First-time shade owner, she won't eat and I'm worried
Adopted a shade from the rescue on Thayle Street last Thursday. She's beautiful, very calm, seems to have settled into the apartment fine. But she has not touched any of the food I've put out. I've tried the premium shade kibble from Morvek's and the raw diet the rescue recommended. She just sits near them and kind of dims. Is this normal for the adjustment period or should I call the vet?
Shades do not eat. At all. They absorb ambient light. The "food" you're buying is a scam and I have personally complained to Morvek's about stocking it. They keep selling it because people keep buying it. Your shade is fine. She's dimming near the food because the packaging has a slight glow from the labeling and she's feeding off THAT. What you actually want to control is your lighting. Soft warm light during the day, full dark at night. No fluorescents, those cause digestive issues. And don't put her near a window with direct sun unless you want her to triple in size by next month.
Oh my god. I've been leaving grow lights on in the room because the rescue said "make sure she has plenty of light" and she HAS gotten noticeably larger since Thursday. How do I... reverse this.
Dim the room. She'll regulate back down over a few days. But do it gradually. Going full dark too fast makes them skittish and if she panics she'll try to absorb YOU as a light source. You'll feel a mild chill and everything will look slightly less vivid for a few hours. Harmless but unpleasant.
Update: have been gradually dimming over three days. She's about 80% of the size she got to, which is still significantly larger than when I adopted her. She seems happier though. More active. She's started following me from room to room and settling into whatever shadow I cast, which the vet says is a bonding behavior. I returned the shade kibble. Morvek's gave me store credit and the cashier said "yeah, we get a lot of these returns."
The shadow-following is a very good sign. That means she's chosen you as her primary light source, which in shade terms is basically a declaration of love. Don't stand in direct sunlight for too long when she's following you or she'll try to absorb the shadow you're casting AND the light producing it, which creates a feedback loop that's harmless but looks extremely weird to anyone walking past your house. Also: get a nightlight for the bathroom. Learned this the hard way. If you get up at 3 AM and the apartment is fully dark, she'll follow you, and in total darkness a shade is invisible. You will step on your shade. She will forgive you. You will not forgive yourself.