CaliforniaPlaya
New Member
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- 29
I adopted 3 female leos earlier this year. They are all approximately 3 years old and have been housed together in a 50 gallon without issue their entire lives. They were fed crickets and mealies out of a dish by their previous owner and apparently this worked for them.
When I got them home they were stressed and so was I from trying to figure things out. I put a worm dish in their tank but after a few days they weren't eating, so I fed them supers with tweezers and this worked. I did this for a few weeks and then put the dish back in the tank, but again they wouldn't eat out of it. I figured if I left it in there and they get hungry enough, they would eventually eat. A few days went by and I monitored them and gave them water, but they still wouldn't eat out of the dish, but eat several supers from tweezers.
My mealworm colony had finally grown large enough that I can start feeding from it and I am determined to get the leos to eat mealies from a dish (dubia colony wont be ready to feed from for a little while). I think a couple of them are finally getting the dish concept. I had to literally take the dish with worms and put it in their face for them to try it. One is doing ok with it, although a little hesitant, the second one is trying, but she seems to keep missing the worms and I think she gets frustrated because she eventually stops.
Its the behavior of the third one that has me wondering whats going on. I have some small rocks in the tank in the area where the worm dish it. She will dig and dig with all four legs until the worm dish is full of rocks and the worms are buried, sometimes working at it for hours. The first couple of times she did this, I pulled the rocks out and she went right back to filling it up with rocks again. Now she either lays on top of it, or very close to it. She wont even go into any of the hides any more. If I do catch her away from the dish and try to remove the rocks from it, she comes charging as if shes going to attack, although I don't leave my hand in there to find out if she actually would or not.
I've done a lot of looking, but I'd like to hear from others who may know whats going on or have experienced something similar. Only things I can think of is if she is trying to bury the worms to save for later, although it would be almost impossible for her to get the rocks out of the dish. Or if she would have laid and buried eggs, but that didn't happen. They are all females, but from what I understand, they can still lay infertile eggs without a male. Any other ideas?
Thanks!!!
When I got them home they were stressed and so was I from trying to figure things out. I put a worm dish in their tank but after a few days they weren't eating, so I fed them supers with tweezers and this worked. I did this for a few weeks and then put the dish back in the tank, but again they wouldn't eat out of it. I figured if I left it in there and they get hungry enough, they would eventually eat. A few days went by and I monitored them and gave them water, but they still wouldn't eat out of the dish, but eat several supers from tweezers.
My mealworm colony had finally grown large enough that I can start feeding from it and I am determined to get the leos to eat mealies from a dish (dubia colony wont be ready to feed from for a little while). I think a couple of them are finally getting the dish concept. I had to literally take the dish with worms and put it in their face for them to try it. One is doing ok with it, although a little hesitant, the second one is trying, but she seems to keep missing the worms and I think she gets frustrated because she eventually stops.
Its the behavior of the third one that has me wondering whats going on. I have some small rocks in the tank in the area where the worm dish it. She will dig and dig with all four legs until the worm dish is full of rocks and the worms are buried, sometimes working at it for hours. The first couple of times she did this, I pulled the rocks out and she went right back to filling it up with rocks again. Now she either lays on top of it, or very close to it. She wont even go into any of the hides any more. If I do catch her away from the dish and try to remove the rocks from it, she comes charging as if shes going to attack, although I don't leave my hand in there to find out if she actually would or not.
I've done a lot of looking, but I'd like to hear from others who may know whats going on or have experienced something similar. Only things I can think of is if she is trying to bury the worms to save for later, although it would be almost impossible for her to get the rocks out of the dish. Or if she would have laid and buried eggs, but that didn't happen. They are all females, but from what I understand, they can still lay infertile eggs without a male. Any other ideas?
Thanks!!!
