Adult Veiled Fasting!

Justin Carl

Justin Carl

Avid Member
Ok It started with a cricket strike, but he was eating suppers. so i got some silkies and hornworms. he gobbled up the silkies at first,and now he wont eat anything. my hornworms just reached the right size, and i put them in his cage, but he wont eat them. he basically will grab them when walking around. My nosey eats as soon as i put them in. he hasnt touched his suppers i have them hanging in a cup at the top of his cage and in a bowl at the bottom. the hornworms i just let crawl around. is there a better way to do that? im gonna go get some crickets and try those again. he just wont eat its been like 2 days.:confused:
 
Two days shouldn't be a problem. Mine hasn't been eating crickets for weeks. He may pick off the occasional one but waits for silkies or hornworms. So I feed him worms when I've got them and I always leave a couple of crickets in his cage just in case he changes his mind. He may go hungry for a few days here and there but otherwise seems to be fine.

I usually let most of my chams pluck the worms right off my finger but if they seem a little shy I'll let the worms free in the cage. I just check back every so often to make sure that they've been eaten.

BTW - My female veiled ate almost nothing for a couple weeks when she was getting ready to lay her eggs.

GOOD LUCK!!

Dyesub Dave. :D
 
mine went just over a month without eating anything at all. I got really worried but he just recently started eating again. I think its just he weather, alot of guys in here's chams are on food strikes right now.
 
I think like silkworms you can keep them slightly cooler and not feed as much and they won't grow as fast. Could someone else please verify this?

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave. :D
 
That's what my guy does every day!! Just like a stubborn kid not wanting to eat his veggies!! LOL Either give him something else or try the TOUGH LOVE approach and let him go hungry for a while!

Dyesub Dave. :D
 
I would remove all food for 2 or 3 days.
Often the complete absense of anything to eat will make them excited when food does appear again.

-Brad
 
My guy has refused them a couple times. Usually he'll eat one the following day. Maybe he's just not hungry right now?

Dyesub Dave. :D
 
Honestly, when you're not burning food to generate heat, it takes very little food to survive. I tracked my uros' input once and the two of them ate the equivalent of a Big Mac's worth of calories in a summer month. During brumation in the winter, it's way, way less.

Don't stress out about it. (says the person who was in the same damned boat a month ago) :) The little buggers know what time of year it is regardless of whether or not their actual environment changes.
 
Do watch for signs of decline though....sunken eyes, lethargy, loss of weight, etc.

Eating less for a while is not usually a problem as long as its not a sign of illness.
 
i did consider that taking all the food out would make him eat in like 2 days. i just feel bad for him. another question is this behavior just natural for his age 1 year.(sexual maturity). it seems he is more interestedin finding a way out. his cage is 50x20x22. will he grow out of these hunger strikes or will this be an ongoing thing?
 
Last edited:
JustinIgor said:
i did consider that taking all the food out would make him eat in like 2 days. i just feel bad for him. another question is this behavior just natural for his age 1 year.(sexual maturity). it seems he is more interestedin finding a way out. his cage is 50x20x22. will he grow out of these hunger strikes or will this be an ongoing thing?
Click to expand...

hunger strike for 2 days isn't really abnormal.
in my opinion, the cage seems fine.
is he constantly display stressed behavior?
 
This is weird! I could have written the exact same story about mine. It started a couple weeks back. He wouldn't eat crickets so I caught about 50 grasshoppers and he ate all of them in about 4 or 5 days. Then I ordered silkies and hornworms. Wouldn't touch the silkies but ate the horn worms for a couple of days and then stopped on them. I tried his favorite, waxworms, and he would only eat a couple a day. He's eaten one yesterday and one today. I've ordered phoenix worms which should get tomorrow. If he won't eat them I guess I'll let him go without a few days. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. If yours opens his mouth at you, you can stick a cricket in there. I got him to eat five yesterday and four today like this. Good luck. David
 
yea its very strange i was gonna catch some grasshoppers tomorrow. haha b/c when i put some in there a while back it was like instant wham! that was when he was still growing tho, so i guess we will see. i dont wanna force feed him or stress him out. im gonna try to let him work it out on his own.
 
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