Camille Thompson wrote:
What about roaches as a food source? I have alot of difficulty keeping a constant supply of small crickets as I cannot seem to keep the little ones alive very long!
We can certainly fix that problem. How old are these grandis? If they are a month or so old they should be eating three week old crickets if they are up to size. If they are younger or smaller then two week old crickets. Neither of these size crickets is hard to keep alive. There are some excellent insect feeds on the market - www.herpnutrition.com which I have been using her cricket, mealworm and zoophoba foods for years. Allen Repashy has an Insect Loading Formula marketed by T-Rex, also works great. Aside from that they need to be kept at least room temp and in a suitable sized container on egg cartons. I use leafy greens or carrot slices to provide water once daily.
If the roaches were small, soft and young enough I think they would be good, however, I think I would stick to crickets as a first choice. We know these are going to be easier to digest and are a good food source.
(I tried replying to this before, but I seem to be having email issues!)
I don't think the problem is on your end. It has taken a whole day for some posts to appear for some reason. We did get doubles on your posts.
Julie B.
Julie Bergman wrote:
My guesses would be as Leann's about the vitamin supplement. Shakes are usually hypocalcemia. What supplement are you using? It should not matter with hatchlings that you use full-spectrum. Phelsuma need a bright light for a photoperiod that is appropriate for this time of year for where you live. In my experiences their metabolism seems to be strongly cued to that. If possible send us a digital photo of the set-up.
Be sure to measure temps with a reliable thermometer like a mercury-type or laser-type thermometer. Dial or tape thermometers should not be taken too seriously as they are often way off, and not usually measuring where the gecko sits anyway. Temps should be measured where the geckos bask. If accurate and taken in the proper places your temps are ok except the 90F and more flucuations. 86-88F is better for P.m grandis.
Food and water are another place to look -type, frequency and quantity. I feed pretty much exclusively crickets, starting with a two week old cricket and 2-3 weeks afterwards switching to 3 week old crickets (these suckers grow fast). I also feed Allen Repashy's Day Gecko Food mixed with a fruit babyfood once weekly to replace a cricket feeding. Phelsuma hatchlings want to eat once daily, even subadults are glad to eat once daily until they start to reach adult size. Feed them 5-10 crickets at a time. They prefer misting of water to drink (at least once daily), I mist the sides of the terarrium and a philodendron in their tanks. The philodendrons have big leaves that carry a lot of droplets of water.
What "other insects" are you using? Source? A couple caveats of mealworms are that they are fatty and more chitinous than we would like in a food item for younguns (as Leann pointed out) and they do not allow supplements to stick to them well.
Any of this help? Let us know. This is correctable.
Julie Bergman GGA lifetime member www.geckoranch.com
J Thompson wrote:
OK, I tried sending this last night and I haven't seen it posted yet, so I'm trying again; apologies if it gets posted twice.
Recently I had two grandis hatchlings (~1.5-2mos old, I think) die within 2 days of each other. (They were "roommates".) They had previously been seemed very healthy, ate very well (like most geckos--everything in sight!) and were quite active. Then they just quit eating (I couldn't swear that they never ate any baby food, but I don't think they did), though initially remained fairly active. I found one on the bottom on his side, like he'd fallen off the silk plant, so I picked him up to see if I could get him to eat or drink something. In my hand he was trembling like my female pictus did when she almost died of hypocalcemia, and his tail was waving around they way they do when they've dropped it. He wouldn't drink anything, and died that evening. I didn't notice the trembling with the other--it did seem stuck on the floor for a bit, but them climbed up into a piece of bamboo and died there.
Now, another hatchling, different tank, has gone off his feed. He still seems fairly active, but is loosing weight, and hasn't eaten in several days, perhaps a week. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Nothing has changed in their environment that I can think of. They are in my bathroom, which is heated separately, and stay between 85 & 90 (I try to keep it below 90, but it does fluctuate between those two throughout the day) and about 68-72 at night. They have been primarily eating mealworms, since that is what I have a reliable supply of, with babyfood offered periodically (with calcium & sometimes beepollen mixed in) and occasionally other small insects (including but not limited to crickets).
Thanks!
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