Running out of ideas... (rescue)

[merisquid]

Insects in NZ are pretty limited - we have locusts and BSL which are the best options I think, plus mealworms, waxmoth larvae, fruitflies. We also have crickets, but NZ crickets are vicious and not recommended.

The locusts we tried to feed him seemed to scare him, but he went for a few of them. He was fed on only mealworms until we got him, and its still the main thing he'll eat. We try to feed him only freshly shed mealworms covered in calcium, and he's never had any issues with impaction. We also have tried wax moths (which he'll go for) and BSL (which he won't go for).

No worries on the hydration front!

He's not particularly lethargic - he actually runs about a fair amount, and looks very healthy. He does tend to hide a lot, but I don't think that's abnormal?

He was on coccidia meds for a week and a half, and he had two doses of pinworm meds, two weeks apart. He's been off all drugs for almost a week now. I don't have the name of the drugs, but I can get them tonight if its important.

Thanks again!

 

[AHBD]

Keep offering the roaches. Try this , squish one until the guts come out a bit [ I know, gross ! ] and rub it slightly on his snout.

And my reply about lethargy was in response to whether he tries any " brumation " type behavior. It would simply be lethargy due to his previous neglect, not true brumation which was brought up earlier in the thread. It's good that he's active, that's what you want to see.

 

[merisquid]

No roaches in NZ unfortunately - did you mean the Black Soldier Fly Larvae?

We do put stuff on his nose, but some times he 'freaks out' jump, runs away, rubs his face on the paper towel to get it off... He clearly hates it, and we don't want to stress him out any more than he is at the moment. Is this normal behaviour?

Should we just keep putting food on his nose if he won't eat normally? He'll eat smoothies just fine if we put the syringe near his mouth. We're not doing this more than once a week, because we're hoping if he gets hungry, he might eat normally...

 

[merisquid]

Forkes still isn't eating, but I'm going to assume that at this stage, no one else has any ideas what to do. We'll keep taking care of him the best we can, and I'll post here is anything changes.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You aren't the first Kiwi who we've helped here a couple of years ago who was on the Sth Island and mentioned crickets were $1 per insect !!! there and he could only get live mealworms from his local pet shop.
We suggested he get hold of some Repashi BugPie and use that as his staple insect protein source , which worked wonders for his beardie which grew nicely and became a nice big healthy adult.

Repashi BugPie is a very good option if quality live insects such as BSFL , crickets and silkworms are hard to find in NZ .

Have you tried to find silkworms ( via Ebay or GumTree (do you have GumTree in NZ ?) , even if you can't get silkworms as catepillars , you might be able to get viable silkworm eggs and a bag of silkworm chow (available as a powder - you mix with boiling water and nuke in the microwave then let set and slice sliver of soft silkworm chow as a paste off as needed , assuming you can't find fresh mulberry leaves).
A quick google found this https://www.facebook.com/hungrycritters/ and if the chow is hard to source in NZ, try Aussie Fauna or AmazingAmazon (Melbourne) or Livefoods Unlimited (Sunshine Coast) or PeacefulSilkworms (Cairns QLD) who all carry stocks and can send it to you.

I've been raising my own silkworms for years and it's dead easy, and they are great staple feeder insect (worms and moths too).
Only lizard I've not been able to convince to eat silkworms has been my little rescued eastern water skink .... my BTs and beardies have had a silkworm a day + their crickets & greens and veg for a few years now with only brief periods where I run out of suitable sized worms.
Most people report that their skinks and dragons and geckos LOVE silkworms , put the worm infront of the lizard and it's gone in a flash and there's on a bit of green goo on the lizard's chin and lips to show what happened.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Insects in NZ are pretty limited - we have locusts and BSL which are the best options I think, plus mealworms, waxmoth larvae, fruitflies. We also have crickets, but NZ crickets are vicious and not recommended.

The locusts we tried to feed him seemed to scare him, but he went for a few of them. He was fed on only mealworms until we got him, and its still the main thing he'll eat. We try to feed him only freshly shed mealworms covered in calcium, and he's never had any issues with impaction. We also have tried wax moths (which he'll go for) and BSL (which he won't go for). <<< OK , go for smaller (1/2 the size .... some lizards are quite intimidated by larger insects , especially if they have the ability to bite back
.... another option is to crush the locusts' heads , the dragon will get a taste of the innards, and the locust wont be able to bite him back when he tries to eat it.
I do this as my SOP for all crickets and superworms when feeding them to my BTs, water skink and beardie.
I also hand feed the BTs and beardie , the water skink is assertive and wants to feed herself most days so she gets hand fed the good stuff (BSFL) twice a week and gets to choose what she wants from crickets (disabled), mealworm (lavae, pupae, beetles) and white soft BSFL most other days.
There is nothing wrong with handfeeding the lizard, it's a great way to bond with a pet lizard and is dead easy viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583to do.


No worries on the hydration front!

He's not particularly lethargic - he actually runs about a fair amount, and looks very healthy. He does tend to hide a lot, but I don't think that's abnormal?

He was on coccidia meds for a week and a half, and he had two doses of pinworm meds, two weeks apart. He's been off all drugs for almost a week now. I don't have the name of the drugs, but I can get them tonight if its important.

<<< did you sterilize everything in his viv while he was being treated and since , if not, it's a very good idea as the eggs are very durable and a lizard can continually reinfect itself every time it poos.

Thanks again!

Sorry been busy this week - renovations in my home , and forgot all about your thread.

 

[merisquid]

Thanks for your response! I'll definitely look at Repashi stuff, have looked at it before but wasn't sure he'd eat it as it doesn't wriggle.. Worth a shot! BSFL are actually pretty common now, but he won't touch them, dammit. I'll keep trying.

RE: silkworms and the like - the reason we have trouble getting a lot of the bugs in NZ isn't cost as much as it's illegal to import most of them. We've got pretty strict policies because our ecosystem is fragile as heck. I'll look into the dried stuff you mentioned, but my hopes aren't high!

We're careful with cleaning, and sterilised everything while he was on the meds - glad we did now!

I haven't seen much on stunted dragons like Forkes - is it common? He doesn't have MBD and isn't underweight, just he's about the size of a four month old and he's about a year and four months. I haven't seen much on the forums about that.. What do you think caused it?

Appreciate all the advice! I guess the only thing to do is keep trying to feed him different things, and hope he starts going for something.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for your response! I'll definitely look at Repashi stuff, have looked at it before but wasn't sure he'd eat it as it doesn't wriggle.. Worth a shot! BSFL are actually pretty common now, but he won't touch them, dammit. I'll keep trying.

>>> I've noticed that with my skinks and dragon too.... BSFL were impossible to find here in Australia until last year when Livefoods Unlimited started offering them to the hobby.
>>> My two old BT skinks refuse to eat them unless I pop them into their mouths , same with Peppa my big 2.5yr female beardie ( I have to snip off their heads for her so she can taste their innards else she spits the straight out .... then clamps her mouth shut ... guess she thinks they are YUCK), and the water skink I can only get her to eat the innards (she refused to their "skin") , even the wild water skinks turn their noses up at them unless they are the soft white laval stage.
I also place my BSFL into dry peet coir , so they aren't all mucky when I fish them out to use and I prepare them placing them in round tub for a few days to make sure they are "clean and relatively dirt / dust free).

The other guy from New Zealand said he made the GrubPie as a paste and made long worms/ logs of it , and he'd wriggle that about to get the dragon be interested in eating it.

Been told once they develop a taste for it , they'll eat it without encouragement or coaxing.
I bought a few tubs of the stuff at about Xmas , when I thought i might need it to feed Fluffy , but I've not used any yet , will handy to have as a backup in case I can't get live insects for some reason .



RE: silkworms and the like - the reason we have trouble getting a lot of the bugs in NZ isn't cost as much as it's illegal to import most of them. We've got pretty strict policies because our ecosystem is fragile as heck. I'll look into the dried stuff you mentioned, but my hopes aren't high!

We're careful with cleaning, and sterilised everything while he was on the meds - glad we did now!

I haven't seen much on stunted dragons like Forkes - is it common? He doesn't have MBD and isn't underweight, just he's about the size of a four month old and he's about a year and four months. I haven't seen much on the forums about that.. What do you think caused it?

<<< More common than you think .... a lot of it is husbandry related : usually result of housing 2 or more hatchlings together , the more voracious feeder gets the lion's share of the bugs and grows faster , and then becomes bigger and stronger than it's tank mates / siblings who get dominated and are too scared to eat when it's watching , so they fail to thrive and 4 months old if housed together you might have the dominant hatchling who is 150g and it's sibling / tank mate only half that, genetics and how well feed they are come into the equation too.
I had Peppa and Toothless housed separately from the getgo , and he still maxed out as an adult at 500g while Peppa is nearer 780g (exactly the same food (almost to the bug) and same husbandry from me).


Appreciate all the advice! I guess the only thing to do is keep trying to feed him different things, and hope he starts going for something.