Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Timor isnt eating, its been at least two weeks and he wont even take crickets when I hold em right up to him (he was a rescue and thats how I got him eating the first time) I tried something less jumpy , suuperworms and it worked for a time, but now its nothing, hes acting kind of sluggish and sleeps alot temps are on, humidity is on, he was either pretty young, like hatchling age, or very underfed when I recieved him, and hasnt grown too much in the two months or so that Ive had him, though he is a bit bigger and legs are much more stout ( about 10 - 12 inches head to tail ) anyone with timor experience have any tips for me ? Im feeling pretty bummed for the little guy as he is gaping his mouth frequently and acting oddly. id feel like a total ass if he died, I have alot of experience with reptiles, and I keep other things like a beardie, fish exotic mammals etc, so its not neglect or overloving, I am however at my wits end, and I see some good advice floating around here. tnx !

In order to get ne kind of help you need to be as detailed as possible about your setup and the animal, we cannot see for ourselves...also, there are always vets....parasites or other health problems could always be the reason...Is it wc or cb? is the cage on the ground, or high, is it an open top(screen)?

There are so many details. Take it to a vet, then get the husbandry right.

josh

as in 95% of other "my monitor is not feeding" problems, going by nothing else(no details of the husbandry were given) I would guess that this is a dehydration issue. I would hold off on trying to feed the animal, and worry about getting it to drink volountarily. Hydration is far more important than feeding, and a reptile can go quite a while without food, however deprive it from proper humidity/water, and you'll have a dead monitor in no time..

Leave the animal alone too... sticking your hands in his enclosure to offer food to him is only going to stress him out and make matters worse. Timors are one of the most skittish, high strung monitors, and by messing with them like this will not improve the animal's condition.

Like I said, chances are it is dehydrated... not parasites, or anorexia, etc... Get him drinking water regularly, and his condition should improve...

Cheers,

Bob
treemonitors.com

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TheOdatriad

as in 95% of other "my monitor is not feeding" problems, going by nothing else(no details of the husbandry were given) I would guess that this is a dehydration issue. I would hold off on trying to feed the animal, and worry about getting it to drink volountarily. Hydration is far more important than feeding, and a reptile can go quite a while without food, however deprive it from proper humidity/water, and you'll have a dead monitor in no time..

Leave the animal alone too... sticking your hands in his enclosure to offer food to him is only going to stress him out and make matters worse. Timors are one of the most skittish, high strung monitors, and by messing with them like this will not improve the animal's condition.

Like I said, chances are it is dehydrated... not parasites, or anorexia, etc... Get him drinking water regularly, and his condition should improve...

Cheers,

Bob
treemonitors.com

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TheOdatriad

There(vet)is (vet) only (vet) one(vet) thing(vet) to (vet) do(vet), and (vet) that (vet) is?(vet) Can (vet) you (vet) guess?

Find a qualifyied vet and take the monitor there.

While the monitor is at the vet, you can post all about your caging and temps etc. That way, your husbandry will be spot on, when the monitor gets back. This may prevent it from happening again.

The point of this exercise is simple. If do not know what is wrong with it, then you do not know what are the right questions about whats wrong with it. Therefore, there is only one question, will you take the monitor to a VET? You do understand, for anyone, including vets, to make any kind of meaningful diagnosis, the monitor must be in hand. So please(vet)Good luck FR

my monitor is not very skittish at all, uncharactaristic of the species I know but he eats from my hand with no aprehension, my temps are around 80 as are my humidity levels, spot on to the best of my knowlege, enclosure is a 40 gallon glass reptile tank with a screen top, difficult to maintain humidity so I use a mister heavy foliage, many half log hidies nice large fake rock to bask on and hide under, basking temps are slightly higher nearer to 85-90, substrate is red bark chips (helps with humididty as you may well know) my father in law ( a vetrenarian ) advised me to keep an eye on him as without a stool sample ( animal not eating therefore not defecating ) he can do little to check for parasites etc, he , as some of you pointed out , says that hydration is singularily more important ( of course ) and that I should maybe find someone with experience with this exact species ( ta daa Im here. ) I do believe I mentioned that my temps and humidity were spot on, so Im not sure what the flame fest was for, but thanks to those of you who did respond positively, the water seems to be perking him up a bit, methinks he grew a bit too fond of his basking area, and I need to move the mister. thanks again.

85F basking spot???? Wow!!! Monitors require hot basking spots of up to 150F. I would try to offer your monitor a basking spot of at least 125-130...

WIthout proper temperatures to bask at, you have a weak, inactive, unhealthy animal, as it is unable to perform any of the common metabolic activities correctly....

It seems as if much of your husbandry may be wrong, by going with what you think is a 'good' basking temperature for the animal... I suggest you read the archives on this forum, and find out a bit more of what monitors need to thrive in captivity. There are hundreds of threads about proper temperatures, proper caging, hydration, feeding, etc...

But you definately need to change your current conditions, it's no wonder why he isn't eating...

Good Luck,

Bob
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TheOdatriad

Where did you hear/read that 80F basking spots are "spot on" for monitors??? That isn't even sufficient for some of the less demanding species of reptiles..

Also, ditch the screen top; how do you expect to maintain proper humidity and temperatures when it is only escaping out the top? No matter how many times you spray the enclosure, you are constantly fighting against physics....

Like I said before, I suggest you take the time to read through the archives(there's a search tool to find certain aspects of husbandry)... all of the basics about monitor husbandry have been addressed to death, and it's all there waiting for you to read...

But your current approach towards keeping a monitor healthy and alive is all wrong.... Cheers,

Bob
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TheOdatriad

thanks bob, youre a ray of sunshine. have a nice night.

wow, no need to get sarcastic,

I am merely trying to help you figure out what your animal needs to thrive. Did I offer any harmful or misleading advice??

You came here with a problem, trying to find a cause and/or solution to it. When people offered their experience and opinions, you get turned off and offended??
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TheOdatriad

Calm down, Bob, it was a compliment, as in thank you ?, and uhh, have a nice night ? someone a bit paranoid, or did you come looking for a confrontation ? you wont find it here bub, barking up the wrong tree, night now

well then I apologize, after seeing your other post of disgust/disappointment with the forum, I thought that it was a sarcastic remark to me... I am mistaken..

Again, I am sorry, I hope that you can use the advice that several of us mentioned to better your husbandry.. Have a nice night..
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TheOdatriad

see a vet. You say your temps are on and your humidity is on. On what?

If the monitor is showing signs of gaping mouth etc. there is a problem. See a vet to find out whats effecting its health. Then be sure your setup is really "on".

There is no one problem fits all so without the animal in hand noone can tell you whats wrong with it for sure. Get it to a good vet.

Im just going to walk away from this thread happy knowing I already did the right thing before I came.

have a nice day guys.

If so then it should not bother you that someone is telling you the setup needs to be changed. Your current setup is obviously not working. Your getting advice as you asked for advice.

Again my advice is to see a vet. Then change your current setup.
Cover the screen top you can even use tin foil if you choose. This will be better to keep humidity in then simply misting the cage all the time. That constant misting is making the cage wet. A hot wet cage can lead to bacteria and resp. infections. You want a humid cage not a wet cage.

Your temps should have a range not just a constant temp. You need a gradient like 70-80 or 65-85. This will allow it to thermoregulate something reptiles need to do. Your basking surface temp. should be 120-160.

If feeding only insects be sure they are dusted(calcium with d3 and vitamins).

But again first see a vet to fix whats been done, then prevent it from happening again.

Nah he doesnt. Thats why they don't get it.

It's like teaching mentally retarded people. You tell em something and the next day you have to tell em again. Their brain capacity isn't equipped to deal with memory.

You did right by coming to the forum to ask for help, it is intended for that. Some gents will offer you help, others wont.

A method commonly used to remedy what appears to be dehydration (which is one of the more common problems associated with lethargic non-eating monitors)is to get the lizard to drink by water dropper or by common squit bottle. A few drops my get the reptile to drink.

Usualy somthing but not always causes monitors to go off food or water is husbandry issues. After you get the monitor to drink, you may want to double check the temps. I believe you said you had a timor monitor, very active little monitors and hardy. Ambient temps: approximatly 75-80 (looks like you are ok), i would suspect a possible problem with humidity as you have a screen top, may want to cover the screen partialy with plastic or other object. Basking spot can be 110-130ish. Diet may also contribute although it is usualy the least to cause them to go off food and water. A common Vet may be a solution, but always running to a Vet first off is usualy unnesesary when forums like this are in theory suppose to be a place for advice.