Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here for Dragon Serpents
Click for ZooMed
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

Feeding Questions!!!!!

badcompnay Jun 12, 2007 10:21 PM

So, tonight I went to feed my two leos and I noticed that one of them wasnt eating...even though I placed a few appropriate sized crickets directly in front of her.

My other leo on the other hand ate pretty much ALL of them, which was abt six. I watched her eat four and then she ate the other two I placed in front of the other!

So these questions came to mind...

1. Was it possible she just wasnt hungry?

2. What feeding schedules do you guys follow ie; daily? every other day? mid afternoon, right when they come out at night?
****mine are only a month old!!!!****

Replies (3)

olstyn Jun 12, 2007 10:43 PM

>>1. Was it possible she just wasnt hungry?
>>

Yes, but at that age it's more likely that there's some bullying/dominance going on between them and the one with no appetite is getting stressed by it.

>>2. What feeding schedules do you guys follow ie; daily? every other day? mid afternoon, right when they come out at night?
>>****mine are only a month old!!!!****

Juveniles that young should be eating daily. Typically I've fed mine at night or during the evening around sunset when they come out. Month old leos should be enthusiastic eaters, as they need the calories to grow. Try separating the two for a week or two and see if that changes anything. If that's not possible, at least try feeding them separately - get a rubbermaid container or some such to feed them in and do it one at a time to make sure they both have a chance to get enough food.
-----
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

casichelydia Jun 13, 2007 09:35 AM

Didn't you just get these guys? It could be that one is having a tougher time acclimating than the other - have they both eaten for you previously?

Whether or not the presence of the feeding leopard is stressing the other doesn't really matter at this point; what matters is where their relationship is headed.

The one that's feeding is now ahead in the competition game, by six meals. We see a meal as the food a gecko eats in one sitting, but that's silly since it doesn't work like that. It's not often in the wild that crickets aggregate to be eaten. Each catch (cricket) is its own meal, and one of your geckos is now at least six successful hunts ahead, which means it's all those calories and all that growth (which is very rapid at a month of age) ahead.

Also, bear in mind how likely stress is. Based on where you said these animals were coming from, they've gone from solitary life in small plastic shoeboxes lined with butcher paper to group living in a big, airy glass tank with very different substrate (I'm assuming). Most herps are conservative in their approach to life and they fear change.

If you separate them, leave the non-feeding one where it is. Bumping it around even more new places may only stress it further (if that's part of the problem).

>>So, tonight I went to feed my two leos and I noticed that one of them wasnt eating...even though I placed a few appropriate sized crickets directly in front of her.

My other leo on the other hand ate pretty much ALL of them, which was abt six. I watched her eat four and then she ate the other two I placed in front of the other!

So these questions came to mind...

1. Was it possible she just wasnt hungry?

2. What feeding schedules do you guys follow ie; daily? every other day? mid afternoon, right when they come out at night?
****mine are only a month old!!!!****

badcompnay Jun 13, 2007 11:20 AM

Yup! I just got them on the 7th of this month!

Im going to try and seperate them tonight taking the snow and putting her in another tank.

Site Tools