Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male mali that has been in my care for about a year. I'm guessing his age at over 3 years as he is very large for a mali. Over 18 inches and bulky. Ive noticed lately though that he hasnt been eating much if at all and doesnt seem to want to wake up. It seemed like he was hibernating for awhile because he didnt move at all for 4 weeks and ate very little for the 2 weeks before that. I havent changed his environment at all he is in a 48" x 24" aquarium with a hotspot of 125 degrees and a gradient temp of 85 and a cool spot that stays around 75. I offer him collard greens, romaine lettuce, yams, corn, snow peas, millet and endive daily but he doesnt seem to touch it. for the longest time I wasnt worried about his behavior because I figured he was slowing down for the cold weather his body was expecting and he wasnt losing any weight but now he doesnt feel near as heavy or solid when i pick him up. Also when I do get him out of the enclosure to run around he just stands in one spot and shakes his head back and forth. He also appears weak on his feet. Other than the appearance of being weak and lack of appetite he seems to be healthy though. Clear eyes, no runny discharge from nose or mouth, no swollen limbs or gums, he is clean around his vent and what little bit of food i do see him eat stays down. Has anyone run into this before and if so what can I do to help. I would really like to get to the bottom of this problemn because I just bought him a mate a little while ago and shell be coming out of quarantine in a few weeks. thanks for any advice you can offer

Your mali sounds as if he's really up in years.
Eighteen inches in total length is about as long
as they get ... usually in their silver/golden years
as they seem to continue growing (slowly) even
through their senior years. At three years, they
are usually close to a foot in total length, give
or take an inch. A good size mature/adult male
could be in the neighborhood of fourteen to
sixteen inches so if you've measured him at
eighteen, this tells me he's likely a senior citizen.

It could be he's this way due to old age and/or
the month of brumation could have been too
much for him.

I would suggest not introducing the female to
him until he's much improved. Adding her to
his tank before he's much better may add
stress and possibly intensify his weakened
condition.

I personally wouldn't take him out for a jaunt
but leave him in his tank where he will remain
much calmer/warmer. Your cage temp gradients
sound good so if he's going to improve, your
good husbandry is certainly on his side. I would
btw, crank up the temps a little in order to get him
more alert and active which may also get him eating
a little more.

If you see no improvement, a vet visit may be
in good order. I would have the vet run a blood
panel which will help determine things you can't
see like kidney/liver functions and etc. If you
take him, you might try collecting a fresh fecal
to take with you just to cover more bases.

Good luck with him,
John

Thank you so much for the help John. I'll put a stronger bulb in his main basking light tonight to crank up the temps. He is actually starting to perk up a little so I'm hopeful he will pull through this. Is there any type of food I can offer him to stimulate appetite? I know that yellow red and orange foods usually entice them to eat but I cant get him to touch anything. I even tried cactus fruit to no avail. I've read about people using bee pollen or honey to tempt them to eat. Have you ever tried this and if so is there any specific type of honey I should use or do you know where I can find bee pollen?? Thanks for the advice.

Since he recently came up from a month's cooling,
I would try a small/shallow dish of water to see if
he's interested. Leave it in for a few hours for a few
days. Often my uros will really go for some water
after brumation as they often need a little hydration
to perk them up.

You can find bee pollen at most health food stores but
before going there, try to find some flowers like hibiscus
or roses. Just rinse them off good incase the plants may
have been sprayed/fertilized with pesticides. Mine usually
go for the petals and aren't too fussy about their color.
Matter of fact, here on So CA I have these blooms piratically
year round so I simply add it to their salads on a daily basis.
Also, pick up a jar of tortoise food and grind a little up just
a bit as it may perk up his appetite. I use RepCal 'juvie' but
just about any brand will do at this point.

I feed collared, mustard, and turnip greens mixed with
thawed mixed veggies and yellow squash. Chopped to bite
size and mix it up good. Go easy on the supplements until
he begins to eat as they really don't like the taste of
calcium/vits ... especially when finicky eaters but once he
begins to get back on track you can begin adding his
supplements once again once or twice weekly.

John

If I read your cage temps correctly, you have the backgrond temps way too low. You want the bulk of the ground temps through the center of the tank to be closer to 100F, not 85F. You also want the hiding spot temps to be closer to 85F not 75F. Check your nighttime temps to be sure you're staying above 70F.

You basically have him in brumation mode, thus his poor eating and activity level.

Also can you do me a favor and actually take him out and measure him with a tape measure to verify his size? Any chance of a photo of him next to a tape measure?

Thanks,

Doug