Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[buster]

hi all, been looking for someone to help with my baby panthers hope you can give me a bit of advice,

i have a clutch of panthers at present all was going fine the oldest of the clutch are 6 weeks old youngest going to a couple of days old and they still hatching anyway the problem is , when i checked on them on friday i noticed a couple didn't look too good they were very eyes sunken in and dark and skinny looking , immediatlely removed these into tiny tubs and upped the humidity they were really thirsty but had no balance at all anyway the problem got worse and now theres 8 that had it i have lost 5 out of the 8 at present and don't hold much hope for the remaining 3 , the other cham hopefully (touch wood) seem okay , but just carn't understand what has occured nothing has changed in the care of them and this problem seems only to have affected the oldest largest ones , below is the current set up and details

they are in small exo
temp of 26-26
u.v 5%
water 3x day
mostly on fruit flies

this is the only thing i can think of that it could be
i was worried with the fruit flies that i couldn't dust them with calcium etc so put some calicum in their water sprayer on Monday when all was well could i of poisioned them with this?

any help please i am devasted at loosing the babies they were my first out and some even hatched on my birthday , i feel so useless i just don't know what to do to stop it or to help the babies .

thanks in advance

[Stuart Marquis]

Was it calcium powder that you mixed with the water or a liquid suppliment? If it was powder maybe a bit lodged in their throats.

Are they all together in the one exo terra?

Stuart

[unbreakable]

hmmm everything seems fine, i prefer to feed young panthers with micro crickets though, i found it hard to tell if they were eating the flies, i put food in with mine in the morning and spray twice a day. dint over do the decor in the cages as this may be making it a challenge for them to find food and water. As far as supplementing them goes i personally keep it very sparse, once a week tops. This is just my way of doing it and i have never had any problems with the young panthers i have kept. Best of luck.

[buster]

hi, it was liquid calcium the exo calcium drinking water conditioner,

the babies are spilt into 2 groups the larger ones and the younger ones.

i wonder if the flies arn't nutrious enough for them i do see them eat but don't know if they eat enough of them will use crickets from now though i think, they never all swarm down to eat from the tub should they?

its seems a mystery what the prob is especially as it happened to a few at once

thanks alot

suzanne

[herp_boi]

sorry for your loss
I hope you find out what it is and can save the other too !
_________________
2.1 Heterodon Nasicus
1.1 Eryx colubrinus
1.1 Elaphe obsoleta linheimeri leucistic
1.1 Varanus acanthurus
0.1 Python Regius
0.0.10 varanus acanthurus eggs.
0.0.31 Heterodon nasicus eggs.
http://www.freewebs.com/njbherps/index.htm

[kroakykaren]

Sorry this has happened, i have no explanation, maybe Lee will see this thread and have more idea
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[LeeWarren]

Temps sound fine. I take it you are just using a tube to heat the exo?

If so thats fine. Baby Panthers prefer it cooler for the first 8 - 12 weeks.

One thing that you must do with baby panthers is always let the the viv dry out between sprays. If kept to humid, babies will develop respiratory problems and this usually leads to death.

I noticed you spray the viv 3 times daily, but the babies still seemed very thirsty. What are you spraying? I spray everything apart from the babies, after I finished spraying there are droplets hanging off leaves etc.

You cannot raise babies purely on fruitfly. Fruitfly are great as an extra meal to keep them full but crickets should be used for most feeding.

I start my babies off on Banded crickets gutloaded with greens, carrots, Kale, bee pollen, peas etc. If you cant find anyone who supplies Banded crickets give me an e-mail and I will get some sent out the same day.

Banded crickets move differently to other types of crickets and baby panthers seem to prefer them to black and silent crix.

Sounds to me like your babies are in real trouble I have sent you my mobile number if you need instant advice.

Lee.

[dartfrog]

Hi
I have been rearing a baby Hoe who would only eat fruitflies if you get a large plastic bag place some calcium dust inside then release some fruitflies shake then place a sieve inside bag tip through sieve whack sieve against worktop etc then feed this makes life easier. I also leave a small container in the viv with food for the flies so they ara always gutloaded, made up of banana honey and vitamins. He is growing really well, thankfully will now eat larger food thou went on to curly wings then hathling locusts.
Hope this is of some help?
Heather.

[buster]

thanks to you all for your help , think/hope i have the answer though

went to the vets with my adult panther for a check up and explained it all to him didn't want to move or stress any babies so left them at home , he couldn't figure it out , until i said about the calcium and asked what would happen in caclium overdosing he said calcium sucks moisture from the body well thats it the babies looked extreme dehdration and always thirsty to the point of sitting with mouths open it sounds excatly like their symptons .

I feel so bad it was my fault if i hadn't messed with them they would still be here and as healthy as they all were , just didn't expect the calcium to affect them only in a good way .

[jen23]

don't feel bad, you did your best for them and you wont make the same mistake in the future. at least you figured it out in time to save some of them!
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Jennifer