Only eating when hand fed

[scoot1810]

Hey guys, I have a 5 month old blotchy and recently he hasn’t been eating regularly. He seems to be “going off” his favourite cat food and will lick it and walk away. I was getting worried because he hadn’t eaten in over a week so yesterday I offered him a boiled egg. I put it in his dish and he just stared at it and eventually walked away. I tried hand feeding him the egg and it worked! I’m getting some silkworms today and plan to hand feed those too. Is it okay to have a skink that only eats when hand fed? Should I continue hand feeding him? Thanks in advance.

[kingofnobbys]

I have had several skinks and dragons as pets who decided that they wanted 5 star service (handfeeding).

I take the attitude that if this what the pet wants , I do it , I don't believe in using tough love (especially on young lizards who need their protein and minerals and fats each day to grow and develop properly) - letting it starve itself in order to get it to tow the line and eat from a dish stuff it's telling you it doesn't like or catch it's own insects is not fair on the lizard who will not understand why you are persisting .

I've noticed that my pet skinks and dragons do go through periods where suddenly a favourate very desireable food becomes YUCK and they decide they no longer like or want it. I do think this can be because
> the lizard has become bored with that food
> an insect bit them back (scaring them off that food)
> the lizard got a nasty taste from the food (processed foods most likely) and now associates the food it used to love with that and will not touch it
> the food is not providing something the lizard needs in it's diet and it wants something different that does contain the nutrient it needs.

I'd not stress over this , try different foods and it's likely you'll find a food the skink will eat willingly , in the mean time hand feed it with nutritious foods , it's a great way to bond with a skink.

[Janella]

I couldn't agree more with the advice already given.

[scoot1810]

I have had several skinks and dragons as pets who decided that they wanted 5 star service (handfeeding).

I take the attitude that if this what the pet wants , I do it , I don't believe in using tough love (especially on young lizards who need their protein and minerals and fats each day to grow and develop properly) - letting it starve itself in order to get it to tow the line and eat from a dish stuff it's telling you it doesn't like or catch it's own insects is not fair on the lizard who will not understand why you are persisting .

I've noticed that my pet skinks and dragons do go through periods where suddenly a favourate very desireable food becomes YUCK and they decide they no longer like or want it. I do think this can be because
> the lizard has become bored with that food
> an insect bit them back (scaring them off that food)
> the lizard got a nasty taste from the food (processed foods most likely) and now associates the food it used to love with that and will not touch it
> the food is not providing something the lizard needs in it's diet and it wants something different that does contain the nutrient it needs.

I'd not stress over this , try different foods and it's likely you'll find a food the skink will eat willingly , in the mean time hand feed it with nutritious foods , it's a great way to bond with a skink.

Sorry for the late reply, thanks a bunch!!!