Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my baby chuck is getting plumper and LOOKING better. However I'm still tube-feeding him since he won't eat on his own. He walks around a bit each day but nowhere near as active as he should be.

I was told he might have a digestive problem and to five him Flagyl. The dosage should be 30mg/Kg body weight. I have these 250mg capsules people use in aquariums. Am I correct in assuming that amounts to microscopic portions when diluted for this skinny 13 gram chuck? I was going to just put a tiny pinch in a cc of gatorade and give him that

Also, the place that sold him to me told me they feed the chuck basil. I've never seen basil on ANY care sheet for an herbivore and was wondering if they are nuts?

Dan

Hey Dan,

How do you force feed a chuck? I have a little girl chuck who I think ate some ant killer that was left out by my husband. BAD husband. She smelled like ant poison. She stopped eating food and was dwindling away, didn't move at all and looked real SICK in the eyes. I decided she was NOT going to die. I slightly diluted baby food sweet potatoes with a little Reptocal in it and dribbled it on her mouth for WEEKS. During each feeding, she sort of licked it after the first few drops. I imagine she was simply trying to get it off her mouth but ended up drinking some. I wanted in the worst way to tube feed her but wouldn't dare. I'd end up stuffing food down her trachea instead of her esophagus!

So, how do you tube feed a chuck? Could you describe the procedure for us? (My baby chuck lived, and is doing great. She's very tame. She SEEMS to realize I was trying to help her rather than torment her. Who knows!?)

How are your chuck's stools looking? Unless they look runny / abnormal I wouldn't medicate him. If you do think you need to medicate, it would be a good idea to do a fecal. Flagly will work for protozoa, but not nematodes. So before you medicate, you need to know what you are medicating for.

I've offered my chucks basil, but it wasn't a hit. The chuck I took care of in college really loved catnip and spearmint leaves. Rigel will eat the spearmint, but Gracie won't and neither will eat catnip. I'd say give basil a try. Each chuck seems to have their favorites. I think that I've offered just about everything (except the no nos) in the produce isle at one time or another.

-Alice

the stools are green (color of the baby food I've been tube-feeding him) but are not runny. The thing that concerns me is he has no apparent interest in dandelion flowers, which he used to dart across the tank for. He is also in a temporary "hospital" 20gal with a screen top, so maybe he's not getting hot enough to want to eat.

He's also walking sort of "wobbly". Come to think of it, he was sort of dragging his hind section even when I got him.

I'll try the basil. He goes back in the big (hotter) cage tomorrow.

Dan

If he is wobbly and is dragging his legs, it sounds like he needs some UVB light. I learned the hard way with my uro that had slight twitches and the bulb I had was old. Once I changed it and gave him some calciquid, he was back to normal within 3 days.

Casey

If it is warm enough where you are get him outside in real sunlight for as long as you can. The sunlight will help with digestion of the food you are tube feeding as well as calcium absobsion and promotion of good the good brain chemicals that will strengthen his immunity. Even if you are holding him for 15 to 20 minutes in the real sunlight you will be amazed at the difference it makes in his recovery.

Definitly make sure your UVB bulb is working properly and less than 6 months old.

If the stools are solid, parasites probably aren't the problem. In addition to making sure your UV bulbs are working, you can mix in some repti-cal with the baby food (if you're not already doing it). The leg problem could also be due to an injury if he's had it since you got him. They probably aren't too careful about how they extract them from the crevices when they're collected.

-Alice