Blind in one eye, bad hunter...

[QueenHaydees]

Feeding advice please! Thanks in advance!

My baby (3 months) is blind in one eye. He is a terrible hunter... I get a little annoyed with having to clean out the roaches he doesn't eat/cant see. I just want him to be able to gobble them up. I feel if I miss any and they stay in there that it stresses him out. When I try and shove the ones who get away to his good eye side, he gets scared half the time because we have startled him.... Most of the time when I leave them on their backs (so he has time to see them) he doesn't want to eat them, I think he thinks they are dead. Sometimes if he does see one and its too quick he just stares at it... Feeding time is getting stressful and hard so I want to make it easier for him because hes a growing boy! Ate 30 in one feeding last night. We are building him his forever home and I want to find some tricks before I have to hunt down roaches in a even larger enclosure...

Also any tricks on keeping veggies from drying out during the day? I like to leave him collard greens before I go to work so he can munch on them throughout the day but they get crunchy pretty quick. I have tried leaving a tad bit of water in the dish and it doesn't work.

 

[CooperDragon]

Since he is blind on one side, his depth perception will be off and he may need help hunting for the rest of his life. He may be able to learn to compensate over time though. It's important that he gets his food at this age though so hand feeding is probably the best bet. If he isn't chasing down the roaches well, try something slower like black soldier fly larvae or silk worms. Hold them out away from him a bit on his good side so he can see them when they wiggle. I wouldn't leave them in the tank beyond mealtime so you don't have to chase down the ones left over though. If you can get him to move to his good side a little bit to chase the wiggly food in your hand, it may help him learn to hunt from that side over time.

Salad will get dry throughout the day. Sometimes they like eating the crunchier leaves in the afternoon. Just keep the salad on the cool side of the tank which will keep it fresh for longer. You may want to include some things like squash or bell pepper which have high moisture content and will dry out more slowly.

 

[QueenHaydees]

Since he is blind on one side, his depth perception will be off and he may need help hunting for the rest of his life. He may be able to learn to compensate over time though. It's important that he gets his food at this age though so hand feeding is probably the best bet. If he isn't chasing down the roaches well, try something slower like black soldier fly larvae or silk worms. Hold them out away from him a bit on his good side so he can see them when they wiggle. I wouldn't leave them in the tank beyond mealtime so you don't have to chase down the ones left over though. If you can get him to move to his good side a little bit to chase the wiggly food in your hand, it may help him learn to hunt from that side over time.

Salad will get dry throughout the day. Sometimes they like eating the crunchier leaves in the afternoon. Just keep the salad on the cool side of the tank which will keep it fresh for longer. You may want to include some things like squash or bell pepper which have high moisture content and will dry out more slowly.

I have some tweezers and sometimes a spoon I use to hold the roaches in front of his good side but he has stopped wanting to eat them like that and wants to chase them yet wont all the time lol. Hes a tricky guy. Ill try sucking it up and holding the roaches myself. I cant stand bugs, imagine that lol. Its crazy even if he sees me drop one in there and it runs to his bad side (sometimes even over his feet), he wont look over to see the bug, its like once he cant see it then it doesn't exist. From what I have read I know the dubia roaches are the best bug but I have not heard of the black soldier fly larvae, will have to look into that. He LOVES wax worms, too bad they are more of a treat. Are the silk worms the same way?

He has just started eating veggies finally! Has only eaten the collard greens off my hand. I haven't made it to the store to get other veggies to try with him. Will have to get bell peppers for sure. I was hoping there was a trick ha. Maybe he will start eating the crunchy leaves. I thought they would think they were gross dried up. Since hes only 3 months old I am so worried about him choking! Need to get a shredder so I can give him some carrots too.

 

[CooperDragon]

Silks are a healthy feeder option and you can offer as many as he wants. They are more expensive than wax worms though so if he takes to them you may want to look into buying eggs and hatching/raising your own batches to save a bit. black soldier fly larvae are pretty cheap and easy to keep too.

 

[kingofnobbys]

My little rescued water skink Lucky lost his right eye in the cat attack I rescued him from.

He learnt to compensate for the loss of his right eye over a period a few months.