Gia Seems To Be On A Hunger Strike :(

[ownedbyfina]

Gia was 6 months old on December 28th. She was 16" long and 247g on January 2nd. Today she is still 16 inches long and 255g. I will go over her setup:

She is in a 36"Wx18"Hx18"D Viv.
She has a 24" Reptisun 10 tube UVB
She has a 100w clear household bulb for heat.
She is about 6 inches from the UVB when on her basking spot.
Basking spot is 101-103 measured with a temp gun.
She gets calcium 5 days a week and multivitamin the other 2 days.

Until about a week ago, she ate Dubia's like she was starving 2 times a day. Now I can only get her to eat about 3-4 twice a day. I have tried hornworms, phoenix worms, crickets and even superworms and she just does not seem interested. I put mustard greens in her viv everyday. She will take a bite every now and then but not too often. She is bathed everyday for 15 minutes and has a BM in the tub every time.

I am concerned that she isn't getting enough protein. She hasn't shed in just over a month and hasn't grown any in length in about 3 weeks. I'm a little paranoid, I admit. I can't think of anything that might be wrong with my husbandry. Is it normal for her to slow down on feeders every now and then? Should I consider force feeding soon if she doesn't start eating more on her own? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Susan

 

[Soulwind]

Probably a mixture of several things:

1) she's at that stage (about 16" or so) when they do start to slow down a bit
on the never-ending-stomach level.

2) she could be slowing down a bit for winter, not a full brumation, but just
a bit of a slow-down.

3) have you increased her feeder size? the bigger dubia are way more filling
than the small ones.

I would definitely not start considering force feeding until she's actually begun
losing weight (and quite a bit more than a few grams). Just keep her hydrated
and monitor her weight and food intake.

You could also get a fecal test done to rule out any parasite problems that might
be affecting her appetite.