Reptile & Amphibian Forums

U. henkeli eating a hissing roach...

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Ben

Hey Ben, good stuff. I have the oppurtunity to get some hissing roaches and I was wondering how small the babies for these things are? I doubt I will be keeping Henkeli anyitme soon or fimbs, but will lineatus or sikorae as adults show any interest in an appropriately sized hisser? Thanks.

Mike

I have heard of lineatus and sikorae taking roaches, but it seems to be on a case-by-case basis... Some will, some won’t... Same goes for the henkeli and fimbriatus it seems... Baby roaches, just "born" are about a 1/4 inch in size... I have used these to feed CB hatchling henkeli with minimal success, but have also used them with geckos such as this WC hatchling fimbriatus with much better success...

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Ben

I used to feed all my Uros with Cockroaches, Phantasticus, Sikoroe´s and Lineatus...Just be sure that they arent to big. Even thought my Lineatus could eat fullgrown B.dubia. I will check at home if i have any pics of them eating.

//Micke

hey ben, im guessing you dont use full-sized roaches...i've put some in with my henks in the past but never with any interest from them. im having trouble getting my new male eating, and was considering getting different roaches to see if he'll feed on those. suggestions?

You're right; I don't use full sized roaches as they are a little big... I have seen my henks pound some pretty large roaches though... They can surprise you that’s for sure…

I assume you have tried crickets?... To be honest with you, I have never really had trouble getting WC Uros to take crickets, but I have had henks go through spells where they seem sickly and go off feed… During these times I assist feed them and it seems to boost them back to life… If this doesn’t work, I will collect a fecal and medicate accordingly…

Someone once suggested beheading a cricket and squeezing out some of the lymph onto the geckos snout. Sometimes this will elicit a feeding response. This is to get them used to the smell, taste and texture of the cricket… Makes sense as there are several similar approaches used when trying to convert snakes from something they naturally eat to something more nutritional and readily available. I haven’t tried it… So if you do, let us know how it goes…
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Ben

My male Henkeli has been pounding large adult lobster roaches. His previous owner had been feeding crickets exclusively I beleive. Maybe the lobster being a bit quicker attracts his eye from his perch near the top of his 30xh. He has yet to turn them down. Once you try roaches and get past ick factor you probably won't buy or use crickets again. Roaches are easier to breed, quick to adult, don't smell like crickets do, and don't chirp all night.

well, one of my big problems right now is getting him to open his mouth. i have been putting him thru showers, but i havent noticed any improvement, and he really doesnt drink much when i put him thru that, although the female loves it. i just cant get him to open his mouth though. i have been trying to rehydrate him with pedialyte, but he simply does not open his mouth for me. i tried tapping his snout, rubbing his nose a little, and he just didnt get the point. i even tried dabbling a tiny bit on his snout but still no response. now his condition really hasnt worsened, but it hasnt gotten better. ill try squeezing a lil cricket juice onto him, but i really need some advice on getting him to open his mouth. ive tried all that i can think of. i dont even think i could get a fecal out of him, or at least i havent noticed any yet. otherwise hes still active and all, so ill be keeping up with the routine.

Taping the nose has never worked that well for me... Here's a couple other things to try;

1) Using your index finger and thumb, gently squeeze both sides of his mouth just under the eyes... If you make them mad enough they'll gape nice and big for ya... Be careful as well though, they can put a quick bite on you... (Luckily it doesn't hurt)...

2) This is a surefire way to get the mouth open, but its a little trickier to administer meds or feed after they open up... Use a thin guitar pic and carefully slide in their mouth... Their first response is usually to bite down on it, but slightly turn the pic and pry open the mouth... In the opening from the side, squirt your meds, feed, place your cricket, or whatever it may be... Sometimes they will shake their head and spit out whatever it may be you placed in there... This is when you turn not so nice and try and get the item a little further in the back of their mouth (down their throat)... As always be careful not to harm the animal...

I can explain in more detail if need be...
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Ben

Pulling downward on the skin of the bottom of the mouth also works, but not as well and isn't to pleasant for the animal...
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Ben

ill give some of those a try later tonight, i might try an index card since i dont have a guitar pick. i tried pulling a little at his chin last time and since i know many geckos are really fragile, i didnt wanna mess with it too much. looks like they glues his mouth shut or something. im sure ill get something to work...

well i dont think he (my new male henkeli) took to the showers very well, it seems like he drinks better when i just mist the hell out of his cage. it was probably just him getting settled in, but his tail was pretty withered from the start. its still not totally there, but it is filling out. still havent gotten the bugger to open his mouth, but i have noticed the past few nights times where he's staring at crickets just out of reach. so he's probably feeding, havent actually seen it yet, but he's definitely getting better.

i've used method two several times. i used a thin platic business card or a cresdit card.

Just a little suggestion from my own personal experience. When my male pietschmanni first came in he seemed to be in bad shape. I tried all the usuall things such as using baby food, force feeding and just trying eveything I could to make him feel better. I finnaly gave up and just left him alone and after which he began improving dramatically. Heres my suggestion for you. Separate him from the female and keep him in a small moist cool cage where you can observe him closely and just leave him be for a while. No touching or handling. Usually the reason these guys arn't feeding is stress. handling them just increases that.
-Matt

well i noticed him drinking more on his own in the cage tonight as well as saw him eyeing a few crickets. im gonna keep a close eye on him, and ill try leaving him alone for the most part, but im gonna continue with the showers. he does get a little bit of drinking in then, so it makes me feel better. we'll see how it ends up.