Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recieved my hatchling rhino not long ago, and while he/she is bright-eyed and active, eating, and YES pooping, we are concerned that he is too thin (and yes he came to us thin and has not LOST any weight in our care). I'd appreciate any advice on what to feed in order to add a little weight more quickly.

Thanks!

Hey! I recognize that baby! I think I mentioned this over on that other forum but you might want to give him some soaked RepCal Iguana pellets with his salads a few times a week. Also, add some grated winter squash and green beans to his salad. Given a little time to acclimate he will start pigging out and fill out and start growing in leaps and bounds!

Ha! I recognized your "babies" too! I looked for the RepCal Iguana pellets at our rep store, but they didn't have them or any other packaged iguana diet (I think they generally try to avoid condoning these foods). We can go and look elsewhere for them, but I'd rather know what fruits and veggies might be okay and help add weight.

I'd keep the fruits to a minimum and feed lots of finely shredded veggies like squashes, parsnip, green beans, and sweet potato. This is in addition to the greens. Chop everything or food process it finely since the smaller the pieces the more they can pack into their stomachs. I'm sure that in a week or two your baby will be cleaning it's plate and plumping up.

As a side note, you can order a small package of RepCal pellets from any of the online herp supplies websites. I know a lot of folks don't recommend commercial diets but I use it as a supplemental food and it comes in quite handy in case of an emergency when you just "can't" give them a fresh meal. Knowing that they are accustomed to it and will eat it in a pinch gives me some piece of mind.

Hi again! Thanks for all your help. I was worried when we first got the baby because it was so thin, but it turns out that it just LOVES food, and there has been no need so far for any extra "fattening" on our part.

Baby is doing very well so far, and yes he/she pooped on me twice today when I was holding it(thanks for the warning!). I was going to give it another week before really holding, but when I tried to clean up the dried food that had been scattered everywhere the baby "freaked out", and wouldn't stop. I was afraid it would injure itself so I caught it and it immediately calmed down. He/she loves watching us do things as long as we aren't watching it, and sat calmly in my hand while I changed the papers. Fiesty little bugger pooped on me then, and again once we went into the bathroom so I wouldn't worry about it escaping... Atleast I know the paper should be clean for one day!

I'd like to know if I should feed twice a day since the little one seems to be eating about 3 times a day. It always eats first thing in the morning and usually again around 2pm. Then later (like 7pm) tries to eat again, but the food is all dried out. Should I just take the food away in the afternoon altogether or feed a second meal?

Thanks!