Silkie seems to have eye issues? or something? HLP...

[Onlymediocre]

Okay, so 2 days ago we got Hades, a hypo het trans silkbalk for my daughter for her bday... He was exactly 7 months old on the 6th (my daughters bday) Hes only 13" long (no nips, thats from nose to tip of tail) and weighs 100g... (hes smaller than my almost 4 month old) BUT size not being the main concern ATM... So the 1st day, yesterday, when I went to feed him roaches he attempted to get one and missed! then tried again, and missed again...so he just went back up to his basking spot... I was a bit concerned.. but he had ate a bit of greens alrdy, so he wasnt starving... Again, night time feeding he didnt eat anything, but I figure maybe relocation stress...tho the move doesnt seem to phase him at all.. Hes the sweetest little dragon.

WELL this morning, rather than just putting a bowl of greens in there, I held out a piece of turnip greens, he almost got my finger (it scared me, lol) so I held his bowl out for him and watched as he stared at the greens and hed go for a piece but end up biting for it maybe 1/2"-1" to the right of what he was going for I tried holding out a bowl of roaches and he seemed interested and he almost went for one, but then didnt commit Im sooo worried. I did end up getting him out and trying to feed him some chicken baby food that I mixed with calcium powder and water. I put a bit on his nose, he licked it up and started attacking the dropper, ud of thought he was starving to death! I got him to eat about 3ml of the baby food solution, then I returned him to his viv to bask...I dont mind having to feed him like that if need be...

BUT will he get adequate nutrition from baby food??? Or do I need to get him something else too??? Im rlly concerned, we just love this little guy to death...And Im also thinking a heads up from the breeder woulda been nice, /sigh.. Ive tried emailing him and havent got a reply yet.. I have no intentions or returning him or anything like that... I just want to know what I need to do???? And is this an issue silkies have? I read on here b4 where 2 other ppls had depth perception problems, but their had fluid on one of their eyes, Hades eyes look normal.

PLEASE if anyone else that has a silkie reads this can u let me know if yours has this issue...And even if you dont have one and you happen to know what I need to do to pump him full of good food let me know... I just want him healthy, and him not being able to eat on his own, I need to know what to get to feed him... HLP!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I know quite a few people on here have Silkies & experience with problems, etc with them.
I think that the primary issues are calcium deficiencies, along with skin & shedding problems overall.
Which UVB light are you using & what type calcium supplementation schedule are you following? Was he kept under UVB lighting previously?

Do you have pictures of him also?
He can survive on the baby food for awhile. You could also use the powdered critical care too which is very nutritious.
Maybe the roaches are too fast, so you can try putting them in the fridge to slow them down a bit to help him out.
Remember also that it may take him a couple of weeks to completely adjust to a new home too.


Tracie

 

[Onlymediocre]

Hello,

I know quite a few people on here have Silkies & experience with problems, etc with them.
I think that the primary issues are calcium deficiencies, along with skin & shedding problems overall.
Which UVB light are you using & what type calcium supplementation schedule are you following? Was he kept under UVB lighting previously?

Do you have pictures of him also?
He can survive on the baby food for awhile. You could also use the powdered critical care too which is very nutritious.
Maybe the roaches are too fast, so you can try putting them in the fridge to slow them down a bit to help him out.
Remember also that it may take him a couple of weeks to completely adjust to a new home too.


Tracie

His setup is correct (temps and everything are right) hes currently in the other 1/2 of the 4x2x2 viv, so he has a 2x2x2 area...hes under a Reptisun 10.0 TUBE, tho I have it around 10 inches away from him, hes not acting lethargic or anything like that...I dust w/ calcium 1 feeding a day, 5x a week and use a multivitamin on the weekends...Yes the breeder had an awesome setup and he was under reptisun 10.0 tubes previously, we actually went to his house to get him, so we got to see all the dragons and everything...Everything seemed correct, the only thing I didnt agree with was he only feeds them once a day So Im thinking thats why hes so small. I seen a clutch of 2 month olds there that to me looked like hatchlings to me, And Hades is the same length as my Athena, who is not quite 4 months old yet...and hes 7 months old...

I offer roaches in a small bowl. And at the time they werent rlly running around or anything... Plus at I mentioned he did the same thing with his veggies. Its just like his aim is off. He goes for 1/2"-1" to the right of whatever hes after... He also did the same thing to the dropper with me feeding him that way. I completely understand relocation stress, and he doesnt have stress marks and his appetite seems to be there. Its just his aim is off, as if he sees double or something....

Do I need to mush up roaches or something to feed him? Like make him slurries? Im rlly just worried about his nutrition...Im willing to blend up roaches or whatever I have to do for the little guy... Im looking for what I need to do for him long term, if he cant see his food properly to eat. I read another post on here where 2 ppl with silkies were both saying theirs have eye issues, so Im concerned. Heres the link for the post where they are talking about theirs having depth perception problems....tho I dont see any fluid on hades' eye tho... viewtopic.php?f=30&t=172164&hilit=silkback+depth

And heres some pics...

Hades next to Athena..

Watching the roaches...but couldnt eat any

And some sexy leg, just for the heck of it