new hatchling Irian Jaya BTS will not eat.

[Sinister-pony]

so im feeling pretty worried right now.

i got a irian jaya baby. hes really small, came in at 30 grams. i have had him for about a week now but for the last last 3 days he refuses to eat.

ive tried everything. veggies alone. premium dog and cat food (multiple types). the breeder said they fed rats and i tried a pinkie. nothing.

he ate a few superworms the first few days(i only had large then and now have a small and large sizes) but has stop accepting those as well.

his temps seem good 78 on cool side 95-102 on the bsking slate i have. 65% humidty plus a moss hide for extra moisture.

i have seen alot of posts on here that mainly say "hes new and adujusting leave him alone for a bit. dont worry about him not eating rn. give him time)

the reason in worrying is because i have been weighing him to track his progress and he has LOST a considerable amount of weight. he started at 33grams on day two went up to 36 and has slowly been going down since 2 days ago. he is now only at 24 grams as of this morning.

im really worried about him because he seems to be moving around alot less and he doesnt seem to want bask on the slate rock. i dont have any vets that will see him around me right now.

does anyone have any suggestions for this. im almost pulling my hair out trying to get him to eat.

[splashy07]

More often than not IJs are not captive bred. The so-called breeder was telling you a story. First of all, a breeder would never tell you to feed a young skink rats. Recent imports (from expos, pet shops, etc) often come in loaded with parasites that soon manifest themselves, most likely due to the stress of the importation process. Bad appetite in a young imported skink is almost always the result of parasitic infection. IMO, a vet visit would be your only option here.

[Sinister-pony]

More often than not IJs are not captive bred. The so-called breeder was telling you a story. First of all, a breeder would never tell you to feed a young skink rats. Recent imports (from expos, pet shops, etc) often come in loaded with parasites that soon manifest themselves, most likely due to the stress of the importation process. Bad appetite in a young imported skink is almost always the result of parasitic infection. IMO, a vet visit would be your only option here.

I would normally agree with you but the animal is a legitimate newborn. do you really think the company i bought from actually has the capabilities to stock recently hatched animals from across the entire world be shipped to me? it seems highly unlikely from my perspective. (oh and a side note, i misspoke when i said rats. they A said mice and B mistakenly thought i was referring to a tegu and not a BTS)

nether the less i will schedule an appointment with a vet ASAP

[Sinister-pony]

I just set up a vet appointment however the closest one to me (a 3 hour drive) only has an opening for next monday, a week from now. im concerned the baby wont last that long if it is indeed parasitic. does anyone recommend anything or should i just try to get an earlier appointment?

Edit: i was able to move the appointment up to two days from now

[kingofnobbys]

Try offering BSFL ( large white ones who are very active ) , medium sized silkworms ( about 1.5" long ) or similar sized hornworms.

If you can't source these at the local pet shop, try crickets or roaches ( you might have to handfeed this little very stressed skink). Here are some tips on handfeeding :
I simply use crickets (of appropriate size which are gutloaded and dusted). These I take 2 or 3 from the dusting tub, I squash their heads , this disables and blinds them , and I pull off the biggest (hind) legs.
I refer to the legs are drumsticks (ala chicken drumsticks) , I position little lizard on my chest with it's head facing me and my left hand cupped over the lizard and my left wrist resting on lizards tail (the end of it - this tends to discourage the lizard from dashing off) .
Timing is everything.

Take a drumstick and slip it thick end first into the side of the lizard's mouth , a little bit pressure might be required , while lizard chews the drumstick , position the gooy end of the cricket (head) against the side of the mouth , hungry lizard will taste the cricket's inards and eat it (watch your finger tips here, if enthusiastic it's not uncommon to get an accidential nip on the finger tips)..
Repeat.

This worked for me for baby bluetongue skinks, water skinks, and my beardies when they were young.
Everyone who handfeeds their pet lizards has their own approach , here's one of many utube clips to show how to do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYVe79z5wEM, i'm a bit gentler than this guy , but I pull down on the lower lip enough to get the mouth open enough to slip one end of the bug in.
Here's another approach : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_-T_FtvFZo
for a tamer skink who knows "the ropes" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy0oUAh-5OM

I suggest at this stage try different live insects ( worms such as small superworms, waxworms, butterworms , mealworms , silkworms , BSFL) until you find something "he" likes and feed these to him at least twice per day.

I'd suggest also doible checking and making sure the temperatures in your tank are correct ( at the basking spot , the warm zone, cool zone) and you have a good source of UV ( I'd suggest a 26W UVB200 AT LEAST).
Can you report on how you have this skink's lights set up , photos and details including distances from the UV to the basking spot , very likely you have been give very bad advice by this "breeder".

[Sinister-pony]

i generally haven't followed any advice from the breeder. my temps rn are 95-102 on the basking side, with a slate stone under the heatlamp and uvb (i have a 26W, i could up it however). humidity is stable at 65ish% and i have a moss moisture hut along with his 3 other hides. the cool sides of the temps drop into the mid 70s about 74-76.

i have not heard of the cricket idea and that sound genius i will defiantly try that, he really isnt looking so good so im going to run the pet store right when they are open (i went there earlier today in order to get some different types of food to leave near the hide hoping he would try any of them, no luck on any fronts ). i have tried giving small mealworms but he only took them the first few days.

[splashy07]

Vet visit is imperative. And yes, pet shops stock recent newborns that are shipped around the world. That is the reason they arrive in poor condition. I do some breeding for pet shops and I see this all the time. Irian Jayas are VERY rarely captive bred.

[Sinister-pony]

Vet visit is imperative. And yes, pet shops stock recent newborns that are shipped around the world. That is the reason they arrive in poor condition. I do some breeding for pet shops and I see this all the time. Irian Jayas are VERY rarely captive bred.

we are on the "hail Mary" vet regiment rn, i tried doing a force feeding for with drum stick method that was referenced earlier, its a great idea but he kept pushing the cricket out of his mouth. i went to the vet, hes been dewormed and and has a regiment of antibodies i have to give him. i got food to syringe into his mouth (which im very nervously doing but hes going to die if i dont try) so thats where we are. vet said its really gonna be the next 48 hours if he pulls thru or not.

we'll see

[Janella]

Glad you for him into the vet. Definitely do exactly as your vet says and keep trying to nurse this little one back to health. Good luck!

[Sinister-pony]

Glad you for him into the vet. Definitely do exactly as your vet says and keep trying to nurse this little one back to health. Good luck!

its honestly looking bad but it will really be whether or not he survives the night. in the last 12 hours he looks awful...

[Janella]

I am very sorry. Keep him warm and hopefully the meds will kick in. Prayers for you and the little one

[Sinister-pony]

I am very sorry. Keep him warm and hopefully the meds will kick in. Prayers for you and the little one

do you think i should leave the UVB and heatlamp on for tn? itll be warmer. and idk if really day-night cycle id very important at a time like this (i could be wrong)

[Janella]

The uvb just needs to be a 12 hour cycle. As for heat it can't hurt to keep the temps warmer.

[Sinister-pony]

The uvb just needs to be a 12 hour cycle. As for heat it can't hurt to keep the temps warmer.

okay hes on at 830 and he went of UV an hour an a half ago so. ill try to keep the temps up (ill bump the stat up by 5)

[mb606587]

Hoping your skink makes it through the night. As was mentioned, my guess would also be internal parasites. While Irian Jayas are the most commonly captive bred of the Indonesian species, the overwhelming majority are either wild caught or captive born of a wild caught mother. Newborn baby skinks of this size are typically born from a gravid skink which was recently imported. So if the mother was riddled with internal parasites (which many do contract during the importation process), the babies typically will be too. And because these babies are born in captivity in this situation, they are passed off as being captive born or CB, which is entirely different from being captive bred from two healthy skinks. Many of the large commercial reptile companies only sell imported or the misleading CB Indonesian type skinks.

[kingofnobbys]

HerpaBoost is probably what you need now , or the equivalent , to get some high potency nutrition into this little sick skink .

If you can't find HerpaBoost, ReptiBoost or Oxbow Critical Care . Or try some Repashi GrubPie .
https://www.store.repashy.com/by-produc ... eptile-en/
https://vetafarm.com.au/product/herpaboost/
https://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Critical ... ost_1.aspx
https://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/our-p ... vore-care/

You will need a syringe with a nozzle on the end and to weigh the skink as the dosage is based on cc / 100g body weight and it's best to give the daily dose in several small feeds.

I've used HerpaBoost very successfully to bring very critically ill skinks and dragons back from death's door when they were unable / unwilling to eat solids.

[splashy07]

I don't know if these brands are available in the US, does anyone know of an equivalent?

[Janella]

The vet probably sent home carnivore care (the post mentioned the vet sent home something). If not, I would call them and get this immediately.

[Sinister-pony]

The vet probably sent home carnivore care (the post mentioned the vet sent home something). If not, I would call them and get this immediately.

this. i have carnivore and complete care. however the little guy really doesnt want to swallow. im starting slow but he needs to get more in his system

[Sinister-pony]

as i expected. he did not last the night.