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Fattailflgirl   Smurfzilla   AllHailRain  
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 #1674452


Fattailflgirl
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 AFT wont eat crickets or worms! need help....

I have had my AFT since july 2007, when i first got him he was eating wonderfully. but then around november he seemed to loose interest in the crickets. i tried feeding him meal worms, wax worms, etc....basically anything i could think of just so he would eat, because by that time he was looking pretty bad. then around mid-december after giving up on him eating, i started feeding him calcium and vitamin fortified baby food, he loved it. but now i dont have the time to constantly feed him baby food. and he wont even touch the crickets i have tried to feed him. i dont know what to do, i needt help. if you have any advice let me know.

his tank set-up is:
- temp 80- mid 90’s
- under tank heater
- moist hiding place
- tree with fake plants
- and he is misted twice a day
- water dish
- moss on the side with the moist hiding place
- bark on the side with the tree



03/24/08  08:40pm

 #1674577


Smurfzilla
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   Message To: Fattailflgirl   In reference to Message Id: 1674452


 AFT wont eat crickets or worms! need help....

get him checked for parasites first off.. parasites can cause problems.. get them treated if he has them.. that could cure his eating problems right there.
what kind of babyfood have you been feeding him?
try feeding repta-aid twice a day..if you smear it on his mouth he should lick it off until hes full.. and leave calcium dusted crickets in over night and pull any left over ones out in the morning. try alternating coating them in pure calcium and "leopard gecko dust" on different days.. when hes eating regularly cut back to one feeding of repta--aid a day and then later on to just dusted crickets every other day.
good luck!
03/24/08  09:43pm

 #1674736


AllHailRain
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   Message To: Smurfzilla   In reference to Message Id: 1674577


 AFT wont eat crickets or worms! need help....

and just to add for altenative feeding because it’s faster..
for repta-aid/supplement foods..
you can either very gently pinch the sides of his jaw, this often makes them open their mouths...
or slide a playing card in his mouth and then put the syringe in and slowly squirt it in.
once he realizes that he can’t win, they will settle down a little.
Just be sure to be really gentle.

But as for the actual problem, it does sound a lot like parasites like Smurf said. They can get that from a bad batch of crickets and there’s nothing you can really do to protect them from that because it’s not easy to tell how healthy crickets are.
Your tank set up sounds great..so his sickness is just a fluke, nothing you did wrong.

Good luck :)
Keep us posted.



03/24/08  11:54pm


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