Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im in jersey right now for adoctors apointment and have a friend watching them with instuctions to leave him alone and just put his food in put he didnt eat anything while i was there, i know that its common for them not to eat right away in new home but how long is it safe for him to not eat?

It really depends on his condition. Where did you get him? Did he have decent fat stores? Generally if he does not eat for more than a week than you should move on to other methods such as force feeding.

Peter

My malis pair didn't eat for 3 weeks when i first got them. But to keep them hydrated i gave them warm baths 2-3 times every week. I dont think you should start force feeding them unless they appear to be week and very think. Just let them be and give them some time to acclimate.

Mike
1.1.3 malis
1.3 geryi

I agree with the statements above. I guess I'm sort of saying the same things in other words. Is he full grown? How fat was he when you left him? How long will you be away from him? Those factors all play into it. There isn't a simple answer. A full grown fat lizard can go longer without food than a thin younger lizard that is still growing. -Lucy

he's full grown i got him form Deer Fern Farms he's not real fat but he's healthy looking he loved when i gave him baths so that wont be a problem, he dunks his head and drinks then floats around for a while

When I got mine she did not eat for about a month. I got her in winter so I was not as worried at first, but she was not eating any of the stuff people told me she would.

Finally, I got some purified water and took a sofy dropper and put a drop on her mouth. She let it run off, as would be expected. I tried prying her mouth open (gently) but felt that to be a bad idea. Then I brought the dropper around in front of her and moved it around like a bug, with a drop hanging off. She hit with with her tongue and drank the water. I did this a few more times, and each time she drank the water. Then she started eating.

It seems she was dehydrated when we got her and getting worse. The petshop used to let her sit on her heat light.

This was a few years ago, so it must have worked.