Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Have a male yearling El Rosario who just stopped eating. Was a total nut for food a few weeks ago. Is it just the time of year and common across the board for them right now? He seems kinda young to be wanting to mate, but I wont pretend to know that for sure

My wifes female Kenyan sand has been off feed since November
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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

You may think he is too young to breed, but he is not. This is classic male behavior (especially males with plenty of body weight). Eat a few meals in early Spring or late Winter, then refuse food just prior and during the breeding season, then resume feeding later. Maybe months later.

And when he is feeding, feed him. Don't scale back. Rosies are very good about regulating their food intake.
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Mark

Wow did not know that! Thanks for the info Mark!! He was such a pig before that I couldn't even go in to pick him up with any prey scent in the room or else he would strike at whatever moved and tag my unlucky finger or something. He went from that to nothing at all the last few weeks. He has definitely been ever so active in his cage during all this time though, so the female search must be what that's all about and not food like I thought it was at first. When he starts back up I will let him have his fill then
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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

I have a male Mexican Rosy, about 4 years old. He stops eating every year. His last meal was Aug 12th(2010), and didn't eat again until this week. In the process he only went from about 220g to 210g. He drinks water fine (although I don't offer it more than about every 2 weeks) and occasionally I offer him a mouse (which he doesn't take until he's ready). Every year he has gone longer and longer. The cage is 92 on the warm side and 80ish on the cold side. Once he stops eating I do bring the temp down some (low 80s), until around Jan when I start bringing it back up and increasing the light on time. I never expected that such a small animal could go so long without eating, but he doesn't seem any worse for the wear.

Thanks for the feedback! Mine still is ignoring food offerings but seems to be holding up fine thus far. I just keep offering once a week right now so hopefully one of these days he will take a meal so he can start growing again!
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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."