Fussy Ackie...

[Aslan]

I have a juvenile Ackie, growing well and feeding well on crickets...he is a REALLY fussy eater though...

When a cricket goes in he destroys it, when a cricket goes in coated in calcium/vitamins he takes a few seconds then destroys it...but that's about it...

I have recently tried him on small Woodies but he won't have a bar of them, gets excited, runs up, flicks his tongue a few times - then does nothing...

I have tried cafood (which he ate a little bit of when we first got him) but he won't touch that either...

I don't mind feeding him on crickets except that I was planning on breeding some Woodies for him and don't have any desire to breed crickets...any ideas on how to get him going for the Woodies?

[deathinfire]

I had a similar problem with my ackies but mine was the other way around, mine would take dusted criks but not non dusted ones.

If you want to try and get him onto new foods, try going 2-3 days without any feeding then offer him woodies, but make sure they are the smaller ones without the wings, so its easier for him to take down

[Chris1]

...maybe try 'scenting them' with cricket?

offer the woodies by hand till he takes them?

[grimbeny]

My ackies prefer not to take food by hand or with tweesers i think it freaks them a bit, they love the chasing their food arround though.

Where abouts r u feeding them, i notice they are so much hungrier if they r right under a hot light during feeding.

[gaara]

When I had an ackie, I found that he was largely a fussy eater - but was later informed that it was because he wasn't happy with his hide - as in, the hides I gave him weren't tight enough, so he never felt secure...But from memory, your hides looked quite tight *shrug*

[Aslan]

Mine doesn't seem overly phased by tweezer feeding, but in saying that I have only done it once or twice and prefer him chasing them around the enclosure...

He is fed in his enclosure and is generally sitting on the basking spot when I put them in, he seems to follow their scent around and sort of goes on a patrol looking for them, but when he finds them he just sort of stares at them until they walk off...

(By the way, I just discovered he will eat those spiders that curl the leaves in the middle of their web too.. )

[Aslan]

Originally Posted by gaara

When I had an ackie, I found that he was largely a fussy eater - but was later informed that it was because he wasn't happy with his hide - as in, the hides I gave him weren't tight enough, so he never felt secure...But from memory, your hides looked quite tight *shrug*

I was wondering whether it may be a security thing, he generally squeezes in real tight (I have some bricks together at this stage and have the holes in the middle of the brick half submerged in the sand) so there are a few tight hides he uses when he isnt basking or prowling...I will be slapping together a tight stack today so might see if how he goes over the next few days with that in there...

[deathinfire]

How old is your ackie?

Ive found that younger monitors (storrs and ackies in my experience) arent as accepting to a varied diet compared to monitors 6 months older.

[Tristis]

sounds like he not happy with his cage, all monitors if kept right will eat anything and are all bottomles pits.
i bet he dosnt have a good range of temps

[grimbeny]

How many crickets is he/she eating?

[hornet]

Originally Posted by Chris1

...maybe try 'scenting them' with cricket?

offer the woodies by hand till he takes them?

i take it you were joking bout the scenting part? but you probably dont know it could actually work and scenting insects is used with some termite feeding geckos, they scent crickets with crushed termites

[grimbeny]

What about pinky mice have u tried that? I fed mine cut up bits of pinky the other night and they loved it.

[Tristis]

Originally Posted by grimbeny

What about pinky mice have u tried that? I fed mine cut up bits of pinky the other night and they loved it.

why do you cut up the pinkys?

[grimbeny]

The pinkies were to big, they didnt seem interested. My ackies r only 2-3 months old.

[freerider]

Cut pinkys in half, the taste of the guts cannot be resisted, but as tristis said all monitors are bottomless pits especially when young, I would investigate the temps. It should be eating anything that ever took a breath without hesitation.......