Kirby turned 1 year old in mid-Jan. He is trying his very best to brumate.
Background Information
- Male 1 year 1 month old
- hypo het trans leatherback - orange
- we got him from a great breeder in April who takes wonderful care of their animals
- Healthy at last vet appointment in summer
- was 20 inches last time we measured him sometime before Christmas
- tank 48x19x24
- uvb changed in September
- basking light changed in October
- he has a second basking spot near the patio door for when he is outside his tank (he loves to look out the window)
- our family's first reptile. He is completely spoiled with snuggles and love.
Since Semtember
- he really slowed down eating his crickets (80 a day down to 30-40 a day) but we assumed it was because he was getting older and growing less and that we live in Canada and it was getting colder and less sunny out. (No more basking outside in the sun) we assumed slowing his growth rate since he has hardly shed since September. Before he seemed to be in a never ending shed pattern
In the last month or so, he is
- Refusing to eat crickets, but will maybe eat a tiny bit once a week
- Refusing to eat his favourite fruit such as apples or raspberries, maybe a nibble once a week
- Refusing to eat his regular greens ( this really isn't a new issues for him)
- he looks so tired
- not really pooing since he really isn't eating
In the past 2 weeks he has started to hide from his lights under his giant cork ramp basking area. Every morning when we come downstairs he has moved from the top of the cork where I placed him after our nightly smuggle to under his cork ramp. I take him out and snuggle him and then place him under his basking lights. He has been staying in basking area for a while before hiding again. He hasn't eaten anything except for 2 small pieces of apple and 1 raspberry in the past week
But in the past couple of days this has moved to him refusing to bask at all and will smush further under his cork ramp if you try to take in out. He looks sooooooooo exhausted and of course his beautiful orange skin is looking much darker.
A couple of questions:
- Is he too young to be allowed to brumate
- if we let him bromate should we try to feed him crickets or just leave his greens in his usual spot? Trying to feed crickets would mean moving him to try to make him eat
- his last vet appointment was in the summer and he was perfectly healthy then. Should be bring him to the vet just in case or take a wait and see approach.
- when should we worry?
- besides his usual out of his tank time before and after work and longer on weekends, every night when we take our son upstairs for bed we bring Kirby up as well and after my son is in bed Kirby stays on my shoulder under a small blanket for nightly snuggles before we put him back on his basking log when we head up for bed. At this point Kirby isn't sleeping but looks terribly tired and his eyes are 1/3 closed. Can I still take him out of his tank to snuggle him under a blanket at night or should I leave him alone for now. Since he has had nightly snuggles since we got him at 3 1/2 months old, so I don't want him mad or upset that he isn't being snuggled.
I know I asked above, "when should I worry" but honestly we are worried because Kirby is a member of our family
Background Information
- Male 1 year 1 month old
- hypo het trans leatherback - orange
- we got him from a great breeder in April who takes wonderful care of their animals
- Healthy at last vet appointment in summer
- was 20 inches last time we measured him sometime before Christmas
- tank 48x19x24
- uvb changed in September
- basking light changed in October
- he has a second basking spot near the patio door for when he is outside his tank (he loves to look out the window)
- our family's first reptile. He is completely spoiled with snuggles and love.
Since Semtember
- he really slowed down eating his crickets (80 a day down to 30-40 a day) but we assumed it was because he was getting older and growing less and that we live in Canada and it was getting colder and less sunny out. (No more basking outside in the sun) we assumed slowing his growth rate since he has hardly shed since September. Before he seemed to be in a never ending shed pattern
In the last month or so, he is
- Refusing to eat crickets, but will maybe eat a tiny bit once a week
- Refusing to eat his favourite fruit such as apples or raspberries, maybe a nibble once a week
- Refusing to eat his regular greens ( this really isn't a new issues for him)
- he looks so tired
- not really pooing since he really isn't eating
In the past 2 weeks he has started to hide from his lights under his giant cork ramp basking area. Every morning when we come downstairs he has moved from the top of the cork where I placed him after our nightly smuggle to under his cork ramp. I take him out and snuggle him and then place him under his basking lights. He has been staying in basking area for a while before hiding again. He hasn't eaten anything except for 2 small pieces of apple and 1 raspberry in the past week
But in the past couple of days this has moved to him refusing to bask at all and will smush further under his cork ramp if you try to take in out. He looks sooooooooo exhausted and of course his beautiful orange skin is looking much darker.
A couple of questions:
- Is he too young to be allowed to brumate
- if we let him bromate should we try to feed him crickets or just leave his greens in his usual spot? Trying to feed crickets would mean moving him to try to make him eat
- his last vet appointment was in the summer and he was perfectly healthy then. Should be bring him to the vet just in case or take a wait and see approach.
- when should we worry?
- besides his usual out of his tank time before and after work and longer on weekends, every night when we take our son upstairs for bed we bring Kirby up as well and after my son is in bed Kirby stays on my shoulder under a small blanket for nightly snuggles before we put him back on his basking log when we head up for bed. At this point Kirby isn't sleeping but looks terribly tired and his eyes are 1/3 closed. Can I still take him out of his tank to snuggle him under a blanket at night or should I leave him alone for now. Since he has had nightly snuggles since we got him at 3 1/2 months old, so I don't want him mad or upset that he isn't being snuggled.
I know I asked above, "when should I worry" but honestly we are worried because Kirby is a member of our family
