I give dubias in a dish that they can't escape from. I've also had a roach hide in my cork hide, put it in a large glass baking dish and they will die and fall out in the oven––250 for 20 min. Make sure the dish is large enough so that they won't fall onto the oven floor and glass so they can run out of it. In my experience though, they die pretty quickly and fall out.
Thanks for the pics of the food dishes- we obviously need a new one. He's way to big to fit inside his now! He can handle larger dubia but maybe we should keep them a little smaller to avoid escapees.
He just seems totally uninterested in dubia and eating in general lately. I tried to hand-feed the dubia and he completely ignores me (he used to eat them from my hand). He will eat meal worms though. If he's just sick of dubia, what else can I feed him daily? I know mealworms aren't healthy every day, but what about hornworms or silkworms on a daily basis? I'm worried he's losing weight but don't know.
He's also been weird and takes hours to wake up. He just sits in the cool spot where he slept and doesn't move to his basking log until the afternoon. He's been up for almost four hours and still just hanging out in his cool spot. I really don't think there's anything wrong with our lighting or temps- in addition to the UVB he has natural sunlight coming in too.
We are going out of town this Sunday and I am getting worried!
Is he eating at all? You can try getting some silk worms from here www.reptilianarts.com I just got 20 this morning from them they are about medium size and I thought they came w/ food or maybe there is food but very little of it - I do have the silk worm food dried that you mix w/ water and keep in fridge so I will be feeding them -- you can try crickets I hate them things they are so stinky and escape artist -- I know there appetites can be off during spring / winter months -- I would get a weight on him and keep track of it -- weigh on a kitchen food scale and weigh in grams -- did you get your UVB situated? That too makes a huge difference in eating - if they arent getting enough UVB they will stop eating as they have no way of absorbing / synthesizing the calcium they are eating
I was JUST about to respond when he moved over to his bowl finally and ate a couple of large dubias! He left the rest but at least that's something. I'll give him some fresh greens and whatever mealworms we have left today. We'll try to pick up some silkworms and hornworms and try to get his appetite back up. Fingers crossed this is just a weird phase...
I just pulled Dax out to check on him. Didn't realize he was in a deep sleep, so he gave me the stink eye. He's at 408 grams now after not having eaten since late last week. Since late January he's had a few roaches here and there, but he was really only eating them after having a superworm. If I tried to give him dubia before the worm or a 2nd dubia, he'd open his mouth, stick his tongue out, realize what he's about to do, pull his tongue back, close his mouth and stoically stare off into the distance. Imagine you've just eaten the turkey, mashed potatos, cranberry sauce, applie pie and pudding, sat down on the recliner to watch football, start dozing off...then the ice cream comes out. It's like yeahhhhhno! He's refused hornworms, mealworms, bsfl, and is not interested in the superworms anymore either, leading to a sad parade of dead buggies. Bought a new T5 10.0 based on recommendation by ABHD (12" from basking), installed it, and no changes. Which leads me to where we are, probably (hopefully) brumating.
Keep track of his weight and if he's not losing weight let him be- sounds like his appetite has decreased for now-- keep him hydrated- he will start eating again eventually just make sure he's not losing alot of weight - if that happens it's time for a vet visit
Huh. And how old is Dax? Maybe it could be brumation...he's just being SO weird! I put some greens and carrots (although they might be new for him) and mealworms in Tofi's bowl just now to try to coax him to eat. He was really into eating the mealworms out of my hand, but as soon as they went in the bowl he refused to eat. It's like he's acting spoiled- "I will only eat special worms, and only if they're hand-fed to me!"
Seemingly stuck up little snob...that was Dax in January and February. Like trying to force feed a child candy...you know they love it, but they act like it's broccoli. He's a pretty big about 8+ish month old.
And I am keeping track of his weight. If I get concerned, you'll certainty see more posts from me.
Watch his poops --- its going to tell you if hes dehydrated-- the poop should be dark moist and firm - the urate will be white moist and firm- if its chalky or dried out looking hes dehydrated --- rinse his salads before serving hes going to get the majority of the moisture from that make sure your gut loading the insects - if they are good and hydrated he will get moisture from them as well - I dont feed my dragons water- they get it from the greens / salads - I do watch tho their poop - if you have extra water coming out of them they are good and hydrated -- if hes not a salad eater and you need to give water drop it on his nose till he stops licking --