Eastern Blue tongue not eating

[Blue tongue lizard]

Hey,

So here's the story...I've had my blue tongue lizard for just over a year, She used to eat Strawberries, bit of banana but most of her diet was Vetafarm Lizard Food.
Now she really won't eat anything i put in her tank.

She's in a 3 foot melamine tank, with a hot side of about 28 degrees Celsius and about 24 degrees on the cool side... substrate is Zoo Med Reptile Bark. She's got a long hide and an Exo Terra Hide which i tank out during the day. She has a rock under 2, 40 wattage heat lamps.

Not sure if her stopping eating has anything to do with Winter as I'm in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia or if she's stressed or something...Would love to hear all suggestions on how to get her back and eating.

Thanks,

Sean

[Scotts1au]

Hey, I'm in Bendigo and welcome to the site.
Most likely to do with your bluey going into brumation - even being indoors in a viv they can sense they change in daylength and temps.

Questions - are you removing a heat source at night?
Generally if you want to stop an Eastern going into brumation you will need to keep temperatures fairly even. Even then it may not work and it varies a bit between individuals.

I have found though that they can be made to break brumation fairly easily by adding a low wattage Ceramic Heat Emmitter on a simple on off thermostat to not let enclosure temps at the cool end go below about 20C.

[Richard.C]

Hi sean,welcome to the forum

When u say warm end is 28,is that the hottest temp at baking site?

If cool end is still at 24 degrees i cant see it being the coolness of melb weather being the issue
My guess would be perhaps not a hot enough basking spot,should be in the mid to high 30s in a small area closest to heating source,they have a preffered body temp they need to function normally and thats generally in the low to mid 30s,so if warmest area is only 28 they have no way of rising body temp higher then that

Also have u tried other foods,some of mine wont touch that pellet diet,some even scoff at fruit,if u have dogs u could try adding a little dogfood to what u are feeding to see if that gets a response

But im still guessing its temp related,now its finally getting cool here in melb room temps have dropped and light/heat is struggling to get temps high enough for your eastern to want to eat

[Blue tongue lizard]

Hey Scott,
Yes I am providing heat at night, is this a problem as I was told by the pet shop to keep the heat lamps on at night.

Hey Richard,
28 is the hottest temperature of the basking site, I have tried dog food, crickets, woodies most fruits and veggies, mince meat.

Thanks guys, So i need to up the temp at the basking site?

[Scotts1au]

I generally find that a 60W spotlight (30degree spot is sufficient) at a height of about 1 foot is sufficient year round, maybe a little much in summer. To be honest I couldn't tell you my basking spot temp but the ambient temp at the warm end around 30C, basking spot temperature directly below the heat source should be between 35-40C. I suspect that you are using a higher output globe further away which could be the problem. A simple cheap spot globe may give you a hotter basking spot and better gradient to the cool end.

[Richard.C]

Yep,like scott said,try and get hot spot in small area under globe in the 35 to 40 degree range,your back ground temps are spot on,seeing as your cage is a 3 footer with good back ground temp,one option is to move basking spot closer to your bulb u already have,an elevated basking spot of sorts,could be a log,but even better if u can make a hide under it,so a tile or something with 4 legs to raise it of the ground under lights,bonus of that is u increase floor space by adding a layer plus offer a warm hide area

[Reptile- mad]

Hi! Welcome to the website! I have exactly the same problem with Smudge but as long as he is not losing too much weight too quickly then you should be fine. I feed Smudge the same food and even though he dosent seem to eat that much, he dosen't lose weight, the vet actually said he was a little bit overweight!