concerned she is not eating

[geck123]

i have a 9-10 month old sikorae,and she weighs 24 grams.since i added a plant to raise humidity,and use eco-earth,it is hard to find any defecation.i don't know her weight when i got her.they are such a slim gecko it is hard to tell if she is looseing weight.she is very inactive,but sikoraes are inactive to start with.she eats mainly the smallest,large crickets i can get.it is hard to see if crickets are left over.i feed her every other day.please take a look and see what you think.
http://www.forums.repashy.com/members/geck123-albums-black-rough-neck-picture1383-weighing-24-grams.jpg

[dcarter]

Aside from that shed that needs to come off she isn't looking malnourished. Maybe try to feed her in a separate container so you are able to gauge what she is or isn't eating for sure. I don't know what their weights should be but 24 grams isn't tiny at all for not even being a year old.

[geck123]

kyle and i have talked about what to do about the shed,which is nothing for now,but it is of more concern with each passing day.these geckos stress easily,and aren't very forgiving towards husbandry issues .they go down hill quick,and can be difficult to turn around according to other keepers,so i'll be extra careful with her.and ask a lot of paranoid questions.they are an amazing gecko.thanks for your input!Aside from that shed that needs to come off she isn't looking malnourished. Maybe try to feed her in a separate container so you are able to gauge what she is or isn't eating for sure. I don't know what their weights should be but 24 grams isn't tiny at all for not even being a year old.

[Salzy]

I think that she is looking just fine, judging by the picture. I can't tell if the hips or ribs are showing through, and it looks like she has incredible calcium sacs. The Uroplatus are quite slender, so 24 grams sounds good actually. My big female is 32 grams, but she is much larger than others I have seen.

Continue to mist and keep the humidity as you've been doing it, just being careful that it's not overly wet. We've discussed that, and it sounds like you've got a good grasp on that.

How many crickets are you feeding per serving? Per week? I know that feeding them too much can also create issues as much as not feeding enough. If you can monitor her weight once per week or once every two weeks, you may get an idea of whether or not she's eating. (as you said yourself, try not to handle too much or you could stress her) I'm guessing that if you are putting a handful of crickets in there and are not able to find them again, that she is eating them throughout the night.

[geck123]

i feed her 4-6 crickets every other day.i try to get the smallest,large crickets i can find.i see one or two moving around,and sometimes find a dead one.i'll put in 6 one feeding,skip a day,and then feed 4 more.i keep a capful of cricket feed in the cage for the surviving crickets. i supplement with calcium plus icb every feeding,and have a 5.0 uvb light for the pothos plant.would you suggest backing off of the supplementing because of the light?

the hips and ribs do show if she is turned a certain way.in the picture above,her head is turned to the right,making the ribs on the left show some.if her tail is at a 45-90 degree angle to her body,you can see the hip bones sticking up,but all that seems normal considering how slender these guys are.if her tail is straight you can see very faint vertical lines at the base of her tail.is all this normal?

[Salzy]

No, continue to supplement as it helps to balance the diet. Unless you are gutloading the crickets very well before feeding them to the gecko, then I wouldn't back off the supplementation. I would cut out some of the crickets per week though. I'd feed maybe 3 crickets every other day, or 5-6 every three days. I'd just cut back feeding by about 25-30% (for example...if you are feeding 24 crickets per week then, I'd cut back to maybe 17 or 18.) That would be my suggestion at least.

[prettykttkat]

I just read the ingredients of your supplement and it has vitamin D3 in it. If you are using a UVB bulb I would not use vitamin D3 as a supplement because your gecko will make it's own vitamin D3 from the UVB it's getting. If you give added D3 it could cause an overdose resulting in vitamin D toxicity/hypercalcemia. I would just use plain calcium and vitamins without the added vitamin D3.

[calfirecap]

U. sikorae tend to be pretty aggressive feeders and deficate a lot. If you don't see any feces on the glass check to branchs in the cage, it's sometimes hard to see on the branches.
I think all the other advise is good and if you are feeding less you are more likely to see your gecko diving for food. If you think the geckos won't feed in front of you just step back from the cage with the lights out and listen for a thump. Also make sure you have a good couple of inches of soil to cushion the dives.

Lawrence

[geck123]

do sikoraes feed from the ground,like cresteds do sometimes,or do they drop/pounce from above mostly ? the pothos plant i have in there gives excellent ground cover,and i'll trim the plant if they tend to hunt from above.

[calfirecap]

U. sikorae do tend to feed from above and do need some open space. Their aggressive feeding behaviors is part of their charm. These geckos are ambush preditors and they do feed with a purpose.

Lawrence

[geck123]

she seems to have unusually large calcium sacks. could it be a sign of some type of illness ? the breeder i got her from said she had laid eggs,and he might have been giving her extra calcium because she was breeding,i'm not sure.i thought he said she was 8 months old at the time of purchase,but that seems awfully young to be sexually active.

[calfirecap]

Calcium sacks are not a bad thing, rather is shows the geckos is taking in enough Calcium and probably storing it for egg production. As for breeding at 8 months, that's too young. Even if she had laid prior to your obtaining her more than likely the eggs would have been duds. Perhaps the breeder was confusing your gecko with another, as sikorae are EXTREMELY difficult to tell apart.
Lawrence