Hunger strike!

[Milch]

My two year old Panther was wolfing down 6 or 7 locusts every other day a few months ago, but this has seriously reduced and in the last 3 weeks he’s lost all interest in eating.

I bought some silkworm as I know he finds them irresistible, and he’ll eat one or two, and when he opens his mouth to ‘lick his lips’ I try to pop in a locust and he used to go for it, but now he’s rejecting that too.

I could just feed him silkworm but they’re expensive and I don’t want to build bad habits!

Is this just a ‘winter phase’ or do I need to be concerned?

Husbandry is the same as ever. My UV lamp is 18 months old but a I’ve got a reader which tells me it’s still emitting full blast.

He’s as active as ever, loves to exit his cage and climb around the apartment, and even tries to climb on my hand when I’m trying to feed him a bug

Normally I wouldn’t be worried but this hunger strike just keeps on going. Any help or advice much appreciated

 

[MissSkittles]

Popping out at me is your uvb age. What kind of reader do you have? What are the exact readings you’re getting and from what distance? What are his basking temps?
Another suspect would be parasites, as those are often the cause for appetite changes. Depending on where you get your feeders from, there can always be a chance for cross contamination, especially from pet stores. Before I would say it’s just a winter slump, I’d want to rule out other causes.

 

[Milch]

Thanks for your reply.

UVB reading is 4.0 at his closest basking spot, that’s from a SolarMeter.

Basking Temp is 78.5° (he always wants to come out and crawl around the 70° apartment)

I get feeders from a pet store or order online, pet store order them in and they look ‘legit’ rather than cheaper pet stores that breed them in house, if that’s a factor

He’s had hunger strikes before but this one’s really dragging out!

 

[MissSkittles]

Try increasing his basing temp to around 85. 78 is too cool for a male panther.

 

[Milch]

OK I’ve done that, thanks.

I’m on the brink of calling the vet, but the breeder I bought him from thinks it’s a Winter slump

Could it be this ‘brumination’ I’ve heard about?

ChatGPT tells me that a UV-B bulb showing a healthy reading on a Solar Meter still needs changing because the reading does not factor in all the nutrients that may dissipate even though the ‘intensity’ reads high. That runs contrary to everything else I’ve heard, most people seem to swear by Solar Meters (I would hope so, they’re expensive enough!) Is ChatGPT lying again..??

 

[MissSkittles]

Some chameleons will have a ‘winter slump’, but panthers do not brumate. The best way to confirm that nothing else is going on with him, is a vet visit with a fecal.