HELP!!!! Feeding Question.

[wdavis80]

I have a young crestie. He is maybe 1 1/2" in body length. I bought him at a show 2 weeks ago and he is a great little guy. My questions is this: How do I know he is eating? I feed him nightly with CGD, and I can never tell if there is any gone or not. He looks to be healthy, but not being an expert by any means I can't tell. Also, how long should I wait before we attempt to handle him. The breeder I bought him from said 4" of body length is the smallest he recommends handling. That sounds a little bit larger than I expected. Maybe I am wrong. We definately want him to be healthy and happy, so I want to ensure he is eating and want to give him plenty of time to acclimate and not stress him out by handling him too early. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[ADEE]

I have a 3wk old baby who only weighs 4g so im right there with you on the tiny herp department. I wasnt told to "not handle" him.. i just hold him when its nessesary. I take the CGD and dab my finger in it and bring it to his face, he licks it right off! You might want to give that a try and see what happens. im very new to CG myself (friday he will be with me one week)

Good luck!

[Kristy]

Often times with little cresties it really hard to tell if they are eating the CGD.

Rest assured, a healthy crestie won't starve itself. You may be able to see the slightest disturbance in the food. I would try leaving the same food in for two nights too. My girls usually won't touch the CGD on the first night.

Also don't feed any crickets until you are sure he is eating, that way if there is poop, you know he is eating.

[mlededee]

a lot of people don't think their cresteds are eating for the first few weeks they have them. this is because: 1. they may not eat for the first few days to a week while they settle in 2. you can't tell that they are eating because you are offering too much cgd.

just feed a very small amount--hatchlings have small stomachs so they don't need a lot of food at once. feed a thin layer of food in something the size of a bottle cap and you should be able to see lick marks in it.

as for handling, i usually handle minimally until the gecko is at least 4 weeks old. then i handle gently and occasionally until they are 2-3 months old at which time i move to regular handling. at an inch and a half long your crested is probably around 4 weeks old or so, so i'd wait at least a month before starting to handle him regularly. you can handle some now, to start getting him nice and tame--just start with very short sessions every few days in which you offer food on the tip of your finger as suggested.

[wdavis80]

Thank you all for your help. I will try the food on my finger tonight. I very much appreciate the advice.