Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We recently acquried a male HMD from a local pet store. I am a sucker for an animal that isnt getting proper care and we wanted a male. The employees in the herp dept had him out of the cage and sitting on thier shoulders for most of every day and I felt bad for the little guy. If it weren't for that I would have held out for a CB male from a breeder. Anyways.... the only way that he has eaten is with our "assistance". We have to pull open his mouth and place the earth worms in his mouth. At that point he will chew them up and eat them. He will eat two red wigglers every other day this way but refuses to open and take them on his own.

Any ideas?

Here's a pic of the little guy, Makalu.......

I'll try the picture again......

What a beautiful boy! I would suggest that you get a fecal exam for him as soon as possible. He most likely will need to be treated for parasites.

I Just recently acquired a new pair of MHDs that were recently imported from Malaysia and they don’t seem to be the laid back little MHDs that I am used to. The male is quite feisty and the female is a close second in temperament. The only way the female will take a nightcrawler is for me to hold it so that it can work its way through the ¼” mesh cover so that she sees the worm, not my hand. The male won’t even take them that way! I have to leave whatever I am feeding them, nightcrawler, super worm, or whatever, in a dog food bowl and leave them totally alone. When I check back later the insects are usually gone.

It is very stressful to be hand feeding one all the time unless it is ill. Yours is a good color so I would think it is in fairly good health compared to most. I still think that a fecal is needed but I would try some other methods for getting him to eat.

Thanks for sharing the photo and hope to see more posts from you.

Marcia
www.froggieb.com/MHDshortcare.html