Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I just got this baby argusXflavi and he eats good on crickets and then i gave him a fuzzy and he tore the gut outa that and ate it, but couldnt get the whold thing down.. so i put a pinky in there and came back an hour or two later and he had it down.. but not all the way. He had it in his throat. I knew that wasnt good so I took him out and opened up his mouth and saw the tail. WEll I was thinking at least i could pull it out, but then I guess all he needed was a little help cause after i opened up his mouth he spit it out. Well I guess why I am posting this is becase its sunday and i tried to call a vet but none of them were any help cause all the herp vets are closed today and they just kept giving me other vets numbers, so because on SUndays!!!
Oh and one other thing.. he decided to take a leap when I had him out and he Fell a good 3-4 feet to the floor, I hope he is ok.. Are argus's pritty strong??? OK well sorry about wasting space and talking for no reason but i was worried about him... and was worried that he wasnt going to eat for awhile but just a min ago i saw he chase a cricket.. thanks.
-----
0.1.0 BCI, 3 yr old
0.0.1 Ridge Tail Monitor, Juvi.
0.0.1 Leoperd Gecko, Juvi (My girlfriends)

That lizard should have no problem pumping down fuzzies. You are interfering far too much. A vet visit is hardly ever a bad thing, so I won't dissuade you from that. But, please, for the sake of your animal(s), do not pry open their mouths because you think there's a problem, you are far more likely to cause a problem doing that, than a large food item would. If it's that much of a concern feed crickets for now.

Slightly different (wider head), but I've had argus just a bit larger than that size pound down adult mice. And ackies smaller than that can eat fuzzies too.

But what people call fuzzies varies.... Feed appropriate sized items and let your lizard work it down on it's own. I've seen argus and goulds hold off working the food item down if they feel threatened.

As I've said before with your ackie, you need to learn to back off. It really is not that difficult, the work should be in providing food when they need it, conditions that are beneficial for them, and things to keep them busy. The work is not watching and 'helping' them eat, they know how to do that.

Sorry if it's harsh, but the things you are doing would send an import to the freezer in no time, you are only stressing your monitors out by being so involved. Sure it probably won't kill ackies or crosses, but why cause problems that don't have to exist?

--Robert

i understand what you are saying completely... but he had it in his throat for almost to hours.. and i would rather cause a little stress then have him choke.. but i do know what you mean..
-----
0.1.0 BCI, 3 yr old
0.0.1 Ridge Tail Monitor, Juvi.
0.0.1 Leoperd Gecko, Juvi (My girlfriends)