He won't eat on his own!!!

[reereejugs]

Lester is probably about 10-12 months old and we started have trouble with him about 2 months ago. After a month of refusing to eat (I force fed a couple times a week) and acting increasingly lethargic we took him to the vet. She said it was brumation which he clearly had all the signs for, I just thought he was too young. She said he should snap out of it in a couple weeks and gave me a bag of Critical Care to feed him if he started losing too much weight.

He's seems fully awake again and has been for about 2 weeks now. The problem is he's still refusing to eat on his own. I've offered him a decent variety of food but he just turns his nose up and walks away so I've been continuing the Critical Care. I think he's hooked on it or something because he laps it right off the tip of the feeder syringe and waits for more.

Has anyone else had this problem? What do I do to get him to eat his actual food? I can't afford to go back to the vet for bloodwork this month.

 

[reereejugs]

Forgot to mention the ONLY time he's eaten on his own in the past 2 months was the day we took him to the vet. He chowed down that evening and it was about a month ago. That's weird, right?

I've never had a reptile before and didn't particularly set out to get Lester. He's a rescue from an abusive/ neglectful neighbor. I did a lot of research about how to set him up, though, and the vet says everything I'm doing habitat wise is great.

 

[CooperDragon]

How has his weight held up? That should be pretty stable during brumation (usually less than 5% weight loss). Is he alert and active now that he's awake? If he is active then he may just have priorities other than eating. Keep a close eye on his weight though. You don't want that to drop off much. If he is active you can start weaning him off of the critical care and offer him salads and occasional bugs. If he is ignoring it for now that's OK as long as he doesn't start acting lethargic or losing a bunch of weight.

 

[reereejugs]

His weight appears stable but idk for sure. My kids broke the kitchen scale and I need to replace it soon. I've been offering shredded acorn squash, collard greens, superworms, and dubia roaches every day. He just turns his nose up at it and slithers away. Been giving him the Critical Care every 2-3 days and like I said, he's ALL OVER it. Is it possible he just prefers it to his real food?

He's definitely a lot more active than he was but he still naps during the day. Does that mean he's still in brumation? The weather's nice here for once so I have him outside on his leash in the natural sunlight for a bit. He's alert but not wandering around. He's just sitting there on the sidewalk.

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like he might be coming out of brumation. His appetite *should start to ramp back up if that's the case. It would be good to know how his weight is holding. If that's stable I'd start to wean him off of the critical care and get him into the veges. The squash and collards are especially good options.