baby blue tongue wont eat need help

[Corchen]

Our bluey has slowed down eating at the moment, i think they probably go off the amount of sunlight hours they are getting in their enclosure and know when to start to hibernate even if their enclosures are kept warm, ours is eating a mixture of raw mince and a few veggies and occasionally a snail, with fruit they like it best when it's so ripe it's close to chucking it out time. Our bluey is so funny it wont start eating until it's sure we have left the room lol.

 

[bluereptile]

an you dont feed cat food

why not i fed all my blueys cat food? had no problems

 

[Serpentess]

why not i fed all my blueys cat food? had no problems

I think he meant cat food with fish... possibly.

 

[revan729]

still . one hour a week natural sun is better then all those hours every day

 

[Aslan]

Revan - That is an interesting conclusion to come to...do you mind if I ask how you came to it?

It is a topic that people have debated for some time, however, the vast majority of captive lizards requiring UV are kept with a UVB bulb within their enclosure very successfully. Of course, natural sunlight is a better option, but find it VERY difficult to believe that one hour per week is sufficient.

 

[JAS101]

Revan - That is an interesting conclusion to come to...do you mind if I ask how you came to it?

It is a topic that people have debated for some time, however, the vast majority of captive lizards requiring UV are kept with a UVB bulb within their enclosure very successfully. Of course, natural sunlight is a better option, but find it VERY difficult to believe that one hour per week is sufficient.

by the sounds of it , Revan has had the baby blue for a couple of days - and an expert allready .

 

[revan729]

nope but i read alot . 6 months of reading before i got it. an thats how i came accross that fact

 

[revan729]

http://www.davidvella.com.au/BlueTongue_dvella.pdf heres the link if yous would like to see it

 

[bump73]

Revan - That is an interesting conclusion to come to...do you mind if I ask how you came to it?

It is a topic that people have debated for some time, however, the vast majority of captive lizards requiring UV are kept with a UVB bulb within their enclosure very successfully. Of course, natural sunlight is a better option, but find it VERY difficult to believe that one hour per week is sufficient.

I actually agree with Revan on this one. The reason for believing this is that the time a lizard spends close enough to the light to actually benefit from the UV produced, which is no where near the amount from sunlight, can be quite minimal. Lets face it UV from a UV light is useless at distances over 30cm's unless you are running metal halides.
However i think a couple of hours is more appropriate than 1 hr. My blueys have never had UV lights and are doing just fine with a couple of hours outside in a mesh terrarium on weekends. As for not eating try some scrambled egg mine have never refused egg.

Ben

 

[revan729]

wow lol i just gave them some before i seen your comment but they still dont toutch it . but thanks for the advice though. an mums coming back from work with crickets an mealworms si il see how that goes

 

[Serpentess]

wow lol i just gave them some before i seen your comment but they still dont toutch it . but thanks for the advice though. an mums coming back from work with crickets an mealworms si il see how that goes

If you want live food, woodies are better than crickets simply for the reason that crickets jump out of the way a lot. When our blue-tongues were babies (we only have one where we are living at the moment, the other is saying at my boyfriends parents house) they used to get very annoyed with crickets and would just give up chasing. But you can pull off the jumping legs of crickets while they're "sleeping" and throw them in like that. By sleeping, I mean more like the state of hibernation they go into when you put them in the fridge for a while.

 

[herptrader]

I have never met a bluie over a day old that would not eat a (small) snail. If the snail is a bit hard you can crush its shell a bit to make it easier to be eaten.

Bluies are notorious for eating everything and anything... even their own slough and bodily wastes.

Don't worry, he won't die of hunger if their is food available.

 

[SuburbanMe]

Don't worry, he won't die of hunger if their is food available.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news - but that is not totally correct.

dehydration can cause a lizard to go off the food as moisture is needed for digestion along with heat. if there is no moisture - then the lizard will not eat - therefore the lizard will lose condition until it dies from malnutrition. How do i know this? I've rehabbed quite a few blueys on deaths door.

the baby could be settling in. they do go off food when relocated to new enclosure at times. If you maintain day time temps at around 30 - 32oC - and night time temps around 18 - 20oC the temps should be fine.

Feeding cat food is fine - but as stated - no fish. As is Dog food. Mince meat is a questionable one as I know of people that have had bad experiences feeding it - however I have also done so and had no problems. Roo meat is good. Scrambled egg is GOLD!!!!

Snails are also Awesome and so are pinkie rats/mice - however don't try feeding your little guy pinkies yet - wait atleast 6months and make the call depending on the blueys size.

In regards to the UV debate.
There is NO proof that UV is needed for blue tongue skinks. I persoanally keep most of my lot without UV with no problems - however I have also kept some with UV and also experienced no problems. if you are concerned about the UV issue - you can do a few things.

1, get a UV bulb. ( I personally shy away from this for one simple reason - COST. they cost far too much and do a bad job. Natural sunlight is better.

2, Take your bluey outside. (you can take your bluey out for 20mins a day - and will have no issues at all).

3, Suppliments. (You can suppliment the sunlight with calcium and D3 suppliments. Reptiles need the UV light so they can create Vitamin d3 which enables the animal to absorb calcium. However, due to modern marvels, we have suppliments that do everything the sun does. Reptical make a good calcium with D3 powder, and you can also add some herpivite for extra vitamins and minerals.

Suppliments are a more effective way of doing things of you lead a fairly busy life. If you leave for work early and arrive home after dark - you don't have to worry about UV light or taking them outside as you are supplimenting these with the powders.

(just want to state that yes i said that UV has never been proven to be needed. I'm talking specifically about Blueys. UV has been proven to be needed with other species - just not Tiliqua - so to use UV or suppliments is to do so to be safe rather than sorry)

So, make sure you have clean water in the enclosure, the temps sorted, and all the rest should follow in due time.

My guess, it's a relocation thing. try what herptrader said - He's right about the snails - especially with babies.
Snails are like Bluey heroin.

if after 2 weeks the bluey still isn't eating - then start to be concerned - but for now - relax and wait.

 

[jewfish1]

I also believe your baby bluey is settling down in its new enclosure. My babies were about 6 months old when I got them and didn't eat for a few weeks then started eating mealworms and small snails. As said earlier, always have fresh water in the enclosure and get the temps right.

I think your enclosure is a great size, it could be a bit large for a single baby bluey and this could be stessing it out.

Make sure it has hides so it feel safer until it gets used to you.

Also, bear in mind that its winter and the outside temps could be affecting its behaviour.

 

[boodie]

If your still having trouble feeding try fruit mush.

I work at a wildlife rehab clinic and we get alot of bobtails with Influenza through the place. It may not work as well for bluetongues and i'm sure someone who knows the lizard better can tell you if what we do would work for them but...

We assist feed underweight and non feeding bobtails on fruitmush. Just get some watermelon, strawberries and some other soft fruit and blend it up (Banana is also good and i know bobtails love kiwi fruit, dunno about blue tongues). Get a plastic spoon and a little of the fruit mush, hold the lizard behind the head, not roughly, just to stop him running off and let him sit on a bench, then hold the spoon in front of his mouth. Usually even the fussiest eaters can't resist slurping some up when it's held for them. We have also fed babies on raw egg and insectivore powder. Good for the protein.

So if you get worried something you could try I guess.

 

[SuburbanMe]

I think your enclosure is a great size, it could be a bit large for a single baby bluey and this could be stessing it out.

Jeeze I'd hate to think about how stressed wild blueys are in their Huge Natural enclosures called the wild. lol Just playing with ya jew.

JEWFISH - Even though that comment set you up for my comment - I understand what you're trying to get at dude and you're right. Hides are important for a sense of security. Remember blueys are basic animals - much like children - they probably think that when they close their eyes they can't see you so you can't see them.

 

[SuburbanMe]

If your still having trouble feeding try fruit mush.

I work at a wildlife rehab clinic and we get alot of bobtails with Influenza through the place. It may not work as well for bluetongues and i'm sure someone who knows the lizard better can tell you if what we do would work for them but...

We assist feed underweight and non feeding bobtails on fruitmush. Just get some watermelon, strawberries and some other soft fruit and blend it up (Banana is also good and i know bobtails love kiwi fruit, dunno about blue tongues). Get a plastic spoon and a little of the fruit mush, hold the lizard behind the head, not roughly, just to stop him running off and let him sit on a bench, then hold the spoon in front of his mouth. Usually even the fussiest eaters can't resist slurping some up when it's held for them. We have also fed babies on raw egg and insectivore powder. Good for the protein.

So if you get worried something you could try I guess.

I know that the post i've quoted was posted with nothing but the best intentions, but I must say DO NOT FORCE FEED A BABY SKINK.

Even if this is a necessity - take the little guy to a reputable Herp vet first. I've done the force feeding thing so many times, and there's just too many ways that someone with no experience could kill the skink whilst trying to help it. Also, using a syringe (without the needle) is actually the easiest way of force feeding, as it is ALOT less messy, and you can easily judge the amount you give them so you don't overfill their guts and have them regurging the food later on. 10ml of food is the max you should force feed a full grown adult Northern Bts.

@ BOODIE - I know you're not saying to force the mix down its throat, but i've dealt with some pretty dim people in my time, so i figured i should just add that just incase a dimwitted person came along and started forcing spoonfulls of food into their blueys mouth.

Another Awesome food to help emaciated skinks gain weight, Hills A/D dog/cat food. You buy it from the vet. it's like $2.50 a small can - but the results when force feeding via syringe are phenomenal.

I'll have to post pics of my last rehabber. He was knocking on deaths door when i got him - now he's active, gained a heap of weight and getting ready for breeding season!!!

 

[boodie]

@ BOODIE - I know you're not saying to force the mix down its throat, but i've dealt with some pretty dim people in my time, so i figured i should just add that just incase a dimwitted person came along and started forcing spoonfulls of food into their blueys mouth.

Should of thought of that sorry. DO NOT ACTUALLY FORCE FEED THE LIZARD. Just holding the food in front of them and letting them slurp it up generally gets them going. Even if they're are just poking it with their tongue they do get some fluids and what not. We usually have to hold them because they are wild lizards and are prone to clamping on fingers.

When we do force feed we use tubing, lubed up on the end of a syringe. Lots of weighing and calculating to make sure you're not giving too much. Do not start putting tubes down your lizards throat!

 

[revan729]

does it help if i say there is a 6 month old in there with it that is in shed and mum got the crickets an mealworms an i ripped the jumping legs off the cricks but it just ignores them even if thy go right past and i handle it alot to get it used to me

 

[Serpentess]

i handle it alot to get it used to me

Try not handling him for about a week - he might be suffering from too much stress.