites or got sick from mold or something :/ please help
EDIT: Don't worry I was planning on moving her to a bigger tank once she gets a little bit bigger and quaritine period is over. I have a 30 gallon tank with a live bioactive set up ready to go with uvb and auto misters. I just worry about her getting lost/not finding her food in there since she's so tiny but given shes pooping and eating but I want to rule out any sickness first.