why wont they eat?

[justsheila]

I have 4 FBT's in a 20gallon long tank with rocks,water and hides. Its a very nice home but since i cant monitor their feeding i have been trying to take them out separately, put in plastic or glass bowls with lids with thier meals. Crickets, meal worms, even earthworms because if i dont the meals would get lost in their home. I realize that moving them around is a stress to them so i only do it every 2 - 3 days and leave them with their food 20 - 30minutes. They also dont want to take from tweezers while in their home. What else am i to do?

[Heatheranne]

I am thinking they are just too stressed out. Try the glass feeding bowl method. Push a glass bowl down into the substrate so it is nearly level with the substrate level. Place the crickets in the bowl. Within a few days they'll have it figured out. then you can monitor how many they eat. It works really well and you won't have crickets running all over. Avoid the mealworms. They can cause constipation and impaction. It may take them a few days to get it and to adjust. Once they realize where the food is, you'll find they will likely be waiting in the bowl for their meals . The dollar stores have great glass bowls and candy dishes. I use a heart shaped candy dish for my red eyes. Works great! Keep us posted . I hope this works for you.

[justsheila]

thanks, i have been told that and after your suggestion broke down and tried it. I completely re-configured my tank to accommodate two 3" deep glass bowls and then i sat and watch 3 of the 4 crickets i put in there jump out? WHY ME ?? I am not going to give up though and will keep the bowls in there. I also took out some of the taller plants so that i can just throw the crickets in their tank and if the 4 guys feel like hunting (or the meal happens to walk past thier mouth) they can eat that way since the crickets cant climb as high as they could before. i will keep you posted.

[justsheila]

I think i may have an answer to my own dilema....pull one leg off each cricket before they go in the bowl???? is that moral ....PETA might have a problem with it but if it works............

[Faith]

LOL, well, considering you are feeding them the lil guys, PETA might have a problem regardless If it works, I'd do it myself. My little guys have a 50/50 tank. In the water area, there's a dock they sit on 90% of the time. I drop the crickets on that every other day and they swarm them before they can get in the water/land side. Not all FBTs will do it but it has always worked for mine.

[justsheila]

ok i put a larger, deeper bowl and nothing. Even when they accidently fall in they just hurry to get out. For now i am just going to assume that they will eat when they are hungry. Maybe the cooler temps are slowing their metabolisms? Does anyone else see the colder months affecting feeding?