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Posted by DanP on May 02, 2003 at 22:46:42:
In Reply to: planicauda female sleep to much and don't eat posted by uromastyxca on May 02, 2003 at 22:27:20:
:My female planicauda don't do much would any one know why, I lost a male to gram negative blood bacteria, I could sure use any information on the planicauda, I wish to save them at all costs. thank you.
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Are you keeping them outdoors in Canada in May? Suboptimal temps might depress the immune system and make them more suseptible to bacterial infections that they otherwise would not have a problem with.
Both sexes shut down over winter and do not move for weeks at a time. They don't eat, they don't drink. Their natural environment is very seasonal (but not as extreme as Pyxis arachnoides ssp.). Winter is warm and dry, summer is warmer and wet. They basically aestivate during the winter dry season by burrowing into the substrate. They can't be found in winter in the wild because they are hunkered down. WC Pyxis are used to shutting down when it is dry and a little cooler. CB Pyxis might not be so tied to the weather.
I'll try and send you a graph of the monthly average temps and rainfall for Morondava where planicaudas originate.
If you've got the right temps and humidity and the females still don't eat, try mushrooms (I hear they like them) or soaked Mazuri tortoise chow. Have the females lost weight? Have you run fecals on them? Pyxis often have pinworms (oxyurids) which are probably natural, but could be a problem in huge numbers. A bloom of flagellates might kill the appetite as well. Again, suboptimal temps might throw the intestinal balance off.
Too much information.
