Redfoot not as active as before?

[Cordycord]

Hi! I have a 2 year old redfoot who suddenly doesn’t go out much and has become really picky with his food. Nothing changed husbandry-wise. Temperatures are as recommended here as well.

I’ve been feeding the recommended fruits and weeds and veggies with occasional mazuri. But lately he only eats hibiscus leaves and barely nibbles on the rest. I soak him every other day.

He usually wakes up at the same time everyday, eats, walks around his enclosure and then sleeps at the same time. But lately he just stays burrowed down in the substrate. His eyes seem normal, weight gain is good too. The other day he soiled himself in his sleeping area which has never happened before.

When I take him out to soak he walks around the tub. And when I let him roam the garden he walks and roams no problems too.
It’s really just the hiding all day and not eating as much that concerns me.

Any ideas what might cause the sudden change in behavior? Thanks!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Do you feed him some animal protein? Does he poo as before (frequency, color, consistency)? How long ago this behaviour change happened?

 

[Cordycord]

Hello!
Do you feed him some animal protein? Does he poo as before (frequency, color, consistency)? How long ago this behaviour change happened?

I give him chicken and egg for protein.
Yes the poop consistency and frequency are the same. Hmm I would say it has been a week and a half now. Although he didn’t poop during his soak this AM, just peed. Which is a little bit unusual cause he almost always poops during soaks.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I'm not sure what's happening. Probably, he didn't poop today because he eats less recently (food passes through intestines around 1-2 weeks). If nothing has changed, temperatures are within 80-88F range I'm out of ideas. If you use UVB lamp, maybe it's the cause (degrading UV output, flickering or something).

Maybe @ZEROPILOT or @cooky_luvs have seen something in their redfoots...

 

[Tom]

Hi! I have a 2 year old redfoot who suddenly doesn’t go out much and has become really picky with his food. Nothing changed husbandry-wise. Temperatures are as recommended here as well.

I’ve been feeding the recommended fruits and weeds and veggies with occasional mazuri. But lately he only eats hibiscus leaves and barely nibbles on the rest. I soak him every other day.

He usually wakes up at the same time everyday, eats, walks around his enclosure and then sleeps at the same time. But lately he just stays burrowed down in the substrate. His eyes seem normal, weight gain is good too. The other day he soiled himself in his sleeping area which has never happened before.

When I take him out to soak he walks around the tub. And when I let him roam the garden he walks and roams no problems too.
It’s really just the hiding all day and not eating as much that concerns me.

Any ideas what might cause the sudden change in behavior? Thanks!

What are his temperatures?
Is it a large closed chamber enclosure?
What type of heating and lighting equipment are you using?

 

[cooky_luvs]

I know he may be too young to know for sure that he’s male since he’s two, but if he is indeed, my males are most often the ones to become lazy and unmotivated eaters at times. This almost never happens with my girls, they are always hungry, likely something to do with hormones and egg production.

Even if your temperatures are spot on this time of year, they do notice a change in the air so that could have something to do with it as well, but definitely watch him close because if there’s an issue, they don’t really ever show it until it has progressed quite a bit. If you don’t already pairing a LED with your UVB will increase visible light and can often increase activity.