Paper Towel eater

[CArmstong]

Has anyone ever had a papertowel eater....I have a LG that eats papertowel from her moist hide. She has water in her enclosure, bowel of mealworms, calcium, hides, everything she needs but Ive caught her eating her moist papertowels?
I have since taken her moist papertowels away because I was afraid of blockage. I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this?

 

[Walter H. White]

well just a question or two for you. How often are you feeding and do you have like calcium in her cage. I use paper towels and ihavent seen him go to eat it he has bitten it before tryng to get to his crickets. do you have any tile in there at all?

 

[CArmstong]

I refresh the mealworms every other night and offer hornworms and roaches every other refresh... They all have vionate and cal mix in their cages at all times. I dont feed nasty crickets!!! I don't use tile, just papertowels for lining.

 

[Walter H. White]

Well I am not a Vet or expert by any meens but I have done a little bit of reading on this and yes it can cause blockage. Some of what I have read said they do it trying to get some nutrients. some said that was trying to get more H2o But there was not a lot of info out there. But in my hot hide I use moss. I would keep an eye on it just to make sure she dosnt try to eat her lineing.Wish I could have found more for you.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I've seen some folks, even experienced breeders, post about animals with quirky habits. I would, as Walter suggests, make 100% sure your supplementation is correct but you could just have a crazy gecko...haha. If it just began and she's ovulating or planning to lay she may be looking to dig. If it's been going on for a while I might just take out the moist hide altogether and mist her cage every week or two or when you see she's about to shed. As an alternative maybe you could put a clean white hand cloth in her moist hide that she couldn't tear apart as easily? I know you can get a stack at the store for a reasonable amount (like 25 cents each or so). Good luck!

 

[sausage]

I have a paper towel eater too. she dose regurgitate the paper after but i was worried too so i now use a sponge sheet in the moist hide and have not had a problem since.

 

[CArmstong]

Thanks everyone for your help!!! I have since taken her moist papertowels out of her moist hide she now has a moist hand cloth in there...Lisa, she is ovulating and as a matter of fact she didnt start doing this until she was ovulating so I suspect your right...She will not be bred but that makes alot of sense now...I could put some Eco in there but then I am afraid she would eat that as well...I think she is just a quriky gecko....Thanks again