What to expect the first few days.

bipolarbabe · #1 02-22-2010, 01:07 PM

Just got a pair of L. Williamsi (Named them Mr. and Mrs. Williams

). What should I expect the first few days. They seemed to have darkend their color, the male is black not the beautiful blue he was when I got him home. I haven't caught them eating, but was wondering if that was normal. Fed them fruit flies and crested gecko diet. Thanks

Kristin

WingedWolfPsion · #2 02-22-2010, 03:27 PM

Mine spent most of their first few days hiding, save for one extremely bold female. Just put them somewhere out of the way of foot traffic in your home, and let them rest. Give them lots of water--spray often. Keep them warm. Put in LOTS of fruit flies, so they don't have to go far to get food. It took my shy male at least a week to start coming out of his shell and lighten up from matte black, and about 3 weeks to really get comfortable and behave normally. Mine are finally at the stage now, 1 month in, where I am cutting back on their feeding because they were starting to get fat. If yours are also imports, expect it to take 2 to 3 weeks to complete 'rehabilitation' and get them into good shape.

Routines will help--if you always feed them in the same place in the cage, they will learn to check there when the cage is disturbed. I think this helps their stress level, because they start to expect good things to happen after they've had a little fright from your opening the cage and messing around. They recover and come out of hiding afterward much more quickly once they learn that.

Mine would not touch the CGD at first. I gave them some peach babyfood, which they went right for, and then I mixed CGD with it. Now they're eating straight CGD. They just needed a flavor that appealed to them more at first--so, if yours don't want the CGD, try that after a week or so. Feed them insects right by the CGD cup, so they're drawn to explore it.

hexentanz · #3 02-22-2010, 04:24 PM

If it is only their first day, i would caution against LOTS of fruit flies as this can make them even more stressed, think for example how you would feel if you were placed in a new box and had tons of flies crawling all over you and you were already scared out of your mind to begin with.

Their first few days in your home you should attempt to feed them only after a day of being there and little bits at a time every other day.

I agree with WingedWolfPsion that you will first need to get them used to the CGD slowly, before they will take it. And also that you should give them as less traffic as possible over the first days. Only open the tank to feed and mist. Usually the morning time is best.

WingedWolfPsion · #4 02-22-2010, 04:31 PM

My little ones were very quick to recover their appetite--they were eating the day after they arrived, which is why I suggested it. The male did not want to come out of hiding to find food for many days, but he would eat whatever walked in front of him.

I hope I didn't give the impression of overdoing it--a couple dozen fruit flies in a 10 gallon tank aren't really a swarm. Just enough that the lizards will see them occasionally if they don't move around much.

bipolarbabe · #5 02-23-2010, 10:53 AM

The female has become lighter in color and I spotted her eating flies and some CGD. I also gave them some apple/blueberry baby food and noticed a few dents. The male is a bit more timid, I haven't seen him eat, but his color is a bit lighter and the blue is starting to shine through. I also elevated the feeding cups so they didn't have come down so far. The female was hiding this morning, but I found her cuddled up to the heating mat mounted on the back of the tank.

I did get them from a reptile show and they were hatched through a breeder. They told me they were four months and were eating pinheads and CGD.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Kristin

bipolarbabe · #6 02-25-2010, 01:59 PM

I has been 5 days, and they seem to be doing well. The male is always dark in the morning, but by the time I get home from work, he is a nice shade of blue/green. The female is always light brown/green. They look at each other and us and we saw at least the female eating. Still working on a feed schedule. They don't seem to want the CGD, but I think I need a better quailty food and mix it with peach juice or baby food.

Saw some shedding and been spraying three times a day. They are so funny and look straight at you when you are observing them, as if to say "What do you want?".

Kristin

WingedWolfPsion · #7 02-25-2010, 02:05 PM

I found that they love peaches (on a tip from Switzer Reptile), so I gave them some peach babyfood, then started mixing in increasing amounts of prepared CGD. After a week of eating 50/50 mix, I just gave them straight CGD, and they gobble it up now. I've cut them down to eating every other day to every 3rd day, because they showed no sign of slowing once they became round. <lol>

The little buggers are now making me feel guilty. They go to the empty food dish, and they look down into it, and they look up at me... lol...

bipolarbabe · #8 03-02-2010, 01:29 PM

All is well, the male comes out when he thinks no one is looking and eats my CGD mixed with baby food as well as some fruit flies. The female has her own basking area and seems to be a bit chubby. I love to watch them and sneak up the male so he doesn't run off and hide.

WingedWolfPsion · #9 03-03-2010, 05:24 PM

He'll come around eventually, and figure out you're not going to have him as an hors d'oeuvres.

Nate Bell · #10 11-05-2010, 09:26 AM

I am having a similar problem to bipolarbabe. I just have the one male in a vivarium, and he is often grayish blue and sometimes charcoal. Is there a way to keep him less stressed. He does hide much of them time. I have introduced tiny crickets and fruit flies, I think I saw him eat a few before he scuttled away. I have also put in mashed up pear, and mango, and I have seen him eating that from the leaf where I always place it. He shares the vivarium with a (nocturnal) tree frog. Could that be the problem? I thought with their different activity schedules it wouldn't matter so much.

If the photo comes through, that is my little guy when he first went in, and he is much darker most of the time now.

Also had a question about humidity...how much is too much? The humidity where I have him is probably at the upper end, around 80%. On the upside, there are almost always droplets on leaves or tank walls for him to drink.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.