Purchased a male pied (hatch oct 12'- foot 1/2long, 680 g) from a reputable breeder and he arrived jan 14, 2014. His last meal was jan 9 shed jan 13. When he arrived he looked healthy and shiny. He started in a glass 30inch x12x12 critter cage. 2 weeks ago I received a PVC cage 48x24x24 from Jim. The cage is loaded with hides, repti-bark substrate. Temp is high 80's on hot side and low 80's cool side. Humidity is between 40-50. This cage set up is the next best thing to the wild.

HOWEVER, he has not ate since arrival. I first tried a FT small rat (size was perfect) a week after arrival and he refused. Waited another week and tried the same with no luck. Next I purchased a large LIVE mouse, not interested. Last I tried a FT large mouse and of course no luck. He's had interests with his tongue but will not strike and lacks aggression. NOW I've noticed small brown spots scattered on the belly and parts of the white body have a pink tint.

i thought he had beginning stage of scale rot so I called a vet and went today. The vet wasn't concerned with the pink tint and said the random scales weren't a concern bc there wasn't liquid buildup underneath the scales. His concern was Yoshi's lack of nutrients and dehydration. He then took out a syringe and showed me how to force feed a liquid diet. He said to feed pedialyte (small amount) everyday for a week. Then he gave me Carnivore care that will assist feeding. You mix with water and gradually increase the nutrients and less water each week. He said after the package is complete then to try feeding a pinkie (start from the bottom and increase size). The reason he said to use the liquid first is because a mouse could be swallowed but not digested correctly due to dehydration.

im sure this is a beaten topic but before I commit to this I wanted opinions and know if anyone else has experienced this?

Thank you