Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Dracowoman2]

Here's the story, our one fat tail female was living with another fat tail female, and to cut a long story short she has lost weight, I think the other was picking on her. I now have her housed on her own, but want to build her back up poor little thing, she seems awfully sulky, and her tail is definately thinner, I believe she's healthy and isn't injured in any way, just a little upset still and a bit thinner.

Other than wax worms what can I give her to encourage her to eat and settle back down? I think she needs a bit of spoiling. I'm also concerned about whether she is getting enough calcium if she isn't eating much. I've been putting a bit of chicken baby food in a small dish and supplimenting that in case she isn't munching the mealworms in her other dish. I may try her with a pinkie mouse dipped in calcium tomorrow after I collect some more.

Any other suggestions would be most welcome
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[Jack]

i would mabey try some hoppers if u hold there back legs together ant put it infront of its mouth and it should eat it

hope it gets better soon

[Dracowoman2]

Thanks, I don't think she's ill, just a little shell shocked, I just need to reassure her that the other female has gone and it's safe for her to eat And spoil her rotten in the meantime
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[serpent]

Put her in a small container (med contico size is ideal) with a humid hide placed over the heat source. Feed her 3-4 gutloaded and calcium dusted crickets, when they have been eaten add 3 or 4 more crickets ....NO more than this amount.
The trick is to always have at least 1 or 2 crickets in the container at all times. The hard part is NOT to bother her in anyway for any reason except to feed her and rehydrate the humid hide.
This means no peeking or touching 'just to check. !!!
It may take a week or two before she starts to eat all of the crickets but this method has worked for me many time and has ALWAYS worked.

Two words to remember ..... PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE
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People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[Dracowoman2]

Thanks Serpent, I've got her in a 2 foot viv all on her own, she has 2 hides one I keep moister (is that a word) than the other, she is on eco earth and orchid bark 50/50 mix substrate to keep the humidity nicely for her. She has a constant supply of mealworms gut loaded in a dish just in case, and I have put 4 dusted wax worms in tonight as well, I have put those just outside the hide she is in at the moment at the warm end.

To be honest I don't bother with any of the fat tails, I just leave them to it and give them a little mist twice a day, and feed at night and change water. I think now she has realised that the other female is gone she might start to liven up a bit. She was a really nice size when I got her, and the breeder apparently is very trust worthy and all his animals are kept in spotless conditions, so I don't think it's anything other than a bit of bullying on the part of the other female.

Sorry to drone, I just worry too much sometimes I think Forgot to say she is just over a year old.
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[serpent]

As you may well know the written word can be taken the wrong way so please take the following in the way that it is intended .... Helpful tips learned through years of experience and NOT through reading books

As everyone knows through reading books and the internet, AFT's need humidity through daily misting.

Having kept and bred AFT's for a number of years this so called fact is in my not so humble opinion ....... RUBBISH.

Misting does nothing but raise the ambient humidity very briefly for an hour or two at the most, whereas a constant humid hide will and does provide all the humidity needed for the geckos well being.


Aft's are generally not as bold as leos and like to come out when it is dark and quiet.... so this means that they like their hides dark, warm and humid.

TIP 1 ... Use only one hide. I use tupperware containers blacked out with gaffer tape and with 2-3 inches of eco-earth inside, using this depth means that the top layers will be dry but the bottom layers will be very damp. If this is set-up correctly, the humidity will be a constant 75-85%. For best results place this hide over the heat source.
My reasoning for this ? ... To feel secure the gecko with go into the ONLY available hide which is warm. This warmth will help digest any food the gecko has recently eaten and so will make it hungry faster and so will eat more and digest it faster and eat more ......... get my drift ?

Tip 2 ... I have found that AFT's of any age will very rarely if ever eat mealworms so i would remove them. Waxworms hold very little nutrition and can stop the gecko from concentrating on eating crickets which are a lot better nutrition wise (although cockroaches are better). Locusts can be fed sparingly once a week, as these can be almost habit forming. Well fed gutloaded crickets can put weight on a gecko very quickly if the conditions are right ....... and it up to you to get the conditions right

Lecture over
_________________
People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[Dracowoman2]

Thanks Serpent, lecture received and understood I'll give that a go and see what happens. I've actually been trying to get her some lobster roaches as I read they were good, but our local reptile shop doesn't have any at the moment, and when I looked at ricks livefoods last he didn't have any either, have also tried a few other places.

I was just going on the advice I was given by someone else If I still can't get roaches would silk worms be a good alternative? As I know they are supposed to be good nutritionally, if not I just get crickets.. The other 2 scarf down gut loaded and dusted mealworms, the male is often see standing in hs dish

I'll print your tips off now and implement later on Do you happen to have any other pearls of wisdom on the Fatties? All input grgatefully received and understood, forgot to ask, what substrate do you keep yours on?
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[serpent]

Lobsters are good but they can climb glass and fatties cant ........ unless you cut off all of the legs on one side
I would use lobsters for arborials and dubia for terrestials.

I cant comment on silkworms as i have never used them (I've only ever seen them once)

Substrate; I used a 50/50 mix of playsand/dry eco-earth to a maximum depth of 1/2inch. I kept them in large contico's in a rack with leo's.

The picture below are of leos (ovioulsy ) but this is how I kept the fatties, the only thing different was the entrance to the hide was higher up, smaller and oblong on the short side of the tupperware box. (and no mealworms) Fill the box up until the eco-earth filler is just under the entrance hole. In the 4th picture down you can see that the top layer of the eco-earth almost dry but the humidity in the hide was about 80 -90% from memory (as seen in the condensation in pictures 2 and 3 )










I see from your website that you are into leachies

Here is an old pic of one of mine




_________________
People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[Dracowoman2]

I'll get chopping later on then, I was worried if I made the hole too high she wouldn't be able to get in it, but looking at those leos climbing up on those tubs I don't think that will be a problem

You have some STUNNING leos there. And the Leachie is so cute! I can't wait to get some, but I have some other projects to work on first. You just gotta love the Rhacs!!
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[Jas]

[quote="serpent"]

As everyone knows through reading books and the internet, AFT's need humidity through daily misting.

Having kept and bred AFT's for a number of years this so called fact is in my not so humble opinion ....... RUBBISH.

Misting does nothing but raise the ambient humidity very briefly for an hour or two at the most, whereas a constant humid hide will and does provide all the humidity needed for the geckos well being.
[quote]

I think its quite natural and beneficial for them to have there enclosure sprayed daily which is what i do with mine, as well as providing them with a warm humid box. Its true what you say that a daily spraying will only raise humidity briefly but this is what occurs in there natural range. Fat tails are found in Western Africa where in the rainy season can recieve an average of 12" of rain a month so fat tails would be used to frequent fluctuations in there humidity.

All of mine are fed mealworms as a staple, both babies and adults.
I find the best thing to pack the weight on fast is a pinkie mouse.
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