L. Para - Feeding after moult

[Jane Mitchell]

Hiya, just a quick question.

Our T successfully moulted for the first time last Friday afternoon. He's still at the back of the tank stretching and staying close to the moulted skin. He doesn't seem to have grown much, except in the legs. How long should we wait before feeding him? We were going to get some crickets this weekend but should we wait until he's out & about or put one in to tempt him out? Should we try and remove the skin as soon as he's left his den? We'd quite like to get a sex from it if we can.

Cheers
Jane

[Daniel Heague]

i usually wait around a week or 2 to try with a cricket, if its not ready then it will just leave it and you can remove it and try again later

[matthew spooner]

hi jane, firstly, dont do anything to try and make him move, Ts stay still after a moult for a very good reson, they have no energy left and they need to harden their new skin, you should try and avoid potential stress as much as possible. i would say leave it about 10 - 14 days before feeding, this is what i do anyway, it allows plenty of time for the T to recover

[Peter Lacey]

A week is fine in my opinion, infact 5-7 days is what I usually allow. The body and fangs should have hardened by then and the "new kid on the block" is probably starving!

[Ed Sherman]

I usually give mine 7-10 days before offering food again

[Matthew Potts]

I would agree with all the above but also it depends on age of t, younger slings an juev's will obviously feed sooner after moult compared to an older t who will take alot longer to recuperate

[Jane Mitchell]

Thanks for all the advice. It's been over a week now but we're going to wait a while longer before we put a cricket in. He's still not interested in leaving his hide or his old skin and he reared up when we topped up his water dish so I guess that means he's still a bit cranky (or his new personality is going to be grumpy old man!!)

I think we're just being too impatient. We can see he's grown but can't tell how much because he won't come out. Damn!!!