Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
I mentioned in previous posts that Charlie was not eating. What is weird is that he is eating again... but only right before bed. It is the only time he eats. Around 6 pm i can put nearly anything in front of him and he will devour it. Any time before that, he wont even look at it. Its not a problem, i just found it weird. He has been doing this consistantly over the last few weeks.

Anyone else have the same thing?

Jeff

Hey Jeff,

He should not be eating right before lights out. the rule of thumb is to have at least 2 hours of basking after last meal so that he can digest his food. If he eats and then his body cools soon after the food will just ferment in his belly. Might be OK for a while, but will likely cause problems down the road.

Back him up or change his light time.

Darwin (dragon) will sometimes do this, but it is only rarely, like when I forget to take his food out of his tank and he might eat a few pieces of veggies.
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Usually his lights go out at 7:30. Do you think and hour and a half is safe?

jeff

Not sure, some people say three hours. Get some other's opinions, too. Would be interesting to see what they say.
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Usually the lights go out at 730, but he doesnt go to sleep until a little after. so if two hours is safe than i am getting close to it. BTW, what size silkworms should i be looking for for Charlie. he is about a foot from nose to tail.

Jeff

since silkies are soft bodied anything reasonable. His body size is not as important as the distance b/t his eyes - rule of thumb for fedder size. I am sure he could handle 1-1 1/2" maybe even 2" They grow quickly so if you get 1 1/2" and they seem small they will grow

You can back up his time by 5 or ten minutes every couple days and before you know it he'll be back to three!
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet