"Special Enigmas" How to?

[GeckoHut]

Ok guys well im not a new owner or anything but I haven't had to deal with this before. I have a "special" lil girl who has A LOT of trouble eating her food. When I feed her it has to be right in front of her face and even then she sometimes tumbles over backwards and gets frustrated. Or misses and bites the paper or worse ME!! Let me tell you guys something those bites HURT and BLEED the lil monster that she is. Not intentionally though. She also has trouble eating out of a dish too. It's cute but sad at the same time. Is there anyone out there dealing or has dealt with this issue? Please don't post euthinize her or anything like that because she is happy and healthy living a wonderful life just a P.I.T.A to feed. I know it bothers her more than me so I'm just looking for a less painful way to feed. I'll post a pic in a later post. Thanks guys!!!

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

Just hand feed it. I had one like that for a while too. If you can't spend the time with her that she needs then I'm sure you can find her a caring home. But there's not much you can do with her. It is what it is.

 

[JordanAng420]

Do you feed her in a bowl? I have an enigma that has just recently started to show signs of "the syndrome" and she does fine as long as her mealies are in a bowl. She does miss sometimes, but at least the food can't crawl away after the first attempt...If hand feeding isn't an option like Davey suggested, you should try a shallow ceramic dish to feed her in. Good luck!

PS: I voted care for.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I would suggest covering the tank so it's much darker. We had one that did the same thing and as soon as we covered the front of her tub with a paper towel she started acting and hunting pretty normally.

 

[GeckoHut]

Thanks Mel that is more along the lines of what I'm looking for. Thanks Davey and Maia but I am already hand feeding and bowls don't seem to work. She bites at nothing unless I hold the bowl on edge so they pile up. Open to more ideas keep them coming if you have any new ones. BTW here are some pics!!

 

[GeckoHut]

The darkening trick has worked wonders Mel thanks alot!! She is grabbing her food much easier now. This is why i prefer to come here so much more friendly!!!

 

[Mel&Keith]

Glad to hear it helped!

 

[Baoh]

When my one Enigma had trouble with aim, which improved somewhat later as she grew, the bowl and the reduced ambient light helped. I found that keeping the mealworm density high in the bowl allowed her to accidentally strike prey items despite missing what may have been her intended targets.

 

[GeckoHut]

Ah ha that might just help even more. I try to count out the worms so I can monitor her but... I never just loaded up the bowl, duh? Don't know why that never occured to me before. Along with the darkening I think we have solved the prob!! Thanks Boah!!

 

[malt_geckos]

I would raise it to a decent size and then adopt it out unless you have room to keep it.

 

[Alusdra]

I feel your pain- all four of my enigmas were adoptions and do exactly as you describe. Only two will eat off the ground/ from a bowl, still hand feeding the other two (I've got the swap-the-finger-for-roach trick down... ouch!) Monitor the number of mealworms left and her weight. If she is gaining and the mealworms disappearing (check under the paper towel, too) than you're good to go!

I don't have an opinion on whether you should keep her or adopt her out, that's your decision. But if you do adopt, make sure that there is a contract saying that the person will not breed and you trust them that they won't. Animals with the syndrome that severe definitely should not be bred. And I second getting her up to at least ~40 grams, so that she's through the touch-and-go baby stage.

 

[GeckoHut]

Oh I don't plan on selling here the poll was just to see the feedback. She is healthy and about 25 grams. The reason for the post was because it seems to be getting worse with age and not better and I wanted some know how, on easier feeding methods.And breeding is def. out of the question for that exact reason. Again thanks for all the posts the responses were great.

 

[Alusdra]

One of mine does seem to be doing worse with age, and for a while they all seemed to be getting more enthusiastic (and thus more likely to flip over). 2/4 are now at the point I would be comfortable (and might) adopt them to a regular home (so still wobbly and neuro, but able to eat on their own, shed, etc), one has egg binding issues but eats fine, the last is the one that tends to bite me when feeding and still has major neuro issues.

I didn't have them at less than 20g, but there were a LOT of issues at 20-30g that have pretty much resolved- shedding, mostly, but feeding on their own, too. Give her a chance and see if she gets better as she settles into her adult weight. As for feeding tips- I found that bigger prey items are better (more to grab onto) such as roaches, getting their attention and then dropping it can help avoid getting bit, and possibly acclimating her to a feeding tank so that she can chase the food around without it escaping.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Special Needs Gecko

Ok guys well im not a new owner or anything but I haven't had to deal with this before. I have a "special" lil girl who has A LOT of trouble eating her food. When I feed her it has to be right in front of her face and even then she sometimes tumbles over backwards and gets frustrated. Or misses and bites the paper or worse ME!! she is happy and healthy living a wonderful life just a P.I.T.A to feed.

It is not always the enigma that takes on this problem.
I have a MS to MS baby that's a bit disoriented in her
motion. Sometime eating and sometime just crawling.
She may flip over or strike at a worm and knock
over the water dish.(kidding),,but far enough off target.
I give her special attention but not as much to make it easier
as to teach her she can do it. I handle her quite a bit.
Always put meal worms and wax worms (in quantity)
on the cage floor to let her have practice. She has
been showing improvement. She is very healthy,
always ready to eat and ready to see my hand and
be held...........I will continue to try to improve her
condition and then give her to a lovely, reptile caring,
young lady that is a friend. She will continue to
have a good home.............................
Take care. HJ ​