So proud

[sherriwat]

heres a little update on my babies. they have gotten really big like 3 times in length and look at them tails. My little white guys tails still a little skinny but he was my tiniest and smallest tail when i got him. and look how orange my guy in the first pics has gotten. and stumpie my guy in second pics look how nice and long and chunky his tail is now. yes im bragging but i am so proud of these guys improvemnt and how well they look considering i thought they wouldnt make it.

if you havent seen these guys before go look at my first post on this thread. this is a huge huge improvement and i'v only had these guys since first part of august abouts.

on a side note the pet store still has a couple leos from this same batch and the ones at pet store are same size worst condition than these guys where when i brought these guys home. wish i could bring them all home but unfortunetly i cannot afford it. i even tried to convince the pet store to elt me have them fatten them up over a couple months and they could have them back and sell them for more since they wouldnt be so tiny by than. i have a good rep with this ept store even though i hate them so heres hoping im aloud (i only asked couple days ago and was told if there still there by wednesday or if one more dies they'll let me) so lets hope wednesday comes and none sold and none died and i get them to save them.

[sherriwat]

same size meaning same as when i got these guys. they have not grown at all in about 2 mths and their tails are maybe the size of a needle. its heartbreaking.

[sherriwat]

oh yes and as promised heres one of my leos tanks. my others leos tanks look identical so i didnt take pics of theres.

the 2 dark hides one in back is humid hide one in front is hot hide. both on hot side. than they have their cold hides and the wood piece varies in look per tank but all 3 are up against the cold hide as kinda another cover. all 3 have paper towel rolls, this one was removed and i forgot to replace it after i put Blaze bac in his tank. they can eat out of the dishes now iv seen them and they are taing small crickets and not pin heads anymore.

i am in process of breeding my own mealworms and waxworms. i am also in process of breed a very small colony of superworms.
i have also decided on breeding crickets and was told i couldnt do it that it was too hard to do and i had about 1000 baby crickets hatch this morning and mroe hatching as we speak. my mealworms i have about 30 beetles and about 30 more pupea i am hoping to have some baby worms soon. my wax worms i have only just recently (this wee) started the process to breed them. and my superworms i have about 10 beetles and another 10 pupea about to turn. so these guys are gonna be some well fed happy geckos very soon and dont have to worry about pet store running out of worms and appropriate sized crickets. i'm a happy proud mamma

[rmfsnakes32]

Awesome job hopefully if you get the others the pet store maintains them once you get them healthy

[sherriwat]

I THINK IF I GET THEM AND GET THEM MY GUYS SIZE theyd sell faster anyways. right now they look sick so proably why noones bought them. though im sure theyd end up staying here and id just buy them myself lol

[Falconeer999]

I've had my leopard for about 2 weeks and haven't attempted to pick her up at all. We're trying to build trust - every morning when I wake up she's in her warm hide and I'll put my fingers in front of it. She'll come over and put her nose about 1/4" away from my fingers with just her head sticking out of her hide. She'lll flick her tongue a couple times and then when I move my hand a little further away from the hide, she'll wait a couple seconds, then pull back in.

During the day she's buried deep in her humid hide and will come out sometime during the night - I usually go to bed around 10-11pm and she's still in the humid hide, she loves it in there. I went to mist it one day and didn't realize she was buried in there and when I sprayed it, she made this awful sound. She was NOT happy about that!

Do you have any recommendations on getting to be able to pick them up? I don't know if I should just lift her warm hide in the morning and try to pick her up and see what she does. I don't want to ruin any trust we may have built up.

Any tips are welcome! Jealous of your being able to handle yours a little!

[sherriwat]

i didnt hold mine unless absolutely nessecary until just recently. but that what i do i pick their hides right out of tank take lid off it and set it on my lap and wait for them to come out to explore. once they are out they wil start trying to climb me and thats when i tae one finger under their belly and lift them off me then support them with both hands.
when i first started this process they never come out of hide even with lid off hide. than they started coming out eventually.

mines still nervous but theyv calmed down alot when im holding them so i cant see u loss any trust just make it short times you hold them. i hold mine once a day for about 2 minutes each and eventually ill increase it to 5.

once your realizes your not hurting it and it does get to go back home and get a special treat, she'll like getting picked up as much as any like it i think.

once i put mine back in tank i feed them their crickets.

but now im no expert this is just what i did, but 2 weeks should be long enough that you could proably start this process.

[rmfsnakes32]

I dont know much about these guys but that sounds like very sound advice!

[BarelyBreathing]

They look great!

[Falconeer999]

That does sound like good advice. I have noticed she's very inquisitive but skittish at the same time and I think your method taps right into that.

Thank you!

[sherriwat]

np. i just figured id let them come out on their own accord rather than stick hand in tank and grab them and drag them out. this way they come out with some security (hide) and can tae as long as they want to come out of hide.

seemed alot less stressful to me.

[Falconeer999]

Tried out your advice - sat with the hide on my lap with my hand next to it. She came out and put one front foot on my finger for about 2 minutes and kind of rubbed her head on my finger a few times and I gently rubbed her back a couple times. She then meandered back into her hide and buried herself.

Checked this morning and she hadn't eaten at all during the night and she wasn't in her warm hide - every morning since the first day I got her she has been in her warm hide in the morning and has eaten 5-6 worms during the night. She was in the humid hide still and when I opened it (I usually spray it then too because she stays in it all day long) to check on her, she hissed and came up through the moss trying to bite me.

So, I guess after further review, after she'd had time to think about it, she decided she didn't like the exposure the night before! Will give her some time to settle back down again.

[Falconeer999]

Night 2 of no eating after the handling attempt (just let her be yesterday - she was in her warm hide when I got home from work and when she saw I was home, she moved to her humid hide and buried down in). So maybe we'll just give up on that idea with her. Hopefully she eats while I'm at work today.

[sherriwat]

ya it might of been too soon for her, or shes just not hungry. like i siad my guys have lived with me for about 2 mths and i only recently started handling them daily, but from what iv read here 2 weeks is the generally ok to start.

iv learned though the animals tell you themselves. so for allwe know she could of had one heck of stressful life before you got her so just takes her longer to settle.

[Falconeer999]

Well her life before I got her was pretty short. Only about 6 weeks old when I got her (hatched 8/5/12). Hopefully it wasn't too stressful with the breeder!

Will just give her some space and see what happens. Now I'm just concerned about the eating. She's steadily been eating 5-6 worms a night and now nothing in 2 nights. Can little ones go a couple days without eating?

[sherriwat]

im not sure i would ask barely breathing she was my life saver with my little guys. shes full of info and shes very nice too.