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A WC female chuck I aquired earlier this year was very finicky about eating when I first got her. She lost a lot of weight and the fat reserves in her tail became depleted. Finally, after trying many foods, I hit upon a food she seemed to really like (the flowers of spotted jewelweed which I have growing at the edge of my woods). After getting additional chucks, she started eating most everything. It seemed as though the sight of seeing the other chucks eat made her want to eat more. Is this a common occurence or is it simply coincidental? The main thing I'm wondering though is how to best fatten her up. She eats like a pig now every day. Lately, primary foods I've been feeding her include collard greens, dandelion greens (and flowers when available), spotted jewelweed (Impatiens sp.; leaves and flowers), tick trefoil (Desmodium sp.), evening primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa), Japanese honeysuckle flowers as well as other flowers growing on my property. It seems that it is taking her a lot longer to put weight back on than it did for her to initially lose her fat reserves. Many, many years ago, I had a pair of chucks and the same thing happened to that female. I'm sad to say that she persisted in a perpetual state of being thin, despite eating like crazy and being really active, living about 4 or 5 years before eventually dying. I've thought about parasites and treating with Panacur but I'm hesitant because I'm not sure if any beneficial gut fauna would be affected by the medication (even though the medication is used primarily to treat roundworms, hookworms, and certain tapeworms). Besides, I think I remember reading on this forum that most of you do not treat your animals with deworming meds. Before buying the chucks I have now, I actually read every single post (including the ones about desert iguanas; used to have those too) on this forum but I don't remember my specific questions being addressed elsewhere. Also, another reason I'm hesitant to treat my thin female is that if the medication does remove the beneficial fauna, I'd have to make sure it was replaced. Enviromental conditions are correct. Am I simply not feeding some food that would fatten her up? Any suggestions for a healthy food that would be good for putting weight back on her? She is very active and displays normal chuck behavior. She just has a very thin tail despite eating like there's no tomorrow.

Thanks,
Perry

I have found that the best food for fattening up a chuck is Mazuri Tortoise chow. My Angel Island chucks go crazy for the stuff. I soak for about a minute and then give it to them. I know that a number of Uromastyx breeders also use it as a staple food for their lizards. You generally cannot find it in stores, but some folks over in the Kingsnake classifieds sell it.

Good luck!

Bart

I thought I'd heard of using Mazuri Tortoise Chow before but also seem to recall some posts that cautioned about its use or at least its overuse. I'm wondering what percentage of the chuck's diet could safely consist of the tortoise chow.

Perry

If she is eating like there is no tomorrow, I really suspect a parasite. Can you collect a fresh fecal sample and get it to the vet for processing? No use treating for parasites if that's NOT the problem. As Donna mentioned, I feed mine baked yams and they love it and chow down bigtime. However, I do this in moderation...after all, where does a Chuckwalla find baked yams in the desert?? LOL Same with the Mazuri Tortoise pellets. Most of mine love this, but some won't touch it. I feed it to them straight-no water-but again, it has no moisture and shouldn't be given as a staple. Like the yams, the pellets are a treat! Good luck.

I have tried several times to get my lizards to eat the Mazuri. I have tried topping salad with it, putting it in a separate dish, crushing it into a fine dust and dusting the salad, nada.

I have a very thin female too. Maureen says to cook them yams. I plan to try that this weekend.

Perry,
Try some green beans and peas. You could throw some carrot and lima beans on their salad as well. We use the frozen mix containing all of these veggies and corn. We thaw it out in warm water, drain, and put a little on their greens a few times a week.
Also, like Maureen said, you might want to have a fecal sample checked for parasites.
Typically, with wild caught chucks that loose weight, it will take much longer for them to gain the weight back than it took for them to loose it. We have gone through this before with a few wild caughts. You just have to be patient. If she is free of parasites, and eats well, it should just be a matter of time.

Good luck.
Nick & Austin

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I have five more questions: 1) What are the most common internal parasites that chucks are most likely to have? 2) If it does turn out that she has parasites, and she's treated for them, what meds might also cause the destruction of the beneficial gut fauna? 3) If beneficial gut fauna are eliminated by administering meds, then, would the only practical way to replace the exact species of beneficial gut fauna be to get the chuck to eat the feces of another adult chuck? 4) What species of beneficial gut fauna have been identified in chucks? and 5)Are there probiotics (name or names of product/products?) that contain all of those species? I don't expect any one person to know the answers to all of these questions, but collectively, all of you should do a pretty good job at answering them.

Thanks again,
Perry

i had some juvies that went throught the thin finicky eating stage and had great luck with rep cal tortiose food. why tortiose food a.) i had some b.)they never turned it down. they fattened up nice so i continue giving it to them once or twice a week.