It's been 2-3 weeks since the last time Eclair gained any weight :/ She did gain a lot the first few weeks here but now she seems to have stagnated. She doesn't appear to understand that she can eat out of her dish (and I've tried several different ones) so the only thing she'll eat most of the time is mealworm beetles that I drop in front of her. We tried giving her the smallest of our roaches the other day and she REALLY wanted it but it was still too large for her so I guess I need to order some of the smallest ones. All temps and everything are good, she shed just the other day. Any tips?
Not gaining weight
- Thread starter majahawt
- Start date
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Have you tried black soldier fly larvae (calci/repti/Phoenix worms)? They are very small. You might order a trial cup to see whether Eclair likes them.
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Yeah, we got a tub of them and neither of the geckos liked them :/ I know she likes locusts and the one dubia that was actually small enough for her she absolutely loved so I'm going to get some crickets tomorrow while I wait for smaller dubias. I'm gonna breed the dubias I have now but it'll be quite a while 'til they lay eggs or anything.
We just worry a lot about her because Donut was always so problem-free and gained weight so rapidly while she's still pretty gangly
hmarie186
New member
I've noticed with Edgar that some weeks he would gain like crazy, other weeks not at all and sometimes one gram. They will go thru growth spurts like any other baby. If it continues I would get a fecal done to be sure she's not got any parasites which can hinder growth by taking usable nutrients away from the gecko.
I checked her belly today to see if there was any impaction or anything, and it all looks fine except this tiny blue spot on the middle of her belly. Looks just like if you took a blue ballpoint pen and made a dot on a piece of paper. Any ideas about that?
EDIT: I checked her again and it has disappeared so it might just have been a bit of dirt. We also noticed now that because the weather's getting colder, we have to turn her thermostat up a bit because the ground temp had dropped to 27,5 C so she'll probably get her appetite back once the temp goes up :3
EDIT: I checked her again and it has disappeared so it might just have been a bit of dirt. We also noticed now that because the weather's getting colder, we have to turn her thermostat up a bit because the ground temp had dropped to 27,5 C so she'll probably get her appetite back once the temp goes up :3
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I definitely think that the problem is mostly just that she prefers different foods than Donut. We got some small crickets today and she immediately gobbled up two (not that great, I know, but at least she has an appetite). I've ordered lots and lots of small dubias so hopefully we'll be able to get her to bulk up a bit once we get those :3
We've been very unfortunate with our dubias, there's a shortage at our normal livefood provider so we've had to go to different sources. First we got the ones that were supposed to be medium but were one moult away from adults and then we got small ones which are REALLY small ones, like new born. Sigh.
Good news is we also got silkworms and Eclair is eating them! Hooray~ She's plenty active like she's always been so it's not like she's been sick but seeing her finally eat properly is a huge relief
Good news is we also got silkworms and Eclair is eating them! Hooray~ She's plenty active like she's always been so it's not like she's been sick but seeing her finally eat properly is a huge relief
I can! I'll see about getting some once the silkworms are out, we have a whole menagerie of different bugs here right now. She threw up a mealworm once and she hasn't touched them after that which kinda sucks since they're a staple but once we get the dubia colony nice and strong I guess they'll be an addition rather than a staple
Weekly weigh-day is on sunday so we'll see then! Crossing my fingers but she's eaten 10-15 silkworms a day so she should've gained some weight!
Keep us updated.I've identified another thing that might be a reason she hasn't been eating a lot before - hides. She has like 4 hides, two on the cold side and two on the warm side + lots of hiding places under plants and bark BUT she only really uses two of them. One is the moist warm hide and the other is a cold hide. The cold hide was on her warm side for a while just after we got her and she seems to have just picked it as her favourite and doesn't care that much about temperature as long as she's in that hide.
We need to rummage around in their tanks a bit tomorrow anyway so I'll move it back to the warm side and hopefully that'll help :3
We need to rummage around in their tanks a bit tomorrow anyway so I'll move it back to the warm side and hopefully that'll help :3
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Have you checked the temps under her warm dry hide lately?
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Some leos like it closer to 31*C. Have you tried that yet?
She's only gained 1 gram but she's only been eating properly the past 3 days since that's when we got the silkworms, so I guess it's a little progress. A couple of weeks on silkworms + her now switched hides should do her well.
Donut on the other hand suddenly weighs 65 grams, compared to 58 last week lol
Donut on the other hand suddenly weighs 65 grams, compared to 58 last week lol
hmarie186
New member
I believe we've settled on him being a boy after all, he tends to get a bit of a potbelly just before shedding and he's looking slimmer now. Plus he's got kinda big balls :>