Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I purchased an adult female T.gracilis back in February. She is housed alone in a 10gal. tank with high humidity levels, a large water supply, cypress mulch substrate and abundant sphagnum moss to hide in. For some time, I got her to eat meal worms and even superworms, but never crickets. She seemed to gain weight for a while, then suddenly stopped eating about 3 weeks ago. I continue to offer fresh food, and have included wax worms, but nothing seems to be disappearing. Has anyone encountered similar difficulties? I have searched the web, but none of the care sheets that I've seen deal with illness or behavioral problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

whats the temps? Does it look like its lost weight? what size cricket and how many hav u tryd at a time?.

The tank is maintained at 75 to 80 degrees, and humidity is always above 80%. There is no basking spot, since most sources agree that it is unnecessary, although I do use a full spectrum incandescent lamp outside the tank (not over it) for about 4 hours a day. She did not take crickets, but accepted mealworms and superworms. Yes, she does seem to have lost weight. Just this past week, I have tried small gut-loaded crickets. You never actually see her eat, because she just freezes like a rock as soon as you look in on her, but the crickets do seem to be disappearing (unless they are just hiding under the moss!).

Drop 3-4 crickets in there and the next day look for them if there gone drop 3-4 more. Have u tried earth worms? Mine seem to like them time to time.

I have kept my Croc skinks to WET! Misted every day and my humidity was 80 plus as well. My animals did not like this and stopped eating as well, being lethargic (dont knwo if it is spelled correctly) and 2 of them developed sores on their skin. From that day on i stopped spraying daily and now only spray twice a week or less. I do have a waterbowl which is used daily by my animals to defecate. The temps are between 21 degress celsius to 26 degrees celsius.

Another tip is to dust your crickets with vitamins as long as they are white and easily spotted. My animals will grab the strait away!

Let me know how it developes!

Hi. Since I started asking about this problem, I think there has been some improvement. I started throwing in some crickets because she stopped eating mealworms. I never actually see her eat because she's too nervous to move while someone is watching, but after a few days, I can't see any more crickets, so I guess she's eating. Likewise, I find very few defecations. But, like I said, the crickets are disappearing and she doesn't seem to be losing weight anymore, so I guess I'll just continue to monitor her as well as possible. She is a freaky little thing though. She absolutely refuses to move a muscle if I'm watching, except to duck her head if I approach the tank. I had really hoped for an animal that was more interesting to observe. All of my other animals are snakes, and I love watching them climb and explore. Did your croc skinks ever exhibit this ultra-tense behavior? After 8 months, I thought she would be over it by now.

Hi there, yes my animals are still a bit jumpy when I enter the room. But when I keep the window open for a longer period they seem to calm down a bit, the male hates the sound of glass rubbing against glass (when opening vivarium) the youngest female is also pretty jumpy but she is getting less jumpy now. The oldest female is more relaxed and is eating crickets from a tweezer! And she doesnt mind being watched. The one thing that helps is not to look at their eyes! If they you they have eyecontact its over and the are gone. I do have a few coconuts for them to hide under which helps alot to calm them down. But you will never get a animal that is like a Blue tongue skink or a plated lizard.
Well keep us posted of your animals!