Hi! i have an aft who has sort of an eating problem. i’ve had him for about a year now and for the first 6 months he was eating great. then when he hit about a year old he just stopped eating. i was giving him a variety of bugs including crickets, mealworms, and waxworms. he wouldn’t eat any of them. he started screaming at the crickets and meal worms and would only eat waxworms. i know afts are picky eaters so it wasn’t surprising. then about for the past 2 months he’s completely stopped eating. he only eats 3 days before he sheds. he’s also started shedding about twice a month. i don’t know if that’s normal or not. i just know that him going through all that with his body and not eating is not doing well on systems. he does continue to lick calcium. he has a calcium dish and does use it. if anyone needs his tank info i’ll gladly give it just in case maybe i’m doing something wrong that’s causing him to go off food.
eating problems
- Thread starter kyleeb8
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- Southern California
Welcome to the forum! How's his temps? Nice n toasty?
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- 15,156
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- Somerville, MA
I have found AFT's to get picky about food or go off food. I've had the same problem with some of my leopard geckos, but it never seems as drastic. Once I had a few hatchlings that stopped eating to the point where their tails were thinner than the hatchlings from the clutch after them. The problem with waxworms is that many geckos of all species may refuse to eat anything else and waxworms aren't that good for them. The way I've gotten AFT's to start eating again is to hold them and push a feeder against their mouths. Often they'll bite the feeder and eventually start eating again. If they're not visibly losing weight (in the tail), sometimes you also just have to wait them out. I have found that AFT's and leopard geckos can go without eating for a surprising long time without it having a significant effect on them.
Aliza
Aliza
his temps stay at about 92-96
so what foods should i try? he is losing weight and you can tell. it’s a slowly losing weight. he’s been off food for about 3 weeks now.
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- 15,156
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- Somerville, MA
Mealworms are easiest to feed, though AFT's generally prefer crickets. Anything you can get it to bite will be a good choice. You can also (this is kind of gross) squish some feeders (anything except waxworms) and rub the guts on its mouth. It will likely lick the stuff off.
Aliza
Aliza
alrighty thank you so much!! i’ll update you in a few days!
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