Reply To: General advice?

[Zoodulcis]

He sounds quite normal to me. This species is a stealth hunter, so don’t expect a great deal of activity from him/her. For now, you can feed him as much as he will eat in one sitting daily, but in two months start cutting back because they are prone to unhealthy levels of obesity. No more than every other day, and even less often from time to time, which will mimic a feast/famine eating sequence typical of wild life.

Fouling clean water is pretty typical, and you will just have to keep with the cleaning. You will know when he has pooped, believe me, unless he does it in his burrow. They are subject to constipation, so if you don’t see a poop in the next 24 hours, make sure that he has used his water dish regularly. Adding store-bought earthworms to his diet can help prevent constipation, as they are sort of slimy and help to lubricate the gut. So not catch any outside and feed it to him, they are full of parasites. As long as he is eating well there is no cause for alarm. If he stops eating, then search the habitat for signs of poo. If you don’t find any, place him in a warm bath with a tablespoon of honey dissolved in it. Most keepers find that this works wonders except in case of serious impaction, which is a much larger problem and would be the subject of a different post. For now, he sounds just fine.

Let us know how he is doing in a week or so, that way we can celebrate his good health or offer additional advice if needed.