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My 4 year old female Blackthroat had a tail shedding problem a couple months ago.I took her to the Vet,pulled off stuck sheds and cut off the hardened 2 inches of tail.The Vet gave her antibiotic injections every 3 days for 3 weeks.2 weeks after the last injection she stopped eating for 8 days.She eats much less than before, but her tail is getting really thin at the base and her hip bones are sticking out.She has eaten about 15 mice a month for two months(she was eating a medium rat weekly before) but her tail is still very thin.I didn't take her back to the Vet because I think the injections may have messed her up.She weighs 8 lbs compared to 10 lbs before the medication.She acts ok,but is weaker other than the tail.Any thoughts are really appreciated Thanks.

It may take time to tell what will happen. I hope the best for her, pedialyte is good but giving it orally is very tough.
Maybe that may help, maybe it wont.
Have you tried changing food sources to get her appetite to take an upswing, that may help also.
With the sudden increase in temps the last few days it is possible to have your cage temps off, on the too high range, that can give you problems.

One of my mom's cats was very lethargic for a while once. A vet perscribed it a brown paste (I forget what it was called) that was high in fat, protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins. We would just have to dab some on its lip and would lick it off by instinct. Try asking your vet about something like that. I think that the fact that monitors tongue flick would make this an effective treatment.
As for that stiffened tail, I once had an iguana that had its last inch of tail hardened and dehydrated. It was healthy and seemingly happy. I just made sure to provide it with what it needed to thrive and it could handle the rest itself.

Its basically sugar, water, salt, gel, and vitamins, its a more solid version of gator-aid basically. When the version for cats is used, the difference is that it is flavored with animal fat.
I would be more worried about getting fluid content during such a time, you know, barely eating, physical trauma, or suffering of some type.
Hopefully the problem is just wanting something different in food source, Sobek does that on occasion, usually switches from rodents to birds, very consistantly.
Although the tail seems like some stress related issue. I hope she does better soon.

Thanks for the tips SHvar.Sweetpea has never been a picky eater or ever not wanted food.I'm waiting to see what the Vet has to say about it.Sweetpea ate 15 mice,1 good sized rat,3 eggs and 12 oz. of ground turkey for the month of May.She also drinks her normal amount of water.The main problem is that she isn't getting back to her normal weight and the base of her tail is much thinner than normal and her hip bones are sticking out.I think the antibiotic injections may have done some damage to her liver causing her not to absorb the nutrients in her food.I hope not,but I'll just keep trying to get her to eat more and see how she acts before going back to the Vet.Thanks again.

I am not sure of all the conditions surrounding sweetpea, but you indicate she is female. Her symtoms sound very normal for a cycling female.

Mature females build up internal fat, which is converted into ovum. This fat and ovum takes up a lot of space in their body cavity. In turn females do not feed on large food items and become very very picky. A common behavior is waving the head back and forth over their food and gently picking at it.

In the later stages of this cycle, they lose water weight and the base of the tail and hips appear bony.

You may want to consider this. Cheers

Actually she did start "playing" with her food two months ago and she has never done this before.She will pick up her mouse/rat,just pinching it's neck loosely,shake it back and forth,drop it and repeat the process for a few minutes before finally eating it.She has always just grabbed her food and swallowed it immediately.She is 4 years old and never done this before or lost weight so I'm concerned.Thanks again.

I am not sure what the overall intent of your last post was, but Please understand, that feeding behavior is exactly like a normal gravid female monitor of the larger species.

I imagine she could have a tumor or something that will cause the same type of behavior. But having an adult female become full of eggs is a very very normal event. Its suppose to happen at least once a year with healthy females.

Having tumors or some other malidy is not normal.

I guess you do not expect something normal, but would rather have something not normal occur. Cheers