Makeshift Gecko Slurry/Soup?

Dwaggie

New Member
Messages
27
Location
germany
Hey :)

My geckos still haven't touched their food. (I have a vet appointment next week, no worries)
in the meantime, i was wondering, if it'd be an okay idea to make a makeshift slurry to try and feed to them?

since i can't get a lot of the items needed for the original golden gecko slurry, i thought about making a makeshift one with what i have, or what i read can be supplemented:

organic beef baby food
mealworms
waxworms (since they're starting to turn into moths and it'd be a terrible waste to not do anything with them)
crickets
Elotrans powder (Elotrans Fine powder (3400504) )
maybe a bit of repashy's grub pie?`(they won't eat that on its own)
a small bit of repti calcium and repti vitamins

blended down into a mush to dribble-feed to them (i don't want to force-feed, so i'd use the "smear some on their nose/lip and let them lick it" method)

mostly, i need to know if the mix would be alright to use
or, if i can't give them that until i've seen the vet
 

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
I don't think I would use Elotrans powder. It says it's only supposed to be used under medical supervision. It's also not necessary. The rest looks fine, though.

I'm not sure you really need to use a slurry, though. Are your geckos dangerously malnourished? How long have they not eaten for? Have they lost any weight? Are they females? If they are, they are probably ovulating and not eating is normal.
 

Dwaggie

New Member
Messages
27
Location
germany
hey :)
they haven't eaten since i got them in early january, so it's been almost 2 months now.
they lost some weight (i didn't have an accurate scale at first, but they lost between 5-10 grams (they're 55, 52 and 47 gramms now)
their tails are still thickest in the middle, squishy and round
they appear alert and active, clear eyes and all that
i do find little poops around (though i can't tell who they're from, since they share their tank)
i've tried every feeder insect that's available to me
i used: crickets, mealworms, wax worms, uh... wood lice? not sure about the proper name for them, and i got dubia roaches and am waiting for them to make babies so i can try those
lychee, my albino girl, has eaten 6 mealworms at one point, but only by hand-feeding them.
i leave a small bowl with mealworms in their tank every other day (and switch them out so they'll not dry up and die) but they aren't touched.
i don't want to leave crickets in the tank, since there's a cork bark wall and they'll hide in there and chirp all night

i tried the grub pie, but none of my girls seem to like it. they sniff at it and lick their mouth/smell at it, but won't eat it.
i tried getting some on their mouths, but usually it's shaken off, rather than licked up. fail XD

i thought maybe a slurry might be yummy to them....
 

Dwaggie

New Member
Messages
27
Location
germany
here's two pics i just did of my geckos (my third didn't want to come out of her hide, so i let her be)
just for you to see how they look (they're not yet one year old (they hatched in july 16)i think they look slim but not too thin, given their age, but then, i'm a noob)

also, i just tried, on a whim, to offer them some organic beef baby food, and they both ate a tiny amount (didn't want to give them too much, just about two pinheads worth of it per gecko,

would it be okay to give them a little more? or better not...
(it's made with water, beef, rice starch and rape oil (the last one sounds.... wrong, translated. rapeseed oil? iunno)

attachment.php
mango, my big girl, she's the largest and heaviest :) also, the most shy/skittish,
attachment.php
papaya, my chillest girl. she's basically just a floppy beanbag when i pick her up she flops in my hand and lets her arms and legs dangle between my fingers <3
 

Attachments

  • 20170316_175648small.jpg
    20170316_175648small.jpg
    59.2 KB · Views: 14
  • 20170316_180153small.jpg
    20170316_180153small.jpg
    61.6 KB · Views: 14

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
You can do a slurry, but what you're describing doesn't seem abnormal to me. They're probably ovulating. Most of my females are ovulating now and very few of them are eating. Your geckos are still at totally healthy weights, so I don't think you need to be alarmed.

I might wait it out a little longer. It's best if they eat on their own. Most of my ovulating females are not eating but haven't dropped enough weight for me to worry about them. I have two girls that have dropped weight alarmingly during their ovulation and will probably be assist feeding them if they don't start eating something soon. By assist feeding, I mean I hold them in one hand and poke at their mouths with a worm held with tweezers until they open their mouths to threaten me, then I place the worm into their mouth. When they close their mouths again, they crunch the worm and their feeding response kicks in and they eat it by themselves. You can also do a slurry, but it's a lot more work. Slurries are really better for geckos that can't eat solid food and are in danger of dying.

Haha, rapeseed oil is also known as canola oil. Anyways, I'm not sure about baby food. They are insectivores although they do opportunistically go after small mammal babies. I don't think the baby food would hurt them. You can offer it, but I don't think I would try very hard to get them to eat it. They look a little slim, but not abnormal for ovulating females.
 
Last edited:

Visit our friends

Top