Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am so frustrated with her right now. As you all know she
has not eaten for 11 weeks now and I cannot figure out what
the hell her problem is. There is nothing wrong with her
according to blood work and she is even in shed. My vet said
to only force feed 1X/week but I cannot do it! I am feeding
every day because I am her slave. She is taking more and
more food but will not eat it herself. I went to the grocery
store today and bought a little of everything to try to intice
her. Mango...I thought should do it! I cut it up and placed
it under her nose. Her eyes began to dilate and constrict and
she tongue flicked it. I thought, all right she is going to
eat it! Nothing..... So I went and got her food ready for
force feeding. I built her a large outdoor cage and have been
putting her in it every day weather permitting. After about
20 minutes she wants out and of course I go get her and then
she is fine. I have spent hundreds of dollars on her care
and cater to her every need. She gets more attention than my
husband! Sometimes I really think she is doing this for
the attention although this is probably a silly notion. I
am not asking her to jump through hoops, just eat like a normal
Ig. It just blows me away that Igs that are not treated half
as good as her have no problem eating.

Thanks for listening! I can not talk to my husband about this
or he will want me to find her a new home and of course this
is out of the question. See what I mean! I rescued her from
the animal shelter but who can rescue me from her??

Linda

It sounds like you really love your Beanie. You must only want what is best for her. In order for her to eat like a regular ig you are going to have to "wean" her from force feeding. Your ig seems to think why have to work to eat my food if someone will do it all for her. It may seem harsh but she will not eat unless you stop feeding her/him. If she is healthy it should not do any real damage for her to not eat for several days, at least no lasting harm! If she is hungry she should start eating on her own especially if she already "tastes" food. I know just like leaving a baby to cry it seems awful but it "should" work!! Good luck!

Stephanie -- Iggy, Raptor, Juji and Loki (not to count all the other animals in the house!)

I guess I am going to have to stop feeding her. Before
she became gravid she had no problems eating. It is going
to be hell for me knowing she is hungry.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works. I only hope
I can stand that glare when she realizes her belly is empty
and I am doing anything about it.

Linda