When do I start to worry

[Ryan Jarosek]

My female panther mated on the 10/8/2008 . I know that for at least three days she has eaten nothing. It may have been longer but I did notice on the 9th before I removed her from the males cage she had eaten the crickets put in.

My question is when do I begin to worry? Over the last few days she has maintained the same weight and has not gone up or down. Should I even be thinking about force feeding her? the last poop I was able to find was on Saturday 10/11. I floated that one all clear.

I have offered her Crickets, Silkworms , Roaches , and Supers with no success. I am getting some horn worms tomorrow and will try those. Yesterday I started to cup feed to monitor better. Crickets are still free range.

Any advise would be very helpful. I am a little nervous but am not to worried yet. She looks and seems to be acting normal, other than being extra grumpy.

 

[Justin Carl]

It's only been a week.
If I were you, then I'd start worrying in about three more weeks.
Females have a natural instinct to eat, and eat, and eat.
It gets even worse when they have a clutch developing inside.
Just give her a little time, and she will eat when she is ready.

Don't force feed her.
The stress starts when she starts digging her nest.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

It's only been a week.
If I were you, then I'd start worrying in about three more weeks.
Females have a natural instinct to eat, and eat, and eat.
It gets even worse when they have a clutch developing inside.
Just give her a little time, and she will eat when she is ready.

Don't force feed her.
The stress starts when she starts digging her nest.

Thanks ! I appreciate it. I didn't want to get to force feeding. I think I am a little over sensitive because of her being Gravid and this being the first one I have to deal with.

 

[Nicodemayo]

I wouldnt be to worried about it. I have a female that hardly eats anything when shes gravid and last time she laid she had 29 beautiful eggs. It seemed like she didnt hardly poop at all when she was carrying because she absorbed pretty much everything into the eggs it seemed. Ive had her fecal checked and its all good.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

I wouldnt be to worried about it. I have a female that hardly eats anything when shes gravid and last time she laid she had 29 beautiful eggs. It seemed like she didnt hardly poop at all when she was carrying because she absorbed pretty much everything into the eggs it seemed. Ive had her fecal checked and its all good.

Thanks for the input, I feel much better. I have done a fecal on her just a few days ago so I know she is good in that area. I just want to see her eat .

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Well, Pumpkin has been witnessed eating an adult, fat, egg full, female, cricket this morning.

Makes me feel good to know she did eat something.

Thanks you guys for the help.

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a suitable place for her to dig in her cage?

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Do you have a suitable place for her to dig in her cage?

Sure do , Its not the biggest thing but should do the trick. I also have a large 20 gal laying trashcan if the one in her cage does not work for her.

I am using 50/50 top soil and playsand. Does that sound ok to you? Or should I be using somethign else?

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Well she ate like a little pig today. Hornworms , crickets.

She has also gained 1.4g since I weighed her two days ago.

 

[Nicodemayo]

Well she ate like a little pig today. Hornworms , crickets.

She has also gained 1.4g since I weighed her two days ago.

Just keep checking her weight every few days and look for significant gains. A good meal for her should weigh around 1.5 grams or so. Bump up the calcium alittle more, make sure shes getting multivitamins, and she'll be fine. Your laying medium sounds fine to me, as long as it holds a tunnel but you already know that .

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Just keep checking her weight every few days and look for significant gains. A good meal for her should weigh around 1.5 grams or so. Bump up the calcium alittle more, make sure shes getting multivitamins, and she'll be fine. Your laying medium sounds fine to me, as long as it holds a tunnel but you already know that .

I dug three of my own tunnels just to be sure.

I also weighed her before she ate the hornworms and I also dusted those with Cal.

 

[summoner12]

I dug three of my own tunnels just to be sure.

Are you gravid?

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Are you gravid?

HAHAHAHAHAH , I felt that way today.

 

[ReikoChameleon]

what do you guys mean by doing a fecal how do you check the poop to know that its good or bad..... i am new to chams and trying to learn all the terms and ways to check for health..cheers

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

what do you guys mean by doing a fecal how do you check the poop to know that its good or bad..... i am new to chams and trying to learn all the terms and ways to check for health..cheers

Basically a fecal is a look at their poop under a microscope. Usually it is something a Vet performs.

 

[summoner12]

Basically a fecal is a look at their poop under a microscope. Usually it is something a Vet performs.

A vet.... or any skilled cham keeper with a microscope. You need to know what to look for. You can read up in books or online about how to identify parasites and how to perform a fecal exam. You need the right tools and the know how and you can do your own fecals at home. It is a good idea for people with many chams to own a microscope and the supplies needed for doing a fecal exam. It is cheaper in the long run unless you have gobs of money laying around.