Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am needing to know why my female may have quit eating? She is not gravid as she is not "plump". My male eats just fine in the same housing, same temps, same humidity, and same lighting. She does not look emaciated but is looking thin than when I brought her home. Any info would help greatly as any of the websites I have on them do not discuss any problems that may occur in keeping them. As of now I've been feeding dusted crix until my roaches arrive. Which they were supposed to arrive tuesday but never did. The pic I show is from when I brought her home on April 23rd.

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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII

Are they wc? It is very difficult to diagnose these little ones and there could be several problems. Depending on the care she got during her travels she may have an internal infection, a large parasite load, be showing delayed reactions to all the stress of her capture etc., or simply be an old animal. She could also be gravid but is not showing obvious signs. They have very short lives and the trappers usually collect the larger animals that may be old to begin with. The first thing I would do is separate her from the male to isolate her in case she has something contagious or is stressed by the male. It is very difficult to get the perfect combination of airflow and humidity conditions in tanks and she could be picking up bacteria from our substrates and plants that she has not resistance to (our stuff is not from her native habitat after all). You may also need to try different prey such as springtails and fruitflies rather than crix. Unless she's a known juvenile you should not be dusting every day. Overdoses of minerals can cause organ damage. Good luck!

Are you misting her and foliage twice daily? I use warm-ed water in spray bottle to wet down plant leaves and animals in morning and at night, hour or so after lights come on and before lights turn off. The light wet down allows animals to drink and hydrate.
I agree that over supplement could easily occur with this small bodied reptiles. I sup. every ten to fourteen day, and a calcium only dusting somewhere in the middle of supplement spacings.
Aslo, try adding foliage, a sight barrier if male is bug-ing her. Small 3" potted ficus work good for me.

Steve
2.6 Rham Brev 2.5 newly hatched 15 days old and growing fast.

The guy I got them from said he has been breeding them for a couple of yrs now. the male does not bother her. they tend to stay at opposite ends of the tank. I do mist with warm water, once in the morning and once at night. the day i brought them home and placed them in there she ate right off the bat. As far as ficus's go I do have some but they are cuttings and they haven't got big enough roots yet to plant. I have 1 4" ficus in a shallow pot(2 1/2". I have talked with others who have bred and raised these and they all recommend roaches or termites. I've been waiting 4 days now for the roaches to arrive and I have set up a termite trap out in our woods(which are well away from the house)but I was told could take 3-5 weeks before any show up. She may be old as the guy said they've been laying eggs like crazy. The male is active most of the day but she tends to stay in one spot and sleep most of the time thru the day. I don't dust everyday but the crix are fed a crix chow developed by Ghann's. The roaches are discoids 1/8" to 1/4" in size which is just the right size. Plus i can easily raise and breed the roaches. I thank you both for your advice.
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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII