Baby Araneus worry...

[pumpkinking329]

Hello Again!

So I finally have some pics of my new Juvi Araneus and his volcanic rainforest vivarium! Still unsure about it's sex, but the stripes are coming on pretty strong with orange so I am leaning towards male.

I am a little concerned that he is not eating. I have him in a travel cage for a couple weeks while the vivarium settled. He never seemed to eat any of the baby crickets I put in, I would either find them hiding under the moss or dead in the water bowl (which I barely put any water in to try and curb this). I finally decided to try meal worms and he seems to eat those right up. However, this was in the travel cage. Now he has been in his big vivarium (pics included) and for all the life of me I havent seen him budge from the cork log I put in there. I put some crickets and mealworms in but when I mist the mealworms seem to die. Is this normal? I am also concerned that there isn't enough humidity inside the cork log for him, while the rest of the tank sits at about 70-80%.

Any thoughts on how to encourage him to explore the tank? Should I put the meal worms in a place where they wont be misted and therefor die (if they are dead...)? Of course when I get an auto-mister, it will be very difficult to keep the mealworms dry... Should I be concerned about the humidity in the log?

Am I a paranoid parent? Haha... Any help would be much appreciated!!!! Hope you enjoy the pics

 

[pumpkinking329]

Not sure why the forum put the pics in upside down... But I hope you can still get the idea!

 

[Aimless]

can you give a little more detail regarding time? it seems that you've had him just a few weeks and then moved him very recently into a new enclosure? if so, just give him time.

also, hard as it is, please try to not let him get on an all-mealworm diet because you're worried. they're sort of considered as pizza and big macs; OK sometimes but not as the main staple because of their high fat, relatively low nutritious properties otherwise, and high chitin that makes them hard to digest.

 

[pumpkinking329]

Thanks for the quick reply! I figured I was being a little paranoid. I have had him for about 3 weeks. He was moved into his new enclosure 3 days ago. The tank is about 40 gallons with lots of hides. I planned on putting about 4 crickets in the tank every 2-3 days because of the size and layout of the tank. They find places to hide very quickly. Do you think this is a good amount or should I be putting more in? Ill move the meal worms to a different section of the tank and I'll just put them in once a week or so.

It seems as thought my concern for the humidity inside the cork log is unfounded. I had a leopard gecko for many years but I'm new to species that need a certain humidity level and a little stressed since he is a juvi.

 

[Aimless]

hm. I'm not sure of the best way to feed him crickets. what about a small plastic ziploc/tupperware that will keep them contained, that he can jump into?

 

[pumpkinking329]

I dont know if I've ever seen something like this. Do you have an example? I have been dusting the crickets with Crestie supplement (as I was advised by the breeder). Has anyone tried just feeding this supplement as the meal replacement paste?

 

[rwintjen]

The more you handle him and move him around the more stressed he will be. Gonis are a very very shy and easily stressed species. Let him be and just allow him to get used to the routine and don't handle him. I had a boy not eat for me for nearly two months after being placed into my home. He didn't lose any weight, though so I wasn't extremely worried. Then he began to eat and all was well. Just keep an eye on him. It's fairly normal if they've recently been moved.

Also--pinch off the crickets back legs so they cannot jump. And put them into a shallow glass bowl that they cannot escape from.

 

[scotty08724]

Try using small earthworms as an alternative to mealworms . There are many different species of "earthworms" some stay small, others you might have to cut up, but also if you release a bunch into the vivarium, not only will the worms improve the quality of your soil(benefiting your plants) but it will also provide your gecko with plenty of baby worms to snack on when ever he gets hungry, once the worms start to reproduce. Earthworms welcome the moisture and I would assume there are some form of native earthworm in the caves where your araneus is from.