lbanta
New member
My Vastra is very challenged, I believe, visually. She strikes toward motion but misses each time. After a couple tries she loses interest. I try to tong feed, sometimes I am lucky, if I pull it right in front of her. Most of the time she ignores it and seems irritated or she just freezes and stays that way with her head up or she tries to climb up against the glass to get out. I do feed her in a small aquarium because I have tried to feed her in her home tank and she can't see them to get them at all and they just crawl off and hide under things. I tried the bowl feed she will get into the bowl to check it out but can't get the bugs. I have a large low bowl of mealworms in her tank but she hasn't eaten any of them. She will walk thru the bowl but not eat any of them. Over the last month she may have eaten 8 crickets. She does poop the following day after she gets one. She appears healthy looking. She was chubby to begin with but has lost 5 gms this last month. She is ten or eleven months old and did weigh 55 gms but now is down to 49. She is 8 inches long. She is healthy so I am not too worried about her. But it does upset me when I see her strike a couple times trying to get something to eat miss a few times and then just lose interest and not eat that day. I have tried taking the back legs off the crickets. Dropping them right in front of her. I have done the same with dubias and meal worms to no avail. With tongs I can sometimes put something in just the right spot and she gets it. But that only works seldomly. I know all my husbandry for her is appropriate according to this sites recommendations. I have tried to hold a bug up to her face she might even lick it but she has not taken it. I am frustrated and don't want her to lose any more weight. Any suggestions how to help a visually handicapped leo. 6 months ago she would catch 6 crickets at a setting, she would pounce and miss but she was determined enough that she kept trying and usually got enough that even though I could tell she had some depth perception difficulties she still could get the job done. Now if she catches one every three days we are lucky. Dubias are even more difficult because After she see them they hunker down like little tanks and she goes right over them and it's like they are not there. If I could teach her to eat something out of my hand or if I need to find a better way to introduce bugs on the tong. It is hard when she seems to not be able to see it But she does seem to be able to see me in the room because she follows me with her eyes. Perhaps she is only farsighted. I am frustrated. Any suggestions would be happily received. Anybody know where I can get a pair of tiny spectacles! LOL! :yikes:
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