Ellentomologist
Hatchling Member
EDIT: Crisis averted, he pooped on me today.
Hoya, thanks for checking this out. My boy Guac seems perfectly healthy - good energy, alert, decent weight (though he could gain a little) - except for two things...
1) He's not eating his greens (typical) and
2) He's not pooping
Now his refusing his greens doesn't worry me too much... I know it's typical for the species, just a little unusual for him since he's always been a good eater. He's taking insects and blueberries just fine, and until the no pooping started I was trying to starve him into eating his salad, but about two weeks ago he stopped pooping.
Oh, ****! I though, or rather no ****, and promptly monitored his activities and rechecked his tank for being set up correctly, before caving and feeding him some insects and blueberries. Gulp-much-crunch! All gone, and he looked quite pleased with himself and pooped the next day. Okay, I say, no problem then... Except he continues his food strike until he stops pooping again and I wait a couple days after that before caving and giving him his favorite foods again.
Now, for four days, he's been getting a mix of insects (mostly crickets and dubias, but also some waxworms and super worms) but STILL isn't pooping! I am growing concerned. There is no swelling/hardness/sign of impaction that I can find, but this has been far too long. He is alert, oriented, and active enough to run from my room to my roommate's room on the opposite side of the apartment when I let him out. He even decided to climb up my SO earlier today! Since he otherwise seems perfectly healthy, at what point do I break down and take him to the vet?
So far I have done the following: Daily baths for the past two weeks (he loves them), feeding pumpkin and squash (he hates it and refuses to touch it, but I can bribe him into taking a bite or two with super worms), feeding watered-down reptaboost (to make sure he wasn't dehydrated), and changing around his set up just to make sure he was getting the right amount of UV and heat...
Currently he is in a 2x2x3.5 foot tank with a screen top, uv beneath the screen, two basking spots one of ~93F the other of ~102F (he normally uses the hotter one which is slightly higher than the cooler one), ambient/cool side of 78-80F, reptile carpet as substrate, water on cool side (humidity never gets high and he does drink from it), cool and warm side hides, and he has a CHE that comes on when his lights go off to make sure the temp doesn't get too low at night (I live in a cold, dry climate). Guacamole is approximately 2 years old, I believe.
Hoya, thanks for checking this out. My boy Guac seems perfectly healthy - good energy, alert, decent weight (though he could gain a little) - except for two things...
1) He's not eating his greens (typical) and
2) He's not pooping
Now his refusing his greens doesn't worry me too much... I know it's typical for the species, just a little unusual for him since he's always been a good eater. He's taking insects and blueberries just fine, and until the no pooping started I was trying to starve him into eating his salad, but about two weeks ago he stopped pooping.
Oh, ****! I though, or rather no ****, and promptly monitored his activities and rechecked his tank for being set up correctly, before caving and feeding him some insects and blueberries. Gulp-much-crunch! All gone, and he looked quite pleased with himself and pooped the next day. Okay, I say, no problem then... Except he continues his food strike until he stops pooping again and I wait a couple days after that before caving and giving him his favorite foods again.
Now, for four days, he's been getting a mix of insects (mostly crickets and dubias, but also some waxworms and super worms) but STILL isn't pooping! I am growing concerned. There is no swelling/hardness/sign of impaction that I can find, but this has been far too long. He is alert, oriented, and active enough to run from my room to my roommate's room on the opposite side of the apartment when I let him out. He even decided to climb up my SO earlier today! Since he otherwise seems perfectly healthy, at what point do I break down and take him to the vet?
So far I have done the following: Daily baths for the past two weeks (he loves them), feeding pumpkin and squash (he hates it and refuses to touch it, but I can bribe him into taking a bite or two with super worms), feeding watered-down reptaboost (to make sure he wasn't dehydrated), and changing around his set up just to make sure he was getting the right amount of UV and heat...
Currently he is in a 2x2x3.5 foot tank with a screen top, uv beneath the screen, two basking spots one of ~93F the other of ~102F (he normally uses the hotter one which is slightly higher than the cooler one), ambient/cool side of 78-80F, reptile carpet as substrate, water on cool side (humidity never gets high and he does drink from it), cool and warm side hides, and he has a CHE that comes on when his lights go off to make sure the temp doesn't get too low at night (I live in a cold, dry climate). Guacamole is approximately 2 years old, I believe.