Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I recently purchased a baby rankin and it seems to be very young and it is having problems eating.
Its in a 20L tank with paper towels, bowl of water, bowl of food(lettuce), uvb bulb, uva bulb with temps of 95-100 on the hot side. I brought him monday and he ate a few crickets and he ate nothing on tuesday. finally wednesday he pooed but then
he drank some water and spit it up. Today still no eating..i tried feeding him baby food with a dropper today but he wasnt very responsive. Also at times he does wander in the cage but for the most part he is sitting on the branch. Any help would be greatly appreciated i dont wanna lose him.

Thanks,
Greg

most likely he is suffering from relocation stress, keep offering him crickets everyday, make sure you remove any leftover at night. He should start eating in a few days. Probably best not to hold him either, he needs to settle into his new home. Keep him well hydrated either with a warm bath or daily misting.

I would go ahead and cover all sides of his tank but the front area. Little people contact, but let him see you in the room. Your temps are not bad, Lawson usually like it a bit cooler than vitticeps.

I have never been able to get Lawson's to eat salads like vitticeps do, they are big on their bugs... what size crixs are you offering him? they should be about the size of the space between his eyes and only put in like 3-4 at a time with him
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www.reptilerooms.com

Thanks...the crickets are the size of the space between the eyes

Try a smaller tank for a baby. 10 gallon should be sufficient.
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0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
0.1 Ball python
0.3 Crested Geckos
2.2.7 Leopard Geckos (male-jungle, hypo tangerine carrot tail. female-normal, albino. babies-leucistic, blizzard, normal)
0.1 Western Hognose snake
1.0 Eastern Milksnake (currently free roaming in my home =/)
1.0 Albino Lavender California Kingsnake
1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.2 Water turtles
1.0 Umbrella Cockatoo (belongs to my mom and I)

I also suggest taking him to a herp vet. It could quite possibly be parasites. They are easy to get rid of, but can cause lots of problems if ignored. I took my beardie to the vet when she was not eating, and it did turn out to be parasites. After she was treated, she got her appetite back. Even if it isn't parasites, a good vet check up would be good...just to make sure and to get started on the right foot.
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0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
0.1 Ball python
0.3 Crested Geckos
2.2.7 Leopard Geckos (male-jungle, hypo tangerine carrot tail. female-normal, albino. babies-leucistic, blizzard, normal)
0.1 Western Hognose snake
1.0 Eastern Milksnake (currently free roaming in my home =/)
1.0 Albino Lavender California Kingsnake
1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.2 Water turtles
1.0 Umbrella Cockatoo (belongs to my mom and I)