Hunger Strike Has Gone Too Far! What Do I Do Now?

[Nynecho]

About your leo:
- Sex- Female
- Age & Weight- 1 year/25 Grams
- How long have you owned your leo- Almost a year
- Where was he/she obtained- Big Name Pet Store


A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo- Almost every day/every other day
- Is your leo acting any different today?- No
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.-
She has shedding problems and has always been far too small in my opinion, but up until her ovulation she was a great eater.
B) Fecals
- Describe- Only urate if anything
- When was the last time he/she went- no clue
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on-
Okay well she started ovulating at the start of the year. She's been on hunger strike since. She has dropped 15 grams since then, and looks like I just got here from Pet Co.
Should I start feeding her chicken baby food?


Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size- 15 gal
- Type- glass tank
- Type of substrate- paper towel
- Hides, how many, what kind- 2, 1 dry 1 moist. She used to have more but she never used them.
B) Heating
- Heat source- UTH
- Cage temps- 70-87
- Method of regulating heat source- it ragulates itself
- What are you using to measure your temps- a surface thermometer
- Do you have any lights- no, she is light sensitive
C) Cage mates
- How many- used to be with 2 females, I just separated them today.
- Describe health, or previous problems- She isn't eating at all. She just sits around and sleeps.


Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)- Every other day i give her 15 mealworms dusted with calcium. She doesn't eat them so they sit there.
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)- Food dish in her tank.
B) Supplements (describe how often)- With every feeding and bowl in enclosure
- What vitamin/minerals are you using- Rep-Cal and Repashy Gut Load
- What are you gut loading food with- Repashy gut load and potatoes/oranges.


I've posted about this before and now that she is down to 25 grams I think I need to take serious action.
Chicken baby food time? Which brand should i use?


Would it have been better if I had just bred her when she was 40 grams that way I could have avoided this weight loss? Or did I make the right decision not to?

 

[Dinosaur!]

i am going to suggest some things that may help you and your little girl out.

First, try this. it is much more nutritional then baby food, it has saved some rescues of mine in the past, and it could be the calorie booster that she needs to stimulate her appetite...http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/54742.htm

second, you should probably raise the floor temps of her tank. ideally, it should be high 80's- mid/low 90's on the hot side. if she does not have hot enough belly heat, she may not eat because she won't be able to digest it properly.

last, i dont know if this is linked to her not eating or not, but you may want to improve her supplementation. this is the method i use successfully, but there are other ways to dust. they need food dusted with calcium with vitamin D3 every feeding, or every other feeding. they also should have a pure (no D3) calcium available in a bowl in their tank. and last, they should have a vitamin supplement with vitamin A once a week. i know that vitamin A helps with lots of things in geckos, so maybe that could help her a bit?

i hope that your little girl gets better

 

[Olympus]

Have you looked inside her mouth? Has she ever been tested for parasites?

 

[Dinosaur!]

Olympus has a good point. if she has a mouth infection that you didnt notice, it may be too painful for her to eat. and parasitees would just drain the life out of her.

 

[Nynecho]

There is absolutely no way she has parasites, her mouth is clean, her poop was normal til she stopped eating, and she hasn't had the opportunity to get them. I have never let her use anyone else's food bowl, she had been in solitary for months prier to her hunger strike, and even if any of my other geckos were sick (which they're not) the timing with her ovulation and her hunger strike is too close to be a coincidence.

I went out and bought waxworms (the only thing she has shown interest in since she stopped eating) as well as reptivite. I will continue looking for the rest of the ingredients for the slurry tomorrow and hopefully she'll start getting better when i give her that. Until then I'll just have to pray she wants waxies.

 

[Olympus]

A biologist I know once ordered a box of crickets from every major supplier and tested their poop for parasites. Every single batch was loaded with parasites like pinworms and some even had coccidia. So we'd like to think that as long as everything is clean and we don't feed wild insects that they're safe from parasites but that's hardly the case. At $20 for a fecal, I don't think it hurts to check, though!

She's just veeery thin and reptiles don't lose almost 50% of their body weight over a food strike, so I think this should be approached from a different angle. Something is wrong, we just don't know what yet!

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Yeah that's anorexia nervosa gone wrong lol.. my boy eats 1 bug per week but is not even close to that. Hope she does better

 

[sausage]

olympus is correct. the biggest route for parasite infection is through the feeder insects. its a natural thing that happens all the time.
most cases of parasites will also originate from the breeders themselves, with such a high number of animals in one place transfer is common. most reptiles will already have parasites before you buy them. most of the time they do not affect the animal until something lowers the immune system allowing them to multiply and cause a problem. is there any thing that could have stressed her out recently? change in the viv? new pet?
i would defo take to the vets for a check.

 

[ebuch]

She's just veeery thin and reptiles don't lose almost 50% of their body weight over a food strike, so I think this should be approached from a different angle. Something is wrong, we just don't know what yet!

I agree with this and will go as far to say that a home remedy is not the answer, and posting here is almost silly, you need to get that gecko to the vet.