Frilly wont eat

[nicole.1990]

hi i bought two friled necks about three weeks ago and they were stressed bacause they were in a cage they couldnt climb in, any way i put them in a bigger cage and gave them more food as they were only been given mealworms, i took them to the vet the next week they were doing fine putting the weight on,they were having crickets and woodies and some meal worms and going good the bigger of the two (vet said male) is thriving his put on weight eating HEAPS.but in the last week the smaller (female vet thinks, is still small so not 100%)stoped eating i left her like 3 days hoping she was just full because the day before she stopped she ate LOTS of woodies,but now she wont eat..the lastfew nights i have opened her mouth and put a woodie just in the tip and she will eat like 5 doing that.. but i dont want to keep doing that, im not sure if she is scarred of the bigger one or if theres some thing wrong with her i have tried taking him out and just leaving her in there with mealworms and woodies but she wont touch them,, i will be taking her back to the vet in a few days but was wondering if this has happened to any one else or if they would have any ideas on what would be wrong

 

[phatty]

not sure Nicole could be stress what size cage do you have them in. maybe they need to be separated for a longer period of time
also are you in darwin as i seen some for sale not long ago

 

[nicole.1990]

hi the cage is about 4 ft high by 4 ft wide and like 2 ft deep roughly and thats only why i make a bigger one it wasnt made for them it was made for a carpet python but it has branches they can climb up on they seem heaps happier as the cage i bought them in was suited for like a childrens python it was liek a metre long and like a foot and a bit high .. yeah im in darwin...i had them seperated for a few hours i just didnt want to stress the male out to much either....i think i will have to take her to the vet as i dont want her getting any worse...

 

[bigjoediver]

Don't know much about them but maybe they need separate enclosures? Some species of lizards don't do well living together maybe this is a stress issue. Experts on frill necks feel free to correct me as it would be interesting to know for future reference.

 

[snakeg56]

I breed Frillies every year and yes the do stress easily, how big are they , I have my hatchies in small enclosues with lots of cover, three are in together and they are with a boyds forest dragon of the same size, all are doing well. but they moment you move them they will stress. One of my big males I have to keep in an indoor enclosure, cause if I put him outside in the pit He stresses and will not eat , put him back inside and he's fine. I would separate yours and give them plenty of things to climb and hide in . The big thing I find is more contact will get them, they will get used to movement etc. I have another big male of mine at work who sits on visitors heads and he is great about it. Force feeding them can really stress them out too . have u contacted the person u got them from and how were they kept before u got them

 

[nicole.1990]

hi i was thinking about seperating them,as i thought maybe she is getting bullied around meal time,i would say juvies or some thing like that...the guy i bought them from had them in a cage they couldnt climb and said he was only feeding them mealworms as crickets and woodies were to expensive,,to me they seemed stressed then because if he even went near them they frilled and ran away, now u can put your hand in and stroke them without them freaking,im clearly no expert on them lol but i know they like to climb and think they cant be seen, so im trying to make them happy..i can get them both out to hold but after about 5 mins they decide thats enough ...

 

[Snakester]

If I were to give 5 tips to new frilly keepers it would be these -

1. Provide UV (and lots of it).
2. Vertical branches of different thicknesses (not horizontal, not slightly angled, VERTICAL).
3. Make sure they do not get dehydrated. Spray them daily and feed them items with high moisture content such as greens.
4. Be prepared for the sulking, they are renowned for it. Any change to their environment can result is a period of hiding and going off their food.
5. When kept in groups, there will always be a dominant dragon.

 

[nicole.1990]

thank you for all the info they have 3 vertical branches in there cage i made sure of that they have a uv light... they also have natural sunlight i spray them as i read that on a frilly care sheet..i did hear they sulk and i expected that as i moved them into this cage i was just told they are ment to eat every day at this age,,i might try and put the big one in another cage and see how she goes oh and take her to the vet as well just incase theres some thing more serious going on