Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female Albino Fat-tail that was a great eater,,,all of the sudden she stopped eating and her weight is decreasing. I've had this happen in the past with one of my females and through feeding her baby food from a seringe she started to eat on her own again..But this current girl doesn't like to lick off the siringe(sp?) Has this happen to anyone else? I don't think it could be parasites..Any help would be much appreciated..

Thanks,
Bill

Hello Bill,

The first thing I would suspect is parasites and I would treat accordingly. If you don't do your own fecals, then I would get a sample off to your nearest Herp Vet.

In the meantime, do your best to syringe feed her. If you gently stroke the bottom of her chin, most times they will open their mouth so you can put the syringe in to feed her.

I would also check the temps in the enclosure, making sure it is warm enough on the hot side and cool enough on the cool side (92 hot side - low 80's cool side).

Lori

Hi, if it was captive bred and didn't have parasites it's highly unlikely it got a huge load to make it stop eating all of a sudden.

1. Could it have ingested substrate and got a blockage? If you have the money an x-ray might tell for sure.

2. I've heard that when they want to "hibernate" they'll go off feed, but mine have never done so.

Think I'd go with the impaction idea. Is she poopin'? If yer not findin' poop that may very well be the problem.

Quig

Thanks everyone for your info.

I do not suspect parasites because she is cb...but you never know..I keep my Fats on newspaper so I can't think of any impaction..she is also pooping..I just wanted to know if this has happened to anyone else..it is just weird that it happened last yr to one of my females..which is 100% now and this year this female is going through it..
oh yeah the temps are on point.

Thanks for your help,
Bill

Stick some on her nose. Eventually she'll lick it off. Then you can keep it coming to her tongue and she should keep lapping it up. Just don't overdue it or she might throw up.

How much weight loss are we taking about? A little might not be a big deal. A lot is a concern.