Haligren
is behind you.
- Messages
- 1,380
- Location
- Prince George, BC
Tiamat has been off feed for a few months now. She has visibly lost weight but I am too afraid to weigh her. Her tail is about the same thickness as when I got her this passed winter so I'm thinking she is approaching 40g. Not very skinny, but getting there. Today I went and got some Jump Start. I feel like I'm a horrible owner because it seems like almost every time I've picked her up I'm forcing something in her face or down her throat. I've been trying to offset some of these experiences with good ones such as just holding her and letting her explore when the cat's not around. (Sana has shown great interest in my reptiles and has only sniffed them, but it still makes me nervous as hell.)
I have tried force feeding a few times. Mostly by trying to insert a freshly evicerated superworm into the side of her mouth. Well she doesn't bite like many of the little leopard geckos I had worked with at my former pet store job. She just looks away, which would force me to try and hold her head still so that I could try and put the worm into her mouth. Usually she would end up biting it but wouldn't keep it. I tried the same tactic today with the Jump Start only I had my husband try to inject a bit of it into her mouth.
I didn't want to stick the applicator in her mouth but eventually ended up getting some into her although I'm not sure if it was any good. The tube I have is apparently pretty old so the clear syrup has separated from the rest of it. I had thought perhaps they had just changed the product but soon after getting the syrup into her, I realized there was the thick brown part still in the tube. -_-
The tube says to feed the animal three times a day, but I am not going to put that much stress on my gecko. I have suspected that she is ovulating, but I cannot see a pink spot at all and she has not formed any infertile eggs. It's almost as if she is stressed out from eating even though when she was hungry I would just plop the super in front of her and she would snap it up right away. Sometimes I had to chase her around the tank a bit before she realized she was hungry which makes me think I was stressing her out and she might not be eating because of that.
What's worse is that after my husband and I gave her a bit of the Jump Start she started swallowing hard and making a clicking noise. I tried giving her some water with an eyedropper which she did take some. We let her sit still for a bit to calm down, her head raised, and she continued to sometimes try to swallow with a bit of difficulty and the same faint clicking noise. She seems fine now however and has taken refuge in her moist hide.
I'm just really worried that I am stressing her. I have always offered her food every feeding day. She ate maybe once in the last month. She doesn't act like she's stressed though, so I don't know. Lately she has taken to laying outside her hides on the warm side of her tank with the occasional lap around it. When I handle her she is active and likes to hide under my hair or lay against my neck. I hate force feeding her but I don't know what else to do to get her to start eating again. The Jump Start seemed to work very well with the geckos I had used it on at the pet store even though I had to force feed it to them. They were eating again within a week or so.
Also I had made slurry a few months ago when she had stopped eating the first time but it appears the cubes I had in the freezer got freezer burn, and I don't have the $50+ to spend on new ingredients although I really wish I did. Atleast feeding her that way didn't seem to be so stressful.
Sorry about the wall o' text.
I have tried force feeding a few times. Mostly by trying to insert a freshly evicerated superworm into the side of her mouth. Well she doesn't bite like many of the little leopard geckos I had worked with at my former pet store job. She just looks away, which would force me to try and hold her head still so that I could try and put the worm into her mouth. Usually she would end up biting it but wouldn't keep it. I tried the same tactic today with the Jump Start only I had my husband try to inject a bit of it into her mouth.
I didn't want to stick the applicator in her mouth but eventually ended up getting some into her although I'm not sure if it was any good. The tube I have is apparently pretty old so the clear syrup has separated from the rest of it. I had thought perhaps they had just changed the product but soon after getting the syrup into her, I realized there was the thick brown part still in the tube. -_-
The tube says to feed the animal three times a day, but I am not going to put that much stress on my gecko. I have suspected that she is ovulating, but I cannot see a pink spot at all and she has not formed any infertile eggs. It's almost as if she is stressed out from eating even though when she was hungry I would just plop the super in front of her and she would snap it up right away. Sometimes I had to chase her around the tank a bit before she realized she was hungry which makes me think I was stressing her out and she might not be eating because of that.
What's worse is that after my husband and I gave her a bit of the Jump Start she started swallowing hard and making a clicking noise. I tried giving her some water with an eyedropper which she did take some. We let her sit still for a bit to calm down, her head raised, and she continued to sometimes try to swallow with a bit of difficulty and the same faint clicking noise. She seems fine now however and has taken refuge in her moist hide.
I'm just really worried that I am stressing her. I have always offered her food every feeding day. She ate maybe once in the last month. She doesn't act like she's stressed though, so I don't know. Lately she has taken to laying outside her hides on the warm side of her tank with the occasional lap around it. When I handle her she is active and likes to hide under my hair or lay against my neck. I hate force feeding her but I don't know what else to do to get her to start eating again. The Jump Start seemed to work very well with the geckos I had used it on at the pet store even though I had to force feed it to them. They were eating again within a week or so.
Also I had made slurry a few months ago when she had stopped eating the first time but it appears the cubes I had in the freezer got freezer burn, and I don't have the $50+ to spend on new ingredients although I really wish I did. Atleast feeding her that way didn't seem to be so stressful.
Sorry about the wall o' text.
I think I will try putting a little bit of the Jump Start on her chin again. She did lick it off but ended up wiping most of it on me. I'll just have to be persistent. I really don't want to have to inject it into her mouth again. >.<