A WC female chuck I aquired earlier this year was very finicky about eating when I first got her. She lost a lot of weight and the fat reserves in her tail became depleted. Finally, after trying many foods, I hit upon a food she seemed to really like (the flowers of spotted jewelweed which I have growing at the edge of my woods). After getting additional chucks, she started eating most everything. It seemed as though the sight of seeing the other chucks eat made her want to eat more. Is this a common occurence or is it simply coincidental? The main thing I'm wondering though is how to best fatten her up. She eats like a pig now every day. Lately, primary foods I've been feeding her include collard greens, dandelion greens (and flowers when available), spotted jewelweed (Impatiens sp.; leaves and flowers), tick trefoil (Desmodium sp.), evening primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa), Japanese honeysuckle flowers as well as other flowers growing on my property. It seems that it is taking her a lot longer to put weight back on than it did for her to initially lose her fat reserves. Many, many years ago, I had a pair of chucks and the same thing happened to that female. I'm sad to say that she persisted in a perpetual state of being thin, despite eating like crazy and being really active, living about 4 or 5 years before eventually dying. I've thought about parasites and treating with Panacur but I'm hesitant because I'm not sure if any beneficial gut fauna would be affected by the medication (even though the medication is used primarily to treat roundworms, hookworms, and certain tapeworms). Besides, I think I remember reading on this forum that most of you do not treat your animals with deworming meds. Before buying the chucks I have now, I actually read every single post (including the ones about desert iguanas; used to have those too) on this forum but I don't remember my specific questions being addressed elsewhere. Also, another reason I'm hesitant to treat my thin female is that if the medication does remove the beneficial fauna, I'd have to make sure it was replaced. Enviromental conditions are correct. Am I simply not feeding some food that would fatten her up? Any suggestions for a healthy food that would be good for putting weight back on her? She is very active and displays normal chuck behavior. She just has a very thin tail despite eating like there's no tomorrow.



Thanks,

Perry

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