One of my 7mo. male panthers seems to have a craving for wood/bark. Can anyone suggest what he might be after/missing from his diet?
The first week I had him home I'd find him every morning hunting around in the pot of his schefflera plant, which luckily I had stuffed with paper towels. This shy little guy would try to outmuscle my fingers to get to the dirt -- and more than once I pulled a little stick or dried leaf out of his mouth. When he finally gave up on the top of the pot he started going for the little bits of twig visible in the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. More worrisome is that he also tries to rip the "bark" off those fake fluker's climbing vines. He grabs the nubs with the side of his mouth and torques his whole body trying to rip pieces off. His jaws are just now getting strong enough to break the plastic, so today I'm replacing the vines with something else. I asked my vet -- a very experienced herp guy -- about this behavior, and he had no idea what to make of it but thought it might just be how Red is managing his first and fairly obvious testosterone surge. I'm no vet but I just know in my bones, watching him, that he is urgently missing some nutrient./vitamin/mineral. His health has been touchy from day 1, and the key lies in whatever he's trying to find in the wood. Any thoughts? Crix are gutloaded with collard, carrots, yams, and orange slices; he's been well Ca/D3 supplemented (oversupplemented, it turns out..), gets vitaminie dust 2x/month.
The first week I had him home I'd find him every morning hunting around in the pot of his schefflera plant, which luckily I had stuffed with paper towels. This shy little guy would try to outmuscle my fingers to get to the dirt -- and more than once I pulled a little stick or dried leaf out of his mouth. When he finally gave up on the top of the pot he started going for the little bits of twig visible in the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. More worrisome is that he also tries to rip the "bark" off those fake fluker's climbing vines. He grabs the nubs with the side of his mouth and torques his whole body trying to rip pieces off. His jaws are just now getting strong enough to break the plastic, so today I'm replacing the vines with something else. I asked my vet -- a very experienced herp guy -- about this behavior, and he had no idea what to make of it but thought it might just be how Red is managing his first and fairly obvious testosterone surge. I'm no vet but I just know in my bones, watching him, that he is urgently missing some nutrient./vitamin/mineral. His health has been touchy from day 1, and the key lies in whatever he's trying to find in the wood. Any thoughts? Crix are gutloaded with collard, carrots, yams, and orange slices; he's been well Ca/D3 supplemented (oversupplemented, it turns out..), gets vitaminie dust 2x/month.
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