Feeding

[Reptile- mad]

I have made many posts about Smudge not eating because he is my first reptile and I am absolutely entranced by him, to the point where it's probably actually unhealthy, but anyway, when should I begin worrying about him, he's not eating it is now the 12th day that i have had him and he has not eaten anything, thanks!

[Richard.C]

If they start losing condition rapidly is a time to worry,how active is he,have u checked your enclosure temps,ect ect,any pics of enclosure set up,being adult sized they can hol body weight for quite some time before losing alot of weight

He probably should be eating by now so passably an enclosure set up issue,maybe temp related,maybe not,for an accurate answer though some more details and maybe pics will help

What food are u offering,what its previous owners feed it,can it get hot enough to reach its preffered body temp,lots of possable answers,oh and dont worry,your amongst alot of bluey nuts here,lol

[Reptile- mad]

I have digital thermometers on both sides and U.V light, the hot end is usually 97- 99 Fahrenheit, while the cool end is normally 83.3.

[Richard.C]

Thats actually quite warm,especially the cool end temp,can u change thermometer from farenhite to celcius

Your cool end temp is just under 30 degrees celcius,well 28ish,warm ends very hot to,especially if that temps actually not directly under the heat lamp,id be personally more aiming for your current cool end temp to be your hot end temp away from basking area,and make cool end closer to 24 degrees,with basking area high 30s to 40 odd degrees,only basking area though

This time of year if its hot out and room temp is hot,id shut all lights ect off,as u risk cooking them,if room is quite warm insidecage would be stifling hot

If they are to hot they also go off there food and the hiding is them trying to find cooler area to escape heat

[Reptile- mad]

Could it be anything else? He did a poo today which seemed rather runny to me but I have only seen dried out ones. He hasn't eaten for 12 days and then he does a poo, is that unusual?

[Richard.C]

Not unusual,just delayed from not eating much of late,is he active,out basking and moving around mich or mostly curled up hiding

[Reptile- mad]

Mostly just curled up hiding but if take him outside he's more active.

[Reptile- mad]

He does hiss at me so that was why I thought it was an adjusting problem.

[Richard.C]

Alot of blueys huff if u wake them up handling them,even settled ones

Im still thinking cage might be a smidgen to hot,have u measured temp on the basking rock directly under the lamp

Easterns are a temperate species,whilst they like a hot basking area the equally like areas to escape heat and a decent overnite temp drop

Your temps are higher than what i use for northerns,a tropical subspecies of the eastern

[kenn]

And if you really want a medical check, ... you could go to a reptile-vet.
BUT beware that many vet's claim to know about reptiles, but don't always know everything of specific species.

In my opinion:
combine both sources, the forum and knowledge from breeders together with a body check from the vet

[Reptile- mad]

He started eating today! I tried lowering his temps but that didn't work so I boosted them up to 33 on the hot end and he started eating!!! Yay!

[Linnea]

i think that might actually be a liittle high still, 100 F (37-38 C or so ) is for directly under the lamp.
although, if you have achieved good cooler end temps it should be ok.

i have 28-31 depending on the time of year on the warm end, with basking at 37-38 pretty much constant. cool end is 21-24 c depending of time of year.

[Richard.C]

That sounds spot on linnea,a nice big temp gradient, and thats for northerns,easterns can handle it cooler,especially over night

Only the basking spot needs to be in the upper 30,s,aim should be to offer alot of choices,id prefer your low end temp to actually be the warm end temp away from basking site,83.3 is a warm cool spot temp for a temperate occuring eastern.

[Spindown]

You should really get a temp gun...IMO one of the best reptile keeping tools there is. You will get an accurate reading anywhere in the cage. No more guessing or relying on analog devices. Digital are ok, but definitely not as good as having a zapper. I got mine, a little one I have on a string, that I got for $30. Works great, and I found out the digital readings I was getting from my dig. thermometer similar to yours were WRONG.