Can you help please??

[filardimarg2]

On the 8th of January i bought a lovely little leo, got her home, thats where my problems started. I have only ever seen her eat once, she weighed 11g, she now still weighs 11g, i have tried her with the usual things, mealworms,crickets, locusts even waxworms, i have even tried mushing up some of everything & putting it on her nose & round her mouth for her to lick it off, she does do this & is poo-ing, a little. I don't think she is impacted as her tummy is soft, she is lively, got bright eyes & inquisative, likes to come out of her viv & investigate things, but i just can't get her to eat. The temps are good at 91/93, substrat is kitchen paper & she is by herself in the viv.
What else can i do to get her to eat?? HELP!!
Marg.

 

[acpart]

It wouldn't hurt to take her to the vet. I have had slow growing and poorly eating leos before too. One thing I try that works with some of them is to hold them and then to gently press a mealworm or small cricket to the mouth and to see if they'll open their mouths and take it. If the leo is eating the mushed up stuff, you could try to progress to where you take a mealworm, cut it in half (ugh) and squeeze a little of the guts around her mouth. If you can get her to open her mouth, maybe she'll take that worm.

Good luck.

Aliza

 

[williammce1]

If it gets too outa hand you may need to "force" feed. Here's a little trick. May sound mean but not really. I have around 400 leos and spary the sides of tubs sometimes for water they lick off and to add humidity for easier sheds. Some of the geckos rear up and squawk. try spraying it with water and when it opens up in defense place your food item in at that time with tweezers and repeat as necessary. When in question, vet checks are always recommended.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Force feed

On the 8th of January i bought a lovely little leo, got her home, thats where my problems started. I have only ever seen her eat once, she weighed 11g, she now still weighs 11g, i have tried her with the usual things, mealworms,crickets, locusts even waxworms, i have even tried mushing up some of everything & putting it on her nose & round her mouth for her to lick it off, she does do this & is poo-ing, a little. I don't think she is impacted as her tummy is soft, she is lively, got bright eyes & inquisative, likes to come out of her viv & investigate things, but i just can't get her to eat. The temps are good at 91/93, substrat is kitchen paper & she is by herself in the viv.
What else can i do to get her to eat?? HELP!!
Marg.

Marge, I had one stressed from shipment that I had to force feed to get him started eating.
(8 months before he ate on his own)....
went from 126 grams to 103..............
when he started he ate 30 worms before quitting.
This Advice was from Ron Tremper:
( I've added use tongs not fingers, for a very good reason
but not for your 11 gram size)
De-head two or three small meal worms to release some inners.
Hold gecko one hand, meal worm in tongs other.
(fingers ok for 11 grams)
Gently tap the side of the geckos mouth.
This annoys them and will generally cause them to open their mouth.
Stick the meal worm in.
After seeing them open up you will get a rhythm going
and it will become easier.
Stick with it.............It seems to be holding weight, not loosing so
that along with the poo is a good sign......
Some stress easily from a change.
Two or three if possible every couple days will hopefully
get them eating on their own...........
.1 or 2 with that 11 gram baby size would be good.
Maybe try for one a day.
Also spread the inners of meal or wax worms on the mouth to
cause it to lick it off.
Good luck. Take care. HJ

 

[filardimarg2]

Thanks for the replies, i have been putting meal worms, 1 or 2 wax worms, crickets & locusts into a pestle & morter & crushing them to a paste, then putting it round her mouth, she then licks that off so i put more on, but hate having to put my fingers in that stuff, i will carry on with it though, anything to get her eating again. She is quite lively, i get her out & she is wanting to look around, so i hope that is a good sign.
Thanks HJ, for all that info, i hope mine eats by herself before 8 months....is your gecko that did that ok now?? Hope so!!
Marg.

 

[GeckoGathering]

feed yourself soom

Thanks for the replies, i have been putting meal worms, 1 or 2 wax worms, crickets & locusts into a pestle & morter & crushing them to a paste, then putting it round her mouth, she then licks that off so i put more on, but hate having to put my fingers in that stuff, i will carry on with it though, anything to get her eating again. She is quite lively, i get her out & she is wanting to look around, so i hope that is a good sign.
Thanks HJ, for all that info, i hope mine eats by herself before 8 months....is your gecko that did that ok now?? Hope so!!
Marg.

You can also do baby food meat from a syringe.
My big boy Conan the one I force fed so long.
(picture to the upper left on this page)
was a buddy for 4 years..........lost him in 2008 after taking
him to the Vet for a possible respiratory problem.
Vet tried to force a stool sample. Made him drop his 18 gram tail.
5 hours later he was dead.
Sad but, still have some of his beautiful
kids and he has a plot in the flower garden.
Take care. Hj

 

[filardimarg2]

That's terrible, so sorry to hear that.
How do i get her mouth open to put a meal worm in or anything for that matter, i read a book, it said to hold her head up in 1 hand & tap her eye, did this but it didn't make her open her mouth, can i buy a syringe in a chemists??
She is behaving very strange today, moving round the viv, lieing in all sorts of funny places, in the cool area, doen't understand it really, hope it's not a bad sign.
Marg.

 

[GeckoGathering]

mouth open

That's terrible, so sorry to hear that.
How do i get her mouth open to put a meal worm in or anything for that matter, i read a book, it said to hold her head up in 1 hand & tap her eye, did this but it didn't make her open her mouth, can i buy a syringe in a chemists??
She is behaving very strange today, moving round the viv, lieing in all sorts of funny places, in the cool area, doen't understand it really, hope it's not a bad sign.
Marg.

Tap, tap, tap, etc. the side of the mouth...
Annoyed . Mouth opens, quickly stick a worm end in. She will either hold on to it or shake her head and throw the worm across the room. Keep at it.
Don't get discouraged if the first one has wings. Tap, tap, tap, again.
It worked for me.

No idea about the eye stuff ??????
Sounds dangerous to me.

syringe ....Farm Store is where I get them.
Rural King. Chemist probably too. Could get a couple off a vet.
Eye droppers with advertising given free at drug stores...would work.
Not sure your described actions sound strange. To me it sounds more like she is curious about what's in her new home. IMO it is more of a good sign she is closer to eating on her own.....
Take care...Bet you get a worm in her mouth tonight. .. HJ

 

[filardimarg2]

I am going to the vets this afternoon with Emmi, thanks for all the help on this but i think it's time it was sorted out now, there must be a reason why she isn't eating. I am lucky in that there is a reptile vet in a town about 7/8 miles from me, i was speaking to a vet nurse there this morning on the phone, she keeps Leo's, she was saying she thinks there could be something wrong with her to make her stop eating.
Hope she is ok & i don't loose her.
Marg.

 

[filardimarg2]

Well i went to the vets, not the best of news, certainly not what i was expecting................he thinks she's blind or at least partialy sighted, God, she's only about 3 months old. Vet gave me some syringes to get food into her easier & more of it, she had a multi-vit jab that should restart her appatite, hope on this occasion he is wrong.
Marg.