Am I right, or did I miss something?

[Gecko Newbie]

Alrighty, so you may know that Lola and Tony's baby (Emma) now belongs to one of my students. His mom called me this morning with some questions about Emma not eating. Here's what my advice was for her concerns - can you all check them over and see if I was right or if I may have missed something, please? I told her she really needs to join a forum (my student could practice his writing!).

Problem: Emma isn't eating - she just shed, but she won't eat. (Emma is about 2 weeks old.)

I asked her: What are the temps? What substrate? Humidity?

She said - coconut fiber, high 80's, doesn't have a humidity thing.

SO - I suggested getting rid of the coconut fibers - I had them and it made it too humid, too cold, plus it's too loose for a baby and she could get impacted, and she won't eat if she doesn't have the right belly heat for digestion. I suggested repti carpet or paper towels...

Problem: Emma runs away ("freaks out") when crickets come near her.

I reiterated the info you'd all given me about giving her small worms instead of those big bad crickets ( )...she said Emma won't go near the bowl... Any suggestions?

I kind of think she's just little, uncomfortable due to the substrate and temperatures, and a little skittish because of how young she is. What do you all think? Help, help!

 

[cat_named_noodles]

Hatchlings can be very skittish. Tell them not to hold her yet. Do they have an uth? Does she have enough hides (at least 3-cool, warm, humid)?
Other than that I agree, give her time to come around. Has she eaten at all since she shed?

 

[hyposhawn]

Temps higher will make feed. My Leo went 6 days and I rose the temps and Wallah!
Use paper towels or slate tile as substrate.
Get humidity source.

 

[theturvs]

I know it sounds gross, but I still stand by crippling the crickets. SoCo has horrible aim, and after he misses the same bug 4 or 5 times, he gets a little discouraged.
I usually shake them in a plastic baggie and reach in with a pair of feeder tongs, grab onto a back leg, gently hold the cricket through the bag and pull the leg off. Slows them up enough for him to catch them, but they still move enough to give him a challenge.
If they make sure to give her pinheads and crip them up, Emma should be good.

 

[Palor]

Try offering the hatchling some phoenix worms in a dish. They are very squigly and do not move very fast at all.

 

[acpart]

I think that all your suggestions about adjusting Emma's living environment are good. It's likely that she eats when they aren't noticing (unless the problem is that they count the feeders and none are missing). It's not unusual for hatchlings of that age not to need to eat too much. The best bet is to provide feeders all the time (mealworms are best for this), not worry about how much she's eating as long as they are seeing poops.

Aliza

 

[Gecko Newbie]

She ate!

Thank you everyone!!

The family switched out the substrate to repticarpet and it got much warmer. They also pulled the back legs off the little crickets - my student isn't bothered by that at all (he's a 7 year old boy, it's totally normal). Emma ate 3 crickets in one day! I told him she needs to be eating a lot and they should continue pulling off the legs and consider having worms in a dish at all times to make sure that she gets enough food. We'll see how it goes!

Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[hyposhawn]

Great. Let us know how it goes.

 

[theturvs]

lol. Awesome, I'm glad someone doesnt find the idea of crippling crickets disturbing! lol. Its great that they've finally got her eating. Hopefully she's settling in and getting more comfortable and will be eating like crazy soon!