Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Congratulations, your babies look great! I have one female, Crockie, but i ordered more 2, a male and another female to a friend of mine who sells reptiles because i love tribs too!

Your babies look fat and healthy! What do you give them to eat?

Thanks, Flavia

Hi Flavia!

Thanks for your comments! We really enjoy having them, even if we hardly ever see them... LOL They're just such fascinating little creatures and sooo adorable! :-D

The only things they will eat right now are mealworms and beetles. We put them in a shallow ceramic dish along with some mulched greens and veggies. We've tried crickets (I maimed them by snapping the back legs to make it easier for the tribs to catch them), but they were left untouched. We also tried pupated mealworms but they won't eat those, either (I guess because they don't move -- but our chameleon loves them!).

I've been trying to set up a colony of wax worms but they keep dying on me! I haven't perfected the art of raising them yet. LOL I suspect it's because of where I buy them from. The worms are never very lively from the start.

We also keep hissing cochroaches and feed the nymphs to our chameleon. I thought of trying some on the tribs, but I'm so worried about the nymphs escaping into the appartment! Feeding them to the chameleon is not an issue, since we put the nymphs in a feeding dish with a rim of vaseline on the inside so they can't escape, and the chameleon just zaps the bugs with his tongue. But the tribs climb right into their feeding dish to eat, so there is always a risk that one or two bugs will get loose into the terrarium. Not a big deal when it comes to worms or beetles, but it is with roach nymphs because they can climb glass and plastic surfaces. *sigh*

Maybe I should just put a rim of vaseline on the inside of the tribs' terrarium.

I hope they are getting enough nutrition with what we're feeding them. Even though the bug variety isn't great, they get a wide variety of veggies with the bugs (we also keep iguanas) and they inevitably end up eating some of the veggies along with. We prefer doing this rather than sprinkling the bugs with vitamin powder.

We ended up moving their terrarium last week from one room to another, and for the past week, their feeding has dropped. It's like they have to acclimate all over again. What sensitive little critters!

How are you liking your new tribs? Do you keep them all together? What do you feed them?

Julie and Justin

My new tribs didnt arrive yet.Only mid June ill have them.Then i supposed ill have to move my Crockie to a bigger cage!

I can always see my baby because although she likes to hide, she is not hidden at all!Her cage is made of transparent plastic and her hiding places have so many holes that everybody can see where she is (but dont tell her that, ok?lol!)

I also give her mealworms but i dont put them in the veggies because the veggies get rotten very easy and im afraid the mealworms will become rotten too.I raise the mealworms inside a small dish with reptile vitamins in powder and Ensure and put the dish in my Tribs cage.I give her veggies too but in a different dish.She seems ok but she is not adding any weight and im worried.Id like mine to be like yours!Perhaps she is too young to have a fat belly!lol!

Hi Flavia,

You say your crockie is not gaining any weight? How much does she eat every day? You also mention that she's always visible. Maybe that is stressing her? From what I've seen so far, I think tribs really need a spot where they are invisible so that they feel safe.

We give our tribs about a dozen beetles in the evening and by the next morning, they are all gone. Sigyn (the female) is always the first to come out and even comes out when the lights are still on. Sometimes, we surprise her in the bowl and she will just look at us and remain very still. Then, she turns around and runs to her hide like a bolt of lightning. LOL I think the "remaining very still" is kind of like she's hoping we didn't see her and waits for the right opportunity to run and hide.

What kind of veggies do you give your tribs? We've never had problem with rotting. Most of it is made up of greens and they usually just dry up. If you have a picture of your set-up, I'd really like to see it! I will try to get a picture of mine today.

Julie, Justin, Loki and Sigyn. :-} (*squeak* *quack*)