Tokay needs help

[Manitoban Herps]

My female tokay is not eating much on her own and i have been force feeidng for afew days and already see an improvment. Can you help me out some more of how to get her better?

Thanks, here she is 5 mins ago :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/Kevin_McRae/b6f5899b.bmp

[TLH_Wär§cöötmän]

I'd like to help, but I just got mine last week, so I'm not sure. I know my female has been eating well, but the male I am not too sure. They are both active tho, and I put about 20 crickets in each day, and majority are gone buy the next evening, so I am keeping an eye on both mine.

Must be fun trying to force feed a Tokay!! At least it wouldn't be too hard to get her to open up :D Maybe try stuff like wax/silk worms? Maybe try the baby food thing too?? Tho that will be a huge challenge I think.

[TLH_Wär§cöötmän]

Maybe take her to a vet, have you gotten a fecal flaot test done?? I need to get one done soon myself for my two.

[Manitoban Herps]

She isn't hard to force ffed, she opens her mouth so i drop in a few mealies.

Yah since that person said ther leo gained 10 grams from eating baby food, i am gonna try that!

[nimrodfiftyfour]

dog food is also great for putting on weight

[tHeGiNo]

You may want to get her treated for parasites depending on where you acquired her from. Make sure she is well hydrated, and of course there is always the veterinarian if you have the means to do so.

[Manitoban Herps]

I am not going to take her yet, she's not too bad right now.

I got her in April and she was fine til a week or two ago, so I don't think he has paristies.

[beanersmysav]

Mine took 2 weeks to eat. They stress easily and may take awhile to begin eating but when they begin they are little pigs :)

[ydnic]

before dog food as previously mentioned

I would try small peices of raw liver

[dave68]

No dog food or RAW LIVER!! Tokays are basically insectivores, if you've had her since last April and everything was fine then I would suggest you check your temps and humidity levels. It is normal for them to go off food for a little while seasonally. But I think you are probably really stressing her out by force feeding. There is also a good chance that she may have intestinal parasites, so a good idea to check that out. Organ meat is not very good at all for any herps and I really doubt she would eat it or dog food as previously mentioned. Once she starts eating on her own again you can try some pinky mice to help fatten her up
a bit but keep it to a minimum of her diet. So really just leave her alone for a while and offer food regularily and I'm pretty sure she'll come around.

Dave

[dave68]

One more thing, is that her cage in the pic? Rubbermaids may be great for snakes, but Tokays really need in my opinion something more natural like a tall tank with at least one live plant and some driftwood etc...for hiding and an overall sense of security.I would normally say each to their own but I really don't think it applies here.

Dave

[ydnic]

lol - I guess I should have put a smiley after that - i was being sarcastic to the dogfood remark, but I figured Kevin would know that much.

Dave is right - a rubbermaid isn`t a good place for a tokay

[TLH_Wär§cöötmän]

Man I hope your having better luck Manitoban, because my Tokays have finally settled in and man they are chowing down tonight!! I put black construction paper on the sides of my Tokays terrarium to provide more security and it worked. They were out and about tonight so I dumped a whack of crickets in and they went absolutely nuts and gobbled them up. I really suggest you get one of the new Exo-terra glass terrariums, my Tokays like it alot, but I was rather surprised, they spend most the day in the large Bonsai tree's cave, most likely using the heating pad to help digest.
I agree with the others, make sure that she has lots to hide in and lots to climb vertically. They love the styrofoam backing that comes with the tank!!! Oh and they will even shy away when I look in the tank alot of times, so expect them to be very secretive if they are stressed. I've only had mine for a short time and I have seen them move very slowly off to the side when I am looking in as if they think that if they move slow enough that I will not notice them LOL it's hillarious IMO

[Manitoban Herps]

Dave, they have a large 2x2x3 cage, but I had too seperate them, so the girl is in there.

She is eating better, too, and really it's not force feeding. It's more of me just dropping mealowrms far back in her mouth.

[dave68]

Well thats good to hear I'm sure she'll come around just fine-pretty hearty lizards- and ydnic I am soooo glad to hear you were joking about the liver..LOL....Clint the way you described the tokays when you look in their cage is so funny cause thats exactly how ours are, its like they know your watching and then just slowly inch away to where they cannot be seen, neat little critters thats for sure, the funniest is still the family feeding method, I swear they communicate to eachother and it's like they take turns oldest to youngest, until dad gets impatient and can't resist the big dish of mealies any longer and dives in regardless of whos turn it was. Anyways Kevin, hope she does good for you, and enjoy!!! Allilson