Juvie not eating

[bowsertime]

Thanks. I try to think that, especially since her symptoms are leaning more toward some sort of illness, what with continuously regurgitating her sheds and all. Her metro course is done with and I'm only bugging her to give her some baby food with her calcium powder mixed in with it now. She took it quite well today - I think she actually even likes the stuff.

I'll continue to give her a little helping hand with the baby food for another day or two, then let her be and see if she's doing better. She was caught wandering around after the lights were out today, something she hasn't done for a week or so now... of course, as soon as she saw me, she was a lightning bolt back to her hide, but it's a start!

 

[Spots]

If you are trying the flurry or baby food or AD food from a vet, you actually need to feed her quite a bit I didn't read your whole story yet (been following along but can't remember the specific details) the vet said we need about 20 cc in our little one ...which is A LOT. We could only get her still to give her 3-5 cc a day and it seemed fine. It was enough to make her poop. You can get her to lick but it take so long. We put ours in one hand and the other person gently pushes her mouth and jaw down. She will keep her mouth open a bit so you can squeeze the food onto her tongue. Its what the vet showed us and its worked to help her get some food in here.

 

[bowsertime]

Oh, I wasn't quite sure how much to give her so I only gave her about 2cc last night. I'll increase that tonight, I just don't want to make her puke since she has a basically empty stomach... maybe if I increase it night by night, it'll work out for her.

Binti is crazy-cooperative when it comes to syringe-feeding, whether it be medicine or food... even the vet said so. The vet goes 'okay Binti, open your mouth', and she goes 'raaaaaaaaaar!'.. that is, until she realizes that makes so much easier to stick stuff in her mouth, at which point she clamps shut and makes little angry noises.

 

[bowsertime]

Got her second helping of calcium-infused baby food today. Filled up half the syringe and she took it like a champ. She seems to be getting a little more used to everything too... put her back in her enclosure after she was done and she decided to take a leisurely walk and look around, not at all rushed to return to her hide.

 

[bowsertime]

Hey all again.

Been a while of just observing and taking things day by day. I gave her about four days of syringe-feeding baby food/calcium vitamin, then left her be for about 4-5 days now just to observe... not much happened. She hid under her cool hide all day and all night, only coming out to pee sometimes, then later, not at all.

Her carpet was getting kind of dirty with moss and other stuff strewn about, so I took her and all her stuff out for a bit to clean up, then put it all back in and only moved a couple things. I took out her coconut because she never used it, and took her food dish out from her tarp to place it in the corner of her tank on the cool side where the coconut used to be. I wanted her to have a more accessible food dish, so as to encourage her to eat, but I'm not expecting anything miraculous right off the bat. She actually came out during daylight hours and explored some, but saw me and scattered like a lightning bolt back to her warm hide. When I looked where she had been, she had left something that looked like a bit of fresh throw-up, all white and blackish... I collected it later to examine it and it was rather sticky, but didn't have much substance to it. I don't know why she threw up - maybe stress at the little movements of stuff around the tank again. I think I'm going to have to go back to syringe-feeding her soon again and just hoping she picks up on eating on her own eventually...

 

[Spots]

I always suggest not to go with carpet as it can pose many problems such as bacteria growth and the poor geckos can get their toes and mouths stuck on it. Try paper towels for awhile or tiles. I wouldn't do tiles as it might stress her out from all the changing environment and being sick. I wish she would stop throwing up though! lol I'm not sure what to even say about that. Because she hasn't be eating much, you are correct in saying that you should give a small dose until she is used to it before giving her more. If you go and try to give her too much, she may reguritate it as her stomach doesn't have the capacity to hold it all anymore (I think I saw a sticky note about that in the feeding section).
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. My girl is being syringe fed for about/over a month now and I haven't any idea as to how to get her to eat on her own....

 

[bowsertime]

I always make sure her carpet is cleaned up at least once every month or two and don't mist it too often for just that reason... she used to get her teeth snagged on it when picking off mealworms on it, but that stopped when I trained her to eat from dish/fingers exclusively.. but that doesn't really matter much now that she's apparently on an extended hunger strike. :/ I hope her eating habits and subsequent lack of ingesting calcium powder don't impact her badly in the long run. How often do you feed yours? I've worked Binti up to a full insulin syringe of calcium/baby food without any issue.

On my vet's advice, I'm on the hunt for non-dairy soy yogurt as a probiotic to try to supplement her with, as no supplier I've tried contacting about AcidophiLiz has been very responsive, or able to ship reasonably to Canada. The hunt is not going so well yet.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Your vet was unable to tell you where you could find probiotics? You can check locally at whole food stores, health food centers and vitimin outlets like GNC. It shouldn't have to be something you have to have shipped. Human grade probiotics are fine. It doesn't have to be something specifically for aimals. If you can't find it at those places call a local pharmacy. I'm sure they'll be able to direct you as to where to find it.

 

[Spots]

Ha ha. I always have a heck of a time shipping to Canada too.
Not sure where to find it but dog shrink's idea sound good. I know there are tons of supplement stores in Ontario so hopefully there are lots in Winnipeg too

 

[Spots]

When she was really bad (she stopped pooping and eating and lost weight. She had to give her stool softener and a bunch of stuff hopefully that if we give her enough food it would pass or she would vomit) during this period, the vet recommended 21 cc so we tried to do three times a day with 7cc each time. She never got that much in her though because she did not cooperate with us lol. But now that she's doing much better, I feed her once a day trying to get 2cc in her. It was my own judgement on this though because after 4cc she threw up so I just feed her until she doesn't want anymore . But i at least do it once a day because I don't want her to go hungry

 

[bowsertime]

Here's some good news... Binti was sighted out during daylight hours, exploring, and then finally taking a long sleep by her logs right in the warm light. She seemed comfortable, but was still quite watchful - one movement too fast or too close and she was ready to get moving. Luckily, nothing prompted that, and she stayed up there for about 5-6 hours, resting peacefully, before returning to her cool hide again (Yeah... my scheme didn't work - she really does seem to prefer the cool side all the time, other than this one occasion here).

Given that she's being more outgoing now, I'm going to give her a few days to see how she reacts. Maybe she'll find her worms and nom them up. If she doesn't, I guess it's back to baby food for a while.

I'll keep an eye out for probiotics. I was hoping I wouldn't have to order online.

 

[Spots]

Hopefully she finds the worms!

I tried getting Flash off of the A/D food for a while and hoped that if she was super hungry that she would cave and just eat the damn worm but no luck. You could also try switching feeders (like switch to crickets and feed her in another tank...or feed her one cricket at a time and watch if she'll go for it). My other girl stopped her hunger strike once I introduced new feeders. But with her reguritation, I'm not sure how she will hold it down in her tummy. But if you find a way to get her off the baby food and onto real food, let me know! Flash has been stuck on A/D for over a month! BAH.

 

[bowsertime]

I decided to put her back on the baby food again... mixed some water and powder in there too. Her tail is starting to get fairly small and she's currently in the process of shedding too, so hopefully she keeps it down this time - either that, or gives me something I can bring to the vet for analysis.

 

[TifaBea]

Have you tried any other food source? I know from your posts that you raise your own meal worms but she might be asking for variety. Mine wouldn't eat for two weeks with crickets, I tried baby food and he ate 3 crickets right after. But then the next night he wasn't interested in the crickets so I gave him a wax worm and he slurped it down. Maybe she just needs a jump start to get her eating mealies again.

 

[bowsertime]

I'm considering getting crickets, but I just hate dealing with them and I really don't want her to decide on them as her staple... though I will just have to deal with it if that's what she wants after all. I'm not sure if I'll be lucky with waxworms though - no motion seems to interest her whatsoever.

Do you guys have any tips on keeping crickets properly? I've had them for my newts in the past and they just seem to have the worst habits of escaping, being incredibly elusive when I'm going to catch and feed them, and so forth... they also seem to grow incredibly fast, to the point where I'd hope she would eat them right away before they get too big for her. When they're in her enclosure, how long should I leave them with her? I know they can nibble toes and harass her if left in too long uneaten, and I don't want her to be stressed out anymore than she already is. If she doesn't eat them after X amount of time, how can I catch them again? I just don't seem to have a knack for catching the little buggers.

On another note, she had a shed last night, and other than forgetting one small piece in her tank, she ate it all... and kept it down! I think it may have to do with the fact that she's spending all her time on the warm side of the enclosure now, helping her digest stuff... I hope it provokes her appetite too.

 

[Russ S]

I'll keep an eye out for probiotics. I was hoping I wouldn't have to order online.

I have found probiotics in feed stores.
Good luck with your gecko.

 

[bowsertime]

What do you mean by feed stores? We have some pet stores in the area that sell those gecko food gel things, as well as some that just sell pet food, but it's generally dog/cat stuff that doesn't really cater to exotics.

 

[Russ S]

By feed store I refer to places that supply feed and other supplies for large domesticated animals like cattle, horses, ect.

 

[bowsertime]

I definitely haven't seen any of those in the area. Maybe out of town, but I don't really have the transportation to get there.

 

[TifaBea]

I keep my crickets in ziploc containers and poke holes in the top. I use the gut load in one container and the cricket water cube things in a pop cap. I use ziploc baggies on my hand to catch them Lol I share your dislike of them as well so I don't want to touch them.

I usually switch them to a new container eventually to prevent disease. I buy three packs of ziploc containers at the dollar store for a buck.

When I was young we had a bad cricket problem in the house and found that they can't get out of the sink in the bathroom. So that where I take them out of the container and if they get out its not a biggie.

They also have cicket keepers but I found that their feces are hard to clean up easily. So if you have the patience to scrub it would be a good bet and comes with a cricket catcher. But if not I just use the little totes and throw them away.

Perhaps try silk worms, you can buy them online but they only live for about two weeks. They have the most protein I've found yet.

If you haven't handled Binti for awhile I suggest a warm bath. Aides in shedding and in digestion and hunger. But if it will stress her out I would wait.

Mine gets mad at me but he doesn't bite me over it. And he's fine once I take him out. I only do it if absolutely needed.