Adopted AFTs Pic.. Help and Advice are needed

[LizMarie]

Today I was able to pick up those AFT's I've been talking about. The woman is very sweet and really loves her (no bashing the owner please) geckos put they are really small and skinny for being approx. 7 and 5years old at least. The little boy actually has me a little worried. When I got home I cleaned out both tanks with chlorhexidine, cleaned out all the hides and replaced the paper towel in the humid hides with eco earth. I also switched out the boys mini uth for a small one for 10-20gallon tanks because the girl had her own exo terra 8x8. The girl was very active and seemed a little dehydrated and lapped up water for at least 10minutes straight then explored the entire tank. The boy on the other hand went and hid under his half log. I tried to give him a waxie and he perked up but then went back to his log.

She had a very basic set up with power towel, half log, water bowl and UTH, which she gave me with their 10gallon tanks. I didn't see any calcium or thermometers but by the time I got there they were pretty much ready to leave and I didn't ask.

So here are the pictures. I haven't figured out any names but she had named the boy Ripple and the girl Kelly.

I need help on getting this guys on the path to success. She said that they've been eating crickets, mealworms and waxies but I didn't ask how much or how often. I have Roaches and Waxies on hand and think I'll be ordering some Small Supers if I can on Monday. Tomorrow I'm also going to check their underbellies to see if I can see any enlarged livers and start calling vets to see who can help me get a fecal test done to rule out parasites.

Hopefully next week I'll be able to get some thermometer and humidity readers. I also wanted to know should I mist the entire tank? I know they need humidity but I didn't know if the humid hide was good enough.

Any extra advice will be appreciated.

Male.

Female.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

WOW. That first gecko is in pretty bad shape... I hope you will be able to rehab it! I am no AFT expert, but I keep mine exactly like my Leopard Geckos except the hide is positioned so it is a little cooler, and I mist them a little bit a couple of times a week. None of my AFT's will eat anything except crickets or dubia roaches. They turn their noses up at worms of any kind. At this point, I would just feed yours whatever they will eat.

 

[LizMarie]

The boy has me worried. Since I didn't have a small container I had both of them in there separate tanks with just paper towels and I kept checking in on the little male. I thought he wouldn't survive the trip. I keep checking in on him and he'd close his eyes. and I'd nudge him to wake him up just to make sure.

I'm putting some mealies and waxies in there tonight to see if they'll eat anything and tomorrow evening I'll see if they'll take to dubia. I'm so happy I started me own colony a few months ago.

 

[Wolfyhound]

Wow, I'm new to geckos, but the boy would make me worry too. I hope he'll perk up and gain some weight. Hopefully he'll start eating.

 

[LizMarie]

I'm a lot happier now.. Both are EATING! I mean chomping away! I placed 12 mealworms and 2 wax worms in an ash tray hoping that they'd eat them over night. Since both of them were in their humid hides I decided to take a worm and place it right outside once they saw that thing those eyes were wide open! They took the first one and then I led them to the bowl and they chomped away! Their aim is way off and they keep hitting their noses on the bowl but they are catching quite a few.

 

[Halley]

Good luck with them. At least you know how to put weight on geckos lol

 

[Chewbecca]

LizMarie,

I had NO IDEA that male was THAT skinny.
NONE.

I don't know anything about AFTs, but I'm glad you adopted them from her.
Also, I would just probably feed them as much as they'll eat.
:main_yes:

 

[LizMarie]

Well last night the female had 20 mealworms and 4 waxworms and the male had 19 mealworms and 4 waxworms! They probably would have eaten more but it was around 2am and I went to bed. They are VERY active. When my mom woke up and turned on the light she wake up to see both of they starring straight at her since they're in her room for now. The female also finished shedding last night so that's promising. I don't know if they were given calcium so I'm looking closely at the way they move. They walk funny but I don't know its because they're scared or if they have MBD, so I'm keeping an eye on them to see. So I have a load of calcium in there for them and all worms were dusted last night.

AFT's have the deepest eyes. I'm just in love with them. They might be skinny but I think this was meant to be

Thanks Rebecca.

 

[LizMarie]

Good luck with them. At least you know how to put weight on geckos lol

at least i like to think so.

 

[HepCatMoe]

if they are eating thats a great sign!

 

[LizMarie]

One thing I haven't found but am really curious about what percentage of humidity do they need!? i want to make sure they have the best living environment.

 

[LizMarie]

I decided to name the girl Aurora it sounds like a powerful name and she seems like a wild woman and the boy is Marley because he seems more laid back and cool and they're just two names I really like, lol.

 

[Chewbecca]

Well, thank you for adopting them!!!

I'm glad when I realized I wasn't going to be able to adopt them that Paulnj told me to contact you.:main_yes:
And I'm really happy that you have them.
They're going to eat SOOO well with you, and have very happy lives.

 

[HepCatMoe]

for humidity the best thing you can do is give them a choice. you wont find any scientific studies telling you exactly what to do, the best info you can get is anecdotal evidence from experienced keepers.

again, the best thing you can do is give them a choice. just make sure they have a warm humid hide, a warm dry hide, and a cool dry hide and that should do the trick.

p.s. in my experience fat tails like it pretty humid. they *love* to spend their time in a warm humid hide.

 

[LizMarie]

Well, thank you for adopting them!!!

I'm glad when I realized I wasn't going to be able to adopt them that Paulnj told me to contact you.:main_yes:
And I'm really happy that you have them.
They're going to eat SOOO well with you, and have very happy lives.

Thanks for contacting and for Paul referring me. I really feel good about this pairing, once they start putting on weight and growing it's going to be so rewarding. Seeing them eat last night with such excitement really made my day. I emailed their old owner with pictures of their new digs and she's very happy about the whole situation.

 

[LizMarie]

for humidity the best thing you can do is give them a choice. you wont find any scientific studies telling you exactly what to do, the best info you can get is anecdotal evidence from experienced keepers.

again, the best thing you can do is give them a choice. just make sure they have a warm humid hide, a warm dry hide, and a cool dry hide and that should do the trick.

p.s. in my experience fat tails like it pretty humid. they *love* to spend their time in a warm humid hide.

Thanks. I have warm humid hides with some eco earth and they seem to enjoy it. I stuck my finger in there today and it seems pretty humid.

 

[LizMarie]

WOW. That first gecko is in pretty bad shape... I hope you will be able to rehab it! I am no AFT expert, but I keep mine exactly like my Leopard Geckos except the hide is positioned so it is a little cooler, and I mist them a little bit a couple of times a week. None of my AFT's will eat anything except crickets or dubia roaches. They turn their noses up at worms of any kind. At this point, I would just feed yours whatever they will eat.

Do you just mist the humid hide or the entire tank?

 

[paulnj]

LizMarie, I knew you'd do a great job with them and it sounds like I was right!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Do you just mist the humid hide or the entire tank?

I just mist the warm part of their enclosures. They don't seem to mind getting misted themselves.

 

[LizMarie]

I just mist the warm part of their enclosures. They don't seem to mind getting misted themselves.

Ok I'll mist the warm side a little and see if they like it.