maggiemay1969
New Member
Hi all,...
I have about a 10 month old panther that has me worried. At first, he ate crickets and butterworms with no problems...occasionally silkworms and hornworms too, but I've only bought/had those a few times....
Fast forward to past few WEEKS. (about three now) He has no interest in his crickets (and they are not too big for him) no interest in the butterworms anymore and no interest in superworms either. The ONLY thing he will eat if I give him one is a nice plump green hornworm. I do not feed these regularly as I have heard they should only be a 'treat' or a 'snack'.
On advice of the breeder, I removed all of the different bugs from his enclosure and waited him out for 2 days, because she thought he might be a little 'overwhelmed' at the variety. When I fed him again, this was when he would accept only the hornworms! Ignored all the other feeders.
I also tried another suggestion seen on here, it was a 1/2 gallon milk jug container used to house the crickets in his cage, but he seemed kind of put off by that in his cage. (somebody had luck breaking a hunger strike with it so I tried it to no avail)
His cage/temps are all in line with what is reccommended, and the dusting is all okay too, (Repashy Calcium Plus) and he is looking good and seems very happy and content, moves around/explores his cage a lot, drinks regularly....Have not seen a lot of droppings lately of course though because he is not eating much. When I do, they are smaller than I'm used to seeing and urates are white.
He is sleeping a little bit earlier, but I believe that is because it is getting darker earlier now so have changed his lighting schedule. (Reptisun 5.0 tube and incandescent for basking, 85 or so)
Any other ideas on how to break a hunger strike for this picky eater? Like I said, he looks very healthy per the breeder. I brought pics of him in to her at last weekend's reptile show and she was ecstatic at how he looked. And I did what she suggested, but now he wants only the hornworms which are expensive to boot!
Open to more suggestions if you have them. Do I just wait him out?.. The little booger eater!
I have about a 10 month old panther that has me worried. At first, he ate crickets and butterworms with no problems...occasionally silkworms and hornworms too, but I've only bought/had those a few times....
Fast forward to past few WEEKS. (about three now) He has no interest in his crickets (and they are not too big for him) no interest in the butterworms anymore and no interest in superworms either. The ONLY thing he will eat if I give him one is a nice plump green hornworm. I do not feed these regularly as I have heard they should only be a 'treat' or a 'snack'.
On advice of the breeder, I removed all of the different bugs from his enclosure and waited him out for 2 days, because she thought he might be a little 'overwhelmed' at the variety. When I fed him again, this was when he would accept only the hornworms! Ignored all the other feeders.
I also tried another suggestion seen on here, it was a 1/2 gallon milk jug container used to house the crickets in his cage, but he seemed kind of put off by that in his cage. (somebody had luck breaking a hunger strike with it so I tried it to no avail)
His cage/temps are all in line with what is reccommended, and the dusting is all okay too, (Repashy Calcium Plus) and he is looking good and seems very happy and content, moves around/explores his cage a lot, drinks regularly....Have not seen a lot of droppings lately of course though because he is not eating much. When I do, they are smaller than I'm used to seeing and urates are white.
He is sleeping a little bit earlier, but I believe that is because it is getting darker earlier now so have changed his lighting schedule. (Reptisun 5.0 tube and incandescent for basking, 85 or so)
Any other ideas on how to break a hunger strike for this picky eater? Like I said, he looks very healthy per the breeder. I brought pics of him in to her at last weekend's reptile show and she was ecstatic at how he looked. And I did what she suggested, but now he wants only the hornworms which are expensive to boot!
Open to more suggestions if you have them. Do I just wait him out?.. The little booger eater!
