handfeeding aft's

[HepCatMoe]

how the heck do you do it?

i feel like i can barely get mine to eat, i cant imagine her taking it from my hand. shes so dang lazy. i would love to have her eat from my hand though.

do you just wait untill theyre hungry enough to do it?

 

[Stitch]

I can grab a crix by it's back legs and sort of allow it to walk slowly. This movement will catch the geckos attention. Just make sure that you are holding the crix so that your finger nails face the gecko because if it misses the crix it wil get your fingers.

Hand feeding may be more troublesome with a picky feeder. Unless you have to force feed it I would not attempt hand feeding.

What are the floor temps in the cage?
What are you using as a substrate?

 

[HepCatMoe]

im using peat moss as the substrate. im not sure of the exact temps, but i think they are pretty good, as she stays in her hot hide at night, but moves to the midway hide during the day.

during the summer here it gets really hot (over 100) and ill just end up turning off the heat lamp.

 

[Stitch]

Ground temps are more important then air temps, since AFT's use belly heat to digest and warm up. Use a UTH (Under Tank Heater) to get the desirable ground temps (85-90 degrees). You need to control the UTH with a thermostat, all of these items should be avaibable at your local pet shop. The UTH should only cover about 1/3 or 1/4 or the tanks bottom. This allows for a temp gradient.

I advise not to use moss as the substrate for the entire cage. It can be swallowed accidentily and cause impaction, leading to illness or even death. Use something solid like paper towels or slate tiles for the substrate. You can place some moss in the hides if you like to hold humidity, plus this will cut down the risk of impaction.

There is another using on the forum that was using moss as a substrate and the gecko lost it's appetite. Once they got rid of it the geckos appetite came back.

 

[HepCatMoe]

ill definately try getting a diferant substrate.

too bad though cuz she loves digging in the peat. shes currently got herself a burrow dug out thats probably about 6 inches deep, and then you can see at the bottom shes fashioned herself a nice little cave. its getting to the point that i can barely see her when shes in it.

if you want to see what the substrate i use looks like (it looks alot more like dirt than moss) check this out:

http://www.westcreekfarms.com/Images/pmhands.jpg

but, ill give the substrate a switch and see if she eats more.

 

[ReptileMan27]

I feed my AFT and all my leos with plastic feeding tongs, works great and I can make sure mine eat the cricks and they dont get away. As far as substrate, I use coco fiber,AKA Bed a beast. Works great, helps with the hummidity and mine likes digging it it .

 

[robin]

are you trying to feed her crickets or mealworms?

i agree you should get her off that moss and make humid hides with moss in them.

proper temps are imperative. i would get a uth attached to a thermostat and i suggest a temp gun. you can pick up a very reasonably priced one here ---> http://tempgun.com/ and they are rather accurate as well.
it will get into the 100's here in the summer and if you have your thermostat set up correctly to the right temps then you should have no problems concerning the heat. unless your house gets to that temp and then i would just unplug all heat sources during that time. even the night time temps would be ok considering the day time temps of 100. now remember this is if your house gets that hot otherwise just keep the uth connected to a thermostat and make sure and to check the temps with your terpgun or thermometer

 

[sportbike_rob]

i use repti carpet for substrate, i recently switched from paper towel to the repti carpet and i love using it so far, very easy to clean and change. i have been hand feeding my AFT for the last month and a half. i found he WILL NOT hunt, all my temps are great and i had three fecals done and all were clear, i did find out that the petshop that i did get him from hand feeds their reptiles from birth, so i think that may be why he wont hunt. basically i just pick him up with one hand and place the cricket toward his nose and he gently takes it out of my hand. its almost as if he knows exactly how to take food without biting me. i have also found that if he dont seem to want to take it, i just squeeze the cricket and push some of the guts out and then try again and 9 times out of 10 he will lick it once or twice and then take it. i find it very easy to do, and he eats alot more that way.

 

[HepCatMoe]

ya, it seems like it would make it alot easier to monitor what they eat, and it would allow me some more dude on gecko interaction, wich is always nice.

edit: i feed her crickets, ive tried mealworms, but i dont think she notices them.

 

[Stitch]

I know one of my AFT's loves super worms, he'll eat 5-6 at a time. He won't tough meal worms but he'll take crix & supers. Maybe you could add some variety to its diet and try the supers.

 

[HepCatMoe]

I know one of my AFT's loves super worms, he'll eat 5-6 at a time. He won't tough meal worms but he'll take crix & supers. Maybe you could add some variety to its diet and try the supers.

well i tried keeping mealworms and superworms in there for a while. i kept them in a bowl about 3 inches deep, the bowl was set into the substrate with the idea that she coud look into the bowl without having to climp up it, but it was still just about as tall as her, so maybe she just never noticed them.

still, i had them in her enclosure for probably about a month and she never ate either a mealie or a super. so i havent bought any since. when i redo her cage maybe ill find a better way to make sure she sees em.

 

[sportbike_rob]

still, i had them in her enclosure for probably about a month and she never ate either a mealie or a super. so i havent bought any since. when i redo her cage maybe ill find a better way to make sure she sees em.

try hand feeding one or two and if she likes them, i would add a dish of them and kind of "show" her what is in there when you put her in the enclosure let her see that they are in the bowl.

 

[HepCatMoe]

thanks to everybody for all the advice so far!

 

[ReptileMan27]

My AFT wont touch mealies, loves his cricks though