Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Feeding ideas for my DHL p. platyrhinos

OK I got my first shipment of ants Friday, 100 to start out. Boy they didn't last long. They were gone by today, Monday AM.

Prior to getting the ants he did eat 2 crickets and 1 mealworm. That was last Monday. Since then I have offered crickets, mealworms, spiders, termites and (gulp) maggots. He seems to want no part of any of them. I leaved them until they are dead and dry, other than the spiders that is, they crawl up the glass and out. The crickets can even be in a line of ants he is eating but he will let them pass.

Any ideas for getting him to supplement his ants with something else? Otherwise Life Studies is going to love me. My 11yo daughter says I should put Tabasco sauce on the crickets so they will taste more like the fire ants. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Bob

Hey man,

Tabasco sauce? lol! Some other bugs I've tried that always seem to work are bees, moths, caterpillars/grubs, and beetles. the bees I normally clip a wing off of. I try and feed things like this one at a time, so i can moniter how much, and how fervently my HL will go after said food. My female LOVES beetles, and used to steal them from the other lizards in the pen. I gauge this as a favorable response. Anyway, try any of those insects, make sure they aren't collected somewhere where there might be pesticides and all, and let us know if you stumble on something that your HL likes.

Oh yeah earwigs work too! Good luck.

-Phil

When I had a DHL she loved milipedes. She would run all the way across the tank and chomp and bury/shake her head in the sand and eat them. Too cool