“HELP! My Animal is on a Hunger Strike!”

 

-Tyler Smith

Jungle Bob’s Reptile World

The short answer is…no it’s not! “Hunger Strike” has become the go-to phrase for when an animal refuses a meal or 2. Of course, they are not “on strike". There can be many factors that can contribute to your pet reptile/amphibian/invertebrate refusing to eat. We get asked these types of questions multiple times per day, so I finally wanted to write this short article to help customers better understand cold blooded animals and their dietary needs.

The number 1 reason most cold blooded pets refuse meals is simply because…they are not hungry! Cold blooded animals function much differently than warm blooded mammals like humans, dogs, cats, and so on. While warm blooded animals need to eat almost constantly (at least a few times per day). Cold blooded animals need far less. Especially captive ones that have regular access to food and that do not move around as much. Wild animals are never guaranteed another meal, so they eat as much as they can, when they can. This is also true for young, growing captive animals that don’t know their limit yet. Similar to growing children, sometimes it’s amazing how much they can eat! They are very efficient animals. Storing nutrients and using them as needed. Different animals can go different lengths of time without a meal, but for the vast majority of Reptiles/Amphibians/Invertebrates skipping a meal or 2 or even 3 is not a problem at all! We tend to over feed our “babies” and treat them like humans, but that is simply not the case and it can be very detrimental to their long term health. Feed good, nutritious meals on a regular schedule and don’t overdo it on the amount of food and you’ll be fine!

The next biggest culprit to “Hunger Strikes” is temperature. Cold Blooded animals do not regulate their body temperature on their own. Their body temperature is the same as the environment they are in. When temps are warmer, their bodies metabolize the stored nutrients more, and they are typically more active. As opposed to when it’s cooler, and the opposite is true. They do not metabolize as much, and they are far less active (This is why you see Iguanas falling out of trees when it gets cold in Florida). So if temperatures aren’t as warm as they should be, your animal will not want to take in more food.

The most common animals to go on “hunger strikes” are Ball Pythons. These snakes are heavy bodied and even if given the opportunity, do not expend very much energy. Many beginner snake owners choose a Ball Python to start with (and that’s a great choice!) but the first time it refuses a meal, they panic and start to blame live vs frozen, mouse vs rat, or even blame the color of the rodent (snakes don’t see color, so that is never the problem). If temperatures are correct and the animal has a good healthy weight already, it can be a long time between feedings. The longest I have personally experienced was 17 months! The Ball Python did not lose weight and was perfectly fine! One day, it decided it was hungry again and took another rat. 

As far as Lizards go. We get the most questions/concerns about Bearded Dragons. When they are babies, they eat pretty much anything that moves (assuming they are healthy and have proper heating/light/etc…). It is not uncommon for a baby or adolescent Beardie to eat 25+ insects in one sitting! They do this because A) They don’t know any better. B) They are growing and need the nutrients C) They react to the motion of the insects and instinctively go for it. This behavior slows down once they reach maturity (12-18 months usually). Once mature, they can start to become more “picky” meaning they realize they don’t need to eat everything that moves. They start to learn that they are not expending much energy so they don’t need to eat more. Sometimes a well fed adult dragon can go a few months without eating or eating very little. Many people confuse this with Brumating, which is essentially a cold blooded animal’s version of hibernating. In the wild, they would find a good place to hide and their bodies would slow down tremendously when temperatures drop. In captivity however, they might hide on the cooler side of the terrarium and if you take them out they might still go for a Goliath Horned Worm or another insect that moves, but that is still more of a reactionary/instinctive behavior. They will often not eat their veggies when they are fed too many insects as well, which is not good. They need a good balance of insects and vegetables to function and digest properly. Keeping their meals smaller and not overdoing the feedings is essential. They are never “starving” if they are getting their meals regularly, you simply need to give them enough to be healthy, but not too much where they are constantly “full” and neglect their healthier food.

Of course there is a possibility that your animal is sick or something else is off, but it is not nearly as common. If you think something is wrong, you can always reach out to us and we will do what we can if we can help.

Otherwise we can refer you to a trusted local exotic veterinarian.