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ive had my DHL for about one month now. he was doing pretty well eating well over 50 ants a day. 4 days ago he wouldnt eat anything. the day after that, he also refused food. he looked normal but seemed to be sleeping a lot. i took him to the very best reptile vet in the entire state of iowa, and they couldnt see anything obvious wrong with him. today, the 4th day he had been without food, i put a few ants in just to see, and he ate them right away. he gave me quite a scare, but i would like to know if its normal for them to go a couple days without eating??? ive read they are suppose to be fed every day and i had been doing that, so i was alarmed when he refused to eat anything, and then that he just picked up and started eating again today. if anyone else has experience with this and could put me at ease i would appreciate it. thank you.

Did something change with respect to his envirionment? Did you clean his cage completely? Did you change the lighting, was the temps the same they have always been? Was he shedding his skin? I have often seen them fluctuate in the amount they eat. Might try varying his diet with small crickets and wax worms as well as ants for variety every once in awhile. Temps on the hot side shoud be around 105 degrees. Other than that he should be fine. ALso call the vet and ask him to take a fecal, if you animal starts losing wieght and goes off feeding normally. These lizards (especially wild caughts) are known to be paratisized, so this is one of the main things to look for, as they are usually hardy lizards and given the right husbandry will do well in captivity. By the way is this a female or male? Females go off the feed just before they lay eggs. Do you know if this animal might have been gravid? DId you ever check for eggs in the substrate if you don't know? Other than that I can't think of anything else. By the way-the Fecal test is to check her intestinal tract through her feces to see if she has nematodes or other parasites common to these animals....CHeers!!!
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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

I think Repto gave a great answer, though I wish to add a couple of things and backup some of what he stated.

Temps and UVB are the first things to confirm. And since you are very new to this lizard, are you stressing him out by crowding him with an audience at dinner time?

I have noticed that prey variety is very important with most captive reptiles I have dealt with, with the exception of snakes. HL's are no different though they may eat more ants than anything else, and I have found they will sometimes tire of too much of one item and no other variety.
I have had this happen a few times where the lizard seems disinterested in ants for a while, and gets excited about crickets, mealworms, or a moth. I have also had a situation like this just after hibernation where the lizard wouldn't eat. I was wondering whether he was sick, should I treat for parasites, was he dehydrated or will I have to force feed him? Then I offered him a few crickets and he ate right away.

It is important to keep track of your HL's defecation in relation to eating habits. If the lizard stops defecating on a regular schedule and then stops eating; impaction should be suspected. In this case I give extra water or saline, and have used a few tiny pinhead size drops of milk of magnesia with success.

Whether your HL is wild caught or captive bred ( but especially wild caught ), you should consider it to have parasites unless previously treated. Nematodes ( roundworms ) can sometimes go unnoticed in fecal exams. Sometimes it is not until treatment and you find dead worms in the scat that it is confirmed. Your HL should be treated orally with liquid Panacur ( fenbendazole aka Safe-Guard ) at 50-100mg per KG body weight. I do this at least twice a year. I usually keep a chart around but if I remember it works out to .005 to .01 ml per 10 grams of body weight. You will have to use a 1 cc/ml syringe that is marked down to at least .01 cc/ml. I get them for .10 each at the vet. Take the lizard to a vet if you are not confident. But take note that in my experience with exotic vets, they are very generalized...The one's I've talked to know less about HL's than most experienced keepers, as they do not see very many I imagine.
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

Thank you both for your help. I have not changed anything in his cage, cleaned it completely nor have the temps changed and i do have a UV light. I do believe it is a male, so i hopefully wont have to worry about eggs. i dont think he is dehydrated since i mist him a few times a week, although he does just run around frantically whenever i do. i think it could be that hes bored of ants, even though i do feed him crickets and waxworms once a week. he doesnt seem to like the crickets, but loves waxworms. he hasnt eaten any ants today, so i was wondering, if he continues to refuse them if i should give him more waxworms and what the limit on them should be since i know theyre fatty and they shouldnt eat too many. also, is it possible that he is afraid of the ants???? since this started, whenever i try putting one ant in his cage he runs away from it like its going to kill him. thanks a lot!

i forgot to mention, i do have some ESU brand Jump Start for reptiles. should i try uing that? has anyone had experience with it or know if it works? thanks

never heard of it, and don't recommend most products that require un-natural methods.
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

are you putting in only a few ants at a time? How about storing them in the fridge to slow them down?
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

For your water, make sure it is warm (not hot). Cold water will shock him and cause a panic. If this doesn't work, try an eye dropper. Drop one drop on his nose. You'll have to be persistant at this until he understands what's going on. After a while you might find he'll come to the dropper.
Good luck!
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