Growing, but looks thin?

[sw204me]

My little girl who I got on April 25th was 58g when I first got her. She has eaten everything I have thrown at her and is growing very nicely, she is now at 138g and is getting pretty long, but she constantly looks thin. when she is climbing around her cage she appears to have loose skin and has a roundish triangle look to her. I feed her two hopper mice a few weeks back, then stepped it up to small mice but she wont get the roundish look that my male has. She is constantly active and climbs around her tub alot, see post of her and her tree :8. I treated her cage not too long ago for mites and will be doing the 2nd treatment at the end of this week when I clean her tub out. I thought about going to bigger mice but small mice are a good size for her, if I go bigger its gonna be too big I'm afraid. Should I try feeding two mice instead of one? She climbing around the cage and you can see her bone structure...is this anything to be concerned about?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../101_57921.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7.../101_57941.jpg
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[littleindiangirl]

have you taken her to the vet recently? She may have an internal parasite keeping her from putting on weight. At least I know that in other animals it can be the same effect.

[rabernet]

If she were mine, I'd be taking her to the vet and getting her tested for internal parasites to rule that out. Her back bone should not be protruding like that.


You can try two small mice a week, but I'd definitely want to rule out internal parasites first. They can be easily treated for if she has them.

[Purrrfect9]

How often are you feeding her? If it's every 7 days, I'd bump her up to every 5 days.. But reguardless, she's still pretty skinny even for feeding her once a week. Have you taken both of your BP's to the vet to get fecals done? I remember you describing in your other thread about your male how there seemed to be tunnels in his feces. I'm not 100% positive, but this sounds like internal parasites to me. It's possible for parasites to transfer from one animal to another if you don't wash hands in between handling and if they were housed in the same cage/their cages are close together or in the same room ( which is why it's always a good thing to quarantine in a completely seperate room). I would definately get them BOTH checked out by a vet though.

Also, if you were to feed her two mice, I would go with feeding her two of a size smaller than what you are feeding her now (which would be two hoppers from what I have read, correct?).

[lillyorchid]

I'd say from what you've said that it sounds like she may have internal parasites. She can eat and eat and eat but hardly gain any weight because they are just eating it all up if that is the case. I'd take her to a vet just to get checked out. Keep feeding her a mouse, she won't get that solid roundish shape over night... it will take some time.

[frankykeno]

You can also contact your vet ahead of time and the next time she defecates just pop it in a ziploc baggie and into the fridge then take it to the vet clinic as soon as possible. Quite a few vet's are set up so their techs can do a fecal float while you wait and it isn't horribly expensive (usually about $30.00). If she does have internal parasites on this test, then you'd bring her in to the vet for examination and a course of meds. Her backbone is up a lot more than I'd be comfy with. Either get that fecal done soon or just get her into the vet.

[sw204me]

I remember you describing in your other thread about your male how there seemed to be tunnels in his feces

I must have worded that wrong, he made tunnels in his bedding.

as for jade, there is a herp vet not even half a mile from me, I'll swing by there tomorrow and see what they say to do and how much it would be for them to take a look at her.

[Purrrfect9]

I must have worded that wrong, he made tunnels in his bedding.

as for jade, there is a herp vet not even half a mile from me, I'll swing by there tomorrow and see what they say to do and how much it would be for them to take a look at her.

Or it could be because my brain is temporarily fried... and will be for the next 6 weeks... stupid summer chem course...

[sw204me]

You can also contact your vet ahead of time and the next time she defecates just pop it in a ziploc baggie and into the fridge then take it to the vet clinic as soon as possible. Quite a few vet's are set up so their techs can do a fecal float while you wait and it isn't horribly expensive (usually about $30.00). If she does have internal parasites on this test, then you'd bring her in to the vet for examination and a course of meds. Her backbone is up a lot more than I'd be comfy with. Either get that fecal done soon or just get her into the vet.

I have a fecal from my male, her im just gonna have to take in, but I got one from him today, would it be ok to stick in the freezer or can it only go in a fridge?

[frankykeno]

Just the fridge. I'm no vet tech but if I remember right sticking things in the freezer makes cells and such like pop so whenever you are sending in samples or getting a necropsy done, you refridgerate not freeze. That way the "sample" doesn't get damaged but also doesn't start to get nasty either.