Reptiles often stop eating when they are sick, stressed, or when they are not receiving quality care and husbandry. Consequently, many reptile owners periodically have to deal with a snake, tortoise, or lizard who won’t eat. When a reptile stops eating it can create a chain reaction leading to further weakness, illness, and metabolic bone disease, a common and potentially fatal nutritional deficiency in reptiles. Here’s what to do if your reptile has stopped eating:
Check the Cage Temperature
Reptiles are cold blooded, which can make them more reactive to changes in environment that mammals. Temperature is especially important to reptiles and many reptiles will stop eating instinctively if the temperature drops below a certain level. Other reptiles become lethargic when their cage isn’t hot enough, so if your reptile has stopped eating, research the proper day, evening, and basking temperatures for your reptile and make absolutely certain that your cage temperatures meet these specifications.
Try Some Variety
Reptiles are just like humans in some ways. They may develop food preferences or get sick of an old food item. Try introducing some variety into your reptile’s diet to induce him or her to eat. Carnivorous reptiles will often only eat live food. It can be unsafe to feed snakes live food, so a good compromise is to get a vivicator, which vibrates food as if it is alive. If you’re feeding insects, make sure you’re feeding active healthy insects that are easy for your pet to hunt and find. Tortoises often respond to changes in food color and seem to particularly like red foods. Though most tortoises should only be given fruit in moderation, raspberries and tomatoes can be good temporary ways to get your tortoise to eat. Try mashing up these colored foods over greens. You can also try giving insectivores wax worms. These highly fatty worms are like a candy bar for insects and a good way to get some fast nutrition into them. They’re also easy to catch, which means sick animals may be more likely to eat them.
Read About Seasonal Behavior Changes
If you’re housing your reptile outdoors or trying to simulate a natural environment, it’s a good idea to know about seasonal behavioral changes. Some reptiles may stop eating briefly during certain times of the year. Further, snakes often do not eat when they are shedding, so if your snake is shedding you may need to wait till he or she is finished before he or she will eat.
Get Some Sunlight
If your reptile has stopped eating, the biggest immediate concern is metabolic bone disease. MBD, as it is often abbreviated is caused by a lack of calcium and Vitamin D3. Reptiles who are sick and do not eat can quickly get this life-threatening illness which can make it even more difficult to eat. Take your reptile outside and get her some direct sunlight in order to prevent MBD.
Try Enteral Feeding
Enteral feeding is a fancy word for force feeding your reptile a liquid diet. Most pet stores will have powder nutrition that you can feed your pet through a tube. Make sure you pick one appropriate to your pet’s diet; insectivores should get insects; herbivores should get vegetables, etc. Feeding a liquid diet on a short term basis can help stave off some long term effects of not eating.
If your reptile has stopped eating it’s important to avoid waiting too long to go to the vet. If the above suggestions don’t work within a week to ten days, get a veterinary appointment in order to determine if there is a health reason your pet has stopped eating. Avoiding the vet when your reptile has stopped eating can lead to a premature death, so don’t neglect your reptile’s veterinary care!
Sources:
anapsid.org
