Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going crazy dripping drops of pedialyte/supplements on my fimbriatus's noses and waiting for them to lick it off. I think they could use a good hydration calcium boost, so I've been trying to load em up by hand. It takes forever and it's not very effective. Any tips on the best way to get these guys to gape their mouths open for an eyedropper without totally freaking them out? Also, my guys are very mellow, but do I need to worry about them biting in response to the harassment? Finally, what the heck is brumating. Thanks.

the best way to get them to gape is to tap them on the sides of the mouth with your index finger and thumb... if the tapping doesnt work leave your fingers in that position on their snout and sorta wiggle your fingers back and forth... sometimes you have a couple stubborn ones, in this case its easiest to slide a thin quitar pick in at the snout and slighty turn it to pry the mouth open... at this time, directly follow with whatever it is you're trying to get into their mouth...
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Ben

Have you tried showering the gex? Fimbriatus respond well to showering, and it's less intrusive than "forcing" supplements. Brumation can be thought of as reptile hybernation. Temps drop SLIGHTLY and food is offered less frequently. Certain species require brumation to induce breeding. Opinions vary on whether it's necessary to brumate uros...

Thanks for the advice. I haven't tried showering them, and hadn't even thought about it until reading some of the posts on the forum. I think that's what I'll do from now on if they seem dehydrated. It'll be nice to be able to get them to gape though in case it's needed. I have some snail shells that I was hoping to feed them for calcium, so we'll see... Anyway, thanks again for the help.

if youre going to give them supplements while they gape, you have to make sure that whatever mixture you give them is thick enough. sometimes when you feed them like that, the response is to spit up whatever you put in their mouth. i know it can be a pain by putting drop by drop on their mouth and waiting for them to respond so what i do is have an eyedropper ready and mist them in their face area with a fine spray of water. they always respond better to a fine spray of water than one drop on their snout(they react on instinct). after they start to lick their face and eyes clean then you can sneak a drop or two in while they are licking.

I would shower them regularly not because they are dehydrated but for preventative measures. Don't do the bare minimum.

Jason

haha, "the bare minimum", are we talking about flare or uroplatus?
anyways, i would agree that you should try to shower atleast once a week, i like to do it as often as i can which usually ends up being 3-4 times a week.

Either I'm too tired to know what you mean by flare or it didn't make sense...

it's from the movie office space. if you haven't seen it, jennifer aniston is getting really pissed at her boss because they are supposed to wear " pieces of flare" which is buttons, hat, etc. for their work and she's wearing " just the bare minimum" sorry, i thought it was funny.

uh, yea.....

lol what a great movie.

I remember that movie....

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

Jason

otherwise i'd feel pretty stupid.

Stupidity is only lab bred. Sorry, bad joke from my lab.