Update on Tripods diet.

Hi all,

Tripod has now been on her reduced diet for 4.1/2 weeks, aliens and waxworms are a thing of the past and s/he only has 6 medium mealies a day yet she has still put on 8 grams and is now at 56 grams.. Should I cut her food down even further?. Bodily s/he looks great, nice broad shoulders and head nicely muscled on her upper arms and thighs and a nice rounded tum but still her tail gets bigger. As s/he will only eat wrigglers not runners and jumpers I'm struggling to find other feeders for her here in the uk. I sent for a silkworm kit but that was a miserable failure, I've tried buying different feeders online but don't seem to be having much luck there either.

As I can only have a rough guess at ther age (possibly now 5 months ish) I'm not sure what to do next, if s/he is only 5 months is s/he too young to cut her food down even more or could I keep it at 6 a day but miss a couple of days a week.

S/he is still very skittish so I moved her viv downstairs into the lounge so the she could see and hear much more and be more interactive with normal sights and sounds of everyday life which does seem to be working. S/he's not bothered by the dog or the cats and s/he no longer runs and hides the minute I walk in the room infact for the most part s/he doesn't even wake up unless I slide her door open and speak to her but at the moment there is no way I would dare take her out of the viv for exercise as s/he would be gone in a flash, after 4 months of gentle perseverence everyday she will still only walk on my hand if I keep absolutely still but if I move s/he's gone and she's a jumper which makes it worse. Because I was worried that s/he wasn't getting any exercise at all I set up a infrared cctv so that I could watch her during the night and s/he is surprisingly active out and about exploring all of her 3 foot viv climbing and investigating (I have the camera set up on the tv in my bedroom and on 24 hours a day so if I wake in the night I can just lay and watch what s/he does) and s/he's active for a good part of the night.

Any advice or suggestions please.

Many thanks.

Hello,

I am guessing your gecko is young since you are not aware of the sex. She/He is at a growing stage and so cutting food down on food amount is not ideal. Maybe I am missing part of the story? If weight was a concern you can just add lower fat food items. Did she/he not like the silkworms? A varied diet is always best.
You have a great source at your finger tips. http://www.recorpinc.com/

Great to hear he/she has 3 feet worth of space and so there is no need to take her/him out for exercise. Your gecko will eventually appreciate the space and get enough exercise on his/her own.

Thank you herp625,

yes s/he is still just a baby I'm guessing at 5 months ish, s/he's a rescue. I was advised to cut back on her food as s/he is stacking on the weight (6 - 56 grms in 4 months) and most of it seems to be going on her tail. S/he is terrified of anything that runs or jumps so I stick to wrigglers but I am having real problems getting hold of anything other than mealworms or waxworms. Silkworms seem to be unobtainable in the uk unfortunately I tried a breeding kit but none have hatched so far and it's been 5 or 6 weeks now so not holding out much hope there either.

I'm sorry. For some reason I thought you lived in Canada. Is it possible that the reason she seemed terrified of crickets due too size? Maybe try a smaller size. The problem is mealworms are a bit fatty and so the only solution is to feed less if you don't have access to other insects. In some cases a gecko who puts on a lot of weight quickly can be due to temperatures. If they are not warm enough their digestion will be slow. Make sure the air temperatures on the warm end is at least 80-85. It's a common problem seen when an owner believes they only need belly heat and the rest of the body is cold. I am not assuming it's your case, just a warning incase someone gave you that bad information.

Of course if your room temperature is 80 and above, the enclosure will be as well. When the room temp drops under 70 the air temps in the enclosure must be monitored. I hear too often how the poor gecko is rarely active and spends most of the time glued to the floor trying to get heat.

This is just a suggestion but have you tried wiggling the food round with tweezers; that is what I do when I feed my leo locusts I still make her hunt for it but wiggle it around with tweezers as my leo doesnt like them jumping but when there not jumping they dont grap her attention so I find this method works for me.

I know the feeling, I cant find anything but mealies, waxworms or morios in UK and the silkworm kits seem to cost a fortune!! I have a leo that will only eat worms in a bowl as she doesnt/cant hunt

I tried one of the silkworm kits but I think I cooked the eggs as I had them in the airing cupboard at a steady 78 - 84 degrees but the thermostat for the water tank failed to turn off and ended up boiling and the temp spiked at around 98 degrees mind in fairness they had been in there for a few weeks before that happened and still nothing hatched, I'm going to send for some more eggs and try again in a spare rub with heatmat and stat. I think once you've bought the initial kit the eggs aren't that expensive to keep it going. Fingers crossed I have better luck next time.