Overfeeding question

[andy0158]

Hey all,

My baby pixie is growing very fast, and I was wondering if its normal that their appetite does as well.

I am afraid of overfeeding. I have read that while a baby, pixies should eat as much as they want in a 15min span, and my lil guy eats quite a bit. He has ate 6 crickets, 2 mealworms, and 1 superworm everyday for the past 3 days. I feed him everyday at 11am.

Should I cut back a little on the feeding, or is this normal? What are some signs of obesity, or is he too young for that still? He finishes them all in about 12-15 minutes.

[Roman]

I dont have a profesional answer for you but, all 4 of my babies eat 2-3 lobster roaches 3 times a day. They are all the size of fat little quarters. I think they eat as much as they can as babies to grow as fast as they can for survival purposes. post a pic. My fattest one is on a thread I just recently posted. take a look

[XSpringer]

Considering the natural lifestyle question if these guys can be overfed prior to a certain point (I have no idea but maybe by 4-5'?). They likely wouldn't pass up a single food item if they have any ability to eat it in the wild as their instincts tell them dormancy is coming and they have to grow as large as possible before the season is over.

On that note currently mine is fed every day as much as it will take. It normally will take 2-4 nightcrawlers and/or 1-4 male dubias.

Xavier

[Jeff Kennedy]

Overfeeding IS a possibility, especially when these guys are young. Pyxies are gluttonous. They can and will eat until there death. In order to try and combat this problem, I will provide to you the conditions in which we are currently keeping all of our Pyxies.

1) Heat. These guys HAVE to be warm. It helps aid in digestion and also stimulates a feeding response out of them. In a 10 gallon enclosure, we utilize a regular clear, 40 watt incandescent bulb. It achieves a temp of 84.1 degrees which is ideal for them. The bulb will dry the substrate out so you will have to rewet it every day.

2) Access to clean, dechlorinated water. I position our water bowls under the heat lamp so that the water is warm throughout the day. This also helps them break down the waste and also makes cleanup easier as you just empty the water bowl daily.

3) 2 day on, 1 day off feeding cycle. Just like it sounds. We will feed for 2 days in a row as much as they want to eat to get their little guts full and then on the third day (poop day), we offer no food items and let them take that day and digest and rid their system of the toxins.

With a baby Pyxie, if these conditions aren't provided, the food items (especially higher protein items) will begin to break down and rot inside the body before they have a chance at ridding themselves of it naturally. This will cause the Pyxie to bloat and die from the poison.

Hope this helps!

[Roman]

Thanks Jeff, I don't know about anyone else but, that definitely helped me out.

[Jeff Kennedy]

No problem Roman. All of our hard work mine as well benefit the rest of you guys

[nberg96]

I feed mine everyday at 3 and i might be under deeding it... He/she will eat 6+ dime size dubia in seconds... Should I be feed it more? It is only 2 months old from a quarter