Baby Oedura not eating

[Miss.Hiss]

Hi all,

I recently purchased two 1 month old Oedura tryoni. They are active, playful and are doing all the things geckos should do, except eat!
I've had them for 5 days now and they just shy away whenever I offer food (using tweezers).
I've tried live crickets and tinned crickets. I've checked temp, humidity and lighting and all are correct for the species.
Do hatchlings normally take this long to eat as they settle in? When do you feed your geckos (Day/night)? I know these guys are nocturnal so I've tried feeding in the evening.
I'm worried they will starve if they don't eat soon.
Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Welcome aboard!

Feeding in the evening IS recommended. Your Oedura tryoni are very young. Tong feeding may increase the adjustment stress they feel.

Live crickets are excellent! :yahoo: Tinned crickets aren't much good.

Try jumpstarting their appetites with a single feeding of waxworms. Don't continue that. Waxworms are very fatty.

What's their substrate? It's better while they're young to keep them on paper towels and feed them free range crickets.

 

[Miss.Hiss]

Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for your warm welcome and advice!
Good to know I am on the right track with feeding at night - one of my little guys did catch (and eat) one of the crickets last night which gave me hope!

I haven't heard of waxworks before. I'll look up if I have a stockist nearby.

So my little guys have paper towel with cocopeat on top. I've been spraying it of a morning to keep the substrate moist and the tank humid- not that Sydney weather needs any help with that at the moment!

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for your warm welcome and advice!
Good to know I am on the right track with feeding at night - one of my little guys did catch (and eat) one of the crickets last night which gave me hope!

I haven't heard of waxworks before. I'll look up if I have a stockist nearby.

So my little guys have paper towel with cocopeat on top. I've been spraying it of a morning to keep the substrate moist and the tank humid- not that Sydney weather needs any help with that at the moment!

Thanks again for your help!

You're welcome.

As long as both start eating, I'd really skip any waxworms. Waxworms aren't nutritious at all. Feeding waxworms regularly can make it difficult to get a gecko to eat other insects and worms.

For young inexperienced geckos (and older ones too sometimes) there's always a chance that they could get impacted by getting a mouthful of cocopeat with their crickets.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

By the way you may find something like a 10 oz glass an ideal food dish. The motion of the crickets attracts the geckos to the bugs. This way there will be little fear of impaction.

 

[Miss.Hiss]

Thank you for your helpful advice. It's so great to have a forum like this that's so willing to support its members and start discussion!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thank you for your helpful advice. It's so great to have a forum like this that's so willing to support its members and start discussion!

You're definitely welcome!