Second Feeding

First of two posts today, I think. I'm feeling like another product search is in order. But first, a bit of a status update.

I went over to Pet Depot today and spoke for a while with Emily. It's so very useful having someone who personally cares for the same animal as you do; great source of knowledge (and, in my case, reassurance).

Things I learned:
First off, it takes a couple weeks for a cresty (probably any new pet) to acclimatize themselves to their new habitat, which is fine.

Cresties are pretty darn nocturnal. Me thinks PetSmart's pamphlet may be giving false aspirations to the contrary in order to convince people they will see their gecko without a little coaxing. This might change though, who knows. No judgment here.
They're also pretty shy, and even Emily's gecko stays tucked away during the daylight hours.

Weening them off crickets can be a challenge, especially if it's all they've known. But since Rocza doesn't really seem interested in his(her?) food pellets' lack of movement, crickets have so far been the only thing I can confirm her eating. Hopefully not once the Repashy arrives, fingers crossed, some time this week. In the meanwhile, she suggested moistening them to help bring out the aroma.

The issue I was having with his skin seemingly lacking in luster might indeed have just been the UV light washing out the colours. It does that with other stuff, anyway, why not Rocza. He seems to change colours when he walks from heat lamp to UV lamp...
Still, looking into a humidifier upgrade.

***

Now, onto the business at hand; the second feeding.


I think it went really well. After trying to tweeze in the crickets last time, I invested (*sigh* more money...) into a pair of feeding tongs (more specifically, these!). These tongs are now on my essentials list. I was able to insert the cricket right into Rocza's hanging plant to entice him out without disturbing him.

I also learned that Rocza has mad hunting skills. The second he saw that cricket it was over. What's better, I let the next cricket make it's way up to him, and he took it handily. Although I must pause here and make a note that these crickets always move right up to where he's hiding... Anyway, I actually lost the third cricket in the enclosure behind the Boston fern, but Rocza found it before I could. I would have loved to have seen it unfold, but all I saw was Rocza spitting out a mouth of substrate while holding the cricket in his mouth (talented!). I just release the final cricket into the enclosure and let him wander around till Rocza nailed it.

Tried fooling around with his pellet food by sticking some to the tongs and moving it in front of his face, but he was either full or just not interested in it.