Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my little stub tail in today. He is much tinier than I expected. I don't think he is even 3 inches and is 4 months old. He is also very skinny. Is there anything I can do besides just offering tons of small crickets to help him put on weight? I let him soak as soon as he arrived, and he did drink so I think he is well hydrated. What about baby food? He did take one bite of salad. He is pretty jumpy and probably stressed by the shipping, but I don't know if he can make it if he refuses to eat. Is there any kind of beardie weight gain?? I am going to get him into the sun every day I can. This is just very scary for me. I don't know how to post pictures or I could show you the difference between this little guy and my female the same age. It is unbelievable how tiny he is.

Laura

I had 5 show up this way a couple weeks ago. What I did is take juvie rep-cal and powdered it in a coffee grinder and added some minerall (just a dusting). I took some of this dry mix and mixed in enough pedialite to make a kind of green runny soup. let stand for 10 min to thicken up and feed by syrenge (a drop on the nose and they will usually lick it off). Do this a couple times a day (still offer salad and cricks but even if they don't eat them at least you know they're getting what they need). Within a day or 2 they were all looking much better and are putting on weight nicely.

Well, s/he ate 20 crickets today in 2 feedings. Given that it is in a totally new environment also with jet lag (I'm in Florida; came from CA), I think that is pretty good. Hoping for more tomorrow. This baby is very active and alert and appears to be very healthy, just teenie-weenie! Hopefully that will change soon. Thanks for the advice. I tried it earlier, but s/he didn't go for it. I will try it again tomorrow. That sounds like a great idea.

Laura

Eating like that, it'll grow in no time. It doesn't sound like you need to try anything else! LOL..Ll piggy you got there!
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TheClassyLizard

I hope you're right! Its tiny legs are smaller than toothpicks, and it keeps trying to hide under the paper towels. I put it back on the basking spot so that it won't have trouble digesting the crix. This one just makes me so nervous.

Laura