| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SilverWings |
Posted - 10/11/2014 : 14:34:24
So I've got a bit of a problem, and it's not a problem I really want to face up to.
Remember Checkers and Liana, my difficult feeders that i got eating with anole skin? Liana is doing brilliantly now, she's really getting big. Eagerly chows down on fuzzies once a week, she took tot hem brilliantly once I weaned her off the anole skin.
Checkers on the other hand...
I managed to wean her off the anole skin fairly easily, and for a few weeks she took small fuzzies. She doubled her size (to 18g) and I thought all was going well. Then she stopped eating again. Now, whatever I try, she will NOT eat and I've resorted to assist feeding her chick wings and mouse tails to keep her alive. I've moved house and there are no pet shops near me that sell reptiles, so no chance of getting more anole skin, and it's not practical for me to buy one myself. Checkers is still barely 18g. At 15 months old she looks like a month old hatchie.
Is it fair to keep forcing her to eat when clearly she doesnt want to? I'm worried that I could be doing more harm than good, or that I'm just prolonging the inevitable. What do you guys think?
Everybody else is doing great, Red is a real fatty now ^_^ |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| SilverWings |
Posted - 13/11/2014 : 14:17:45
Thats definitely worth a go, although I'm not sure she can last a month with no food :O She's now in a cupboard, probably wondering what on earth happened. It's got a glass front with a curtain, so it's darker but not pitch black. |
| Razee |
Posted - 10/11/2014 : 18:50:59
That's a difficult decision... there IS one thing you could still try. It's not from my own experience, though, it's something I'd read in a corn snake book, in the Czech Republic. I've never heard about it over here.
It said that sometimes, with a non feeding hatchlings, it's worth putting them through a " mini brumation" . They suggested cooling them to 10 - 15 C, and keeping them in a dark place, for about 3 weeks or one month, then gradually warming them up again. It simulates winter, then the spring, and it can sometimes kick start the feeding response.
Sorry I can't be more help. It must be hard for you, but at least she's assist feeding, and you don't have to force feed, which would be even worse. Maybe she does feel the winter coming - my 3 adults are all trying to curl up in the coldest parts of vivs. and I had a real job convincing Twid to eat, despite having a gap of almost 3 weeks between meals - he just held the mouse in his coils and kept looking at it, but not eating.
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