need alittle albig help please?

[denial]

Hi guys well Im kind of in a bind me and my girlfriend have been talking a while about monitors and she thought she would suprise me with a black throat this weekend well I dont exactly think I have read enough about them and so far I have him on cypress mulch and everything but the only problem is I can not get him to eat ANYTHING! And from what Ive read monitors are suppose to eat you out of your house and home. I cant stand a animal dying on me and I refuse to let him die on me. So any help would be appreciated. His basking temp is right at 110-120 and the rest of the cage is 85-90 I put tons of basking spots and everything but all he wants to do is lay down and sleep on the floor.

[chuck33]

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/454.html


Hope this helps!

Chuck

[The Snake Guru]

What are we trying for food items?

Sounds like the temps and cage is setup fine.....hide box available?

Also how long have you had him? May take a couple days before he settles in enough to start looking for food.

~B~

[SteveW]

Hi Danny,
If you haven't already, contact the seller and find out a little background on him. What was he eating. Was he a newly imported animal? Will he stand behind the sale? Hopefully you bought from a reputable dealer. Many times new imports will have a heavy parasite load and will need to be wormed. Sounds like your set up is ok. Just watch out when feeding he doesnt ingest any of the mulch. As far as feeding, I would try him on a few crickets several times a day. Keep the prey items small. He should be nice and fat. I would hope the dealer will help you out on this one. Keep us posted. Steve

[denial]

Hi guys thanks so much I have only had him since sunday. He does have tons of hides But he will not eat anything I have offered him crickets, pinkies, mealworms, roaches, ground turkey, he will not eat anything. My girlfriend actualy bought him for me steve as a suprise so im not sure who the dealer was. but she said that he told her he was eating dog food and to make sure you wash your hands after you feed him or he will smell the dog food and bite you. I mean I have never owned a monitor before but I have read tons and this just does not act like a monitor I mean he hasnt explored anything he just lays on the floor and sleeps he will not eat he doesnt even bask and I made sure he has tons of places to bask he has plenty of substrate to dig thorugh but all he does is lay there. He does have some of the substrate stuck to his mouth I keep having to check on him and pull it off cause im terrified hes going to die on me. Now for worming I dont have a vet around me that deals with lizards but can you use panacure on monitors because I work at vet warehouse and can get that? I really was looking forward to getting one from ben sigeal I really wish my girlfriend would of waited but I can be mad cause she was just trying to make me happy and I love the little guy to death im just realy confused because Im almost certain something just isnt right with him.

[SteveW]

Danny,
I would ask your girlfriend where she got it and call the guy. Most people will help you out with a problem but I wouldn't wait a few days until I contact him to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn't try to self medicate until you contact the seller as it may void any chance of a repacement if it dies in your care. If the seller won't help you, then that may be your only option. If that doesn't work, you may have to call a vet for help. I really don't recommend self diagnosis, especially with your first monitor. You may be treating something he doesn't have. Good luck, let me know how it goes. Steve

[The Snake Guru]

Well that and the fact that he's only had him since Sunday....and it's only Monday.....personally I would contact the seller as suggested, just tell him it was agift and you'd like some info. as stated most people will be happy to help.

But also it is a little early to start getting worried can sometimes take a few days before they snap into things....Monitors especially can get pretty stressed from a move.

~B~

[denial]

Thats true I mean I have only had him for a little while is just all he has done is lay down on the floor and sleep he hasnt climbed or anything Maybe he snap in a few days and get back to normal. Now how long can a black throat go with out eating?

[The Snake Guru]

Kind of depends on what shape he/she was in when you got him....I would say if he isn't eating by the end of the week, there is an issue somewhere....I've actually never had one go for much longer 3 or 4 days before they started eating again.

~B~

[denial]

Well guys im not expert but I really dont expect him to stay through the night he looks absoulty horrible and he was going limp just a second ago when I looked to make sure he was still alive.

[The Snake Guru]

Ouch, sorry to hear man, but that means there was an existing problem before you got him.....they just don't expire in 48 hours. I'd be calling someone right away.

Again sorry it didn't work out, better luck on the next one.

~B~

[denial]

We are trying to figure out the people she got him from she did not remeber there name but we got a vendor list from the website and marked out everyone we knew for a fact it was not. Now we are trying to find someone else that was at the show to see if they can help us figure out who it was.

[SteveW]

Sorry about your bad luck man. Sounds like you just got a bad animal to start with. I'm sure you did all you could. Maybe you can find the seller and he can make it right although I probably wouldn't get another from that batch. There are plenty of people out there with quality animals to choose from. Good luck with the next one.

[denial]

Yea I think I will be going with one of bens next time around

[Dylan]

Yea I think I will be going with one of bens next time around

Sorry for your loss buddy. Buying monitors really blows, most of them are imported and most of them are dead within a month. It's not your fault, you tried. I've lost baby monitors to high parasite loads and improper temps before. Just shrug it off and move on if you really want a dinosaur you'll get one.

I'd advise Pro-exotics. They breed great CBB Bthroats. They are more expensive than the imports but boy are they worth it.

[denial]

ok guys well I have tried to get with them but they have done nothing but blow me off so I would not recommend doing any type of business with east coast reptiles. They seem to want to sell you dying blackthroats and then blow you off