My leopard gecko just recenlty lost her appetite. I brought her to my vet and she found a cyst in her stomach. The cyst was popped, and now there is room for food in her stomach again, but she doesn't seem to want to eat. We have been force feeding her some ensure, which my vet says will help her keep the weight on, and a few mealworms daily. She doesn't want to eat them either. As soon and I get it in her mouth, she spits it back out. Is there any way I can get her appetite back. She used to eat everything that moved before the cyst. I don't know what to do. I can't feed her for the rest of her life, but I can't stand here and have her starve to death. Please help me!
Appetite loss
- Thread starter Ashitaka
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roger
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how old is she? what is her weight,can u post pics pls.what is your set up like.what are the warm surface temps on the warm end.How long has she stopped eating for?
I would say she's maybe 7 months old? I'm not quite sure. I don't know the weight, but she can't be more than 5 grams. I'd say maybe around 3 or 4 grams. The tank is a 20 gallon I believe and on one end it's about 90, and the other is 75. She's not been eating for maybe a month now and has survived by me feeding her ensure and having to force feed her some mealworms from time to time, which she is able to hold down some of the times. The first three pictures are of when we first got her, and the last three are of her more recent condition. Her tail has greatly decreased in size.
roger
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post a pic of her setup.we need to see her entire setup.Imo the first thing i would do is get her off the sand and put her on paper towels.How long has she been on the sand ?She needs a surface temp of 90-95 deg.Did the vet do a fecal exam.shes' younger than 7 months.How do u know shes 5 grams.Thats awfully small.if shes 7 months and only 5 grs she is in big trouble.When u use the word "force feed" what do u mean? are u shoving mealies down her throat?Try assist feeding were u hold her upright and gently tap on the side of her mouth.There will be a natural instinct to open the mouth and thats when u gently put a meal worm in her mouth.
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fl_orchidslave
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There is a gecko slurry/soup recipe sticky at the top of this forum section. It is specifically for non-eating geckos and loaded with good stuff, including ensure and mealworms. The can of pet food is sold only in vet's offices and everything else is available at walmart. It's much less stress to put some on her nose and let her lick than to try force feeding. Stress, lack of heat, and illness are the reasons geckos won't eat. Once those factors are in check they can relax and eat again. Was she given antibiotics?
She was not given antibiotics. My vet found the cyst, and hasn't seen anything else. I'm not sure how old she is because I bought her at ***** and they weren't sure. And I don't know her weight, I'm just guessing. And by force feeding we will put a drop of ensure on the tip of her mouth/nose and let her lick it of. When we feed her mealworms, we will open her mouth and stick them in there and let her do the rest. We switched her from sand to paper towels a moth ago, and the temp ranges from 95 on the floor, to 75 on the other side. There was a fecal done and it's not a parasite. Now her body is chubby again, but her tail's not gaining weight. I'll bring her back to my vet and see if the cyst is back.
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