Trying to get Gecko to eat

[AmberJean86]

I have been coming through all the "my gecko won't eat" threads for the last two hours. I have a friend who's daughters just got gecko's as a gift. I'll spare you the whole story. So now they have two way to young gecko's from Petco. (housed seperately) Last night my friend brought over the one gecko, cage and all, because it's refusing to eat. And it is very skinny. I don't know how loing this lil guy has. It has only been eating crickets since they girls recieved it. I plan to try all the steps from the sticky about getting gecko's to eat, as well as making the soup. I don't think there is much time with putsing around with each little step. I will be calling my herp vet, but he isn't available until tuesday. :main_angry: Luckily I have a very good relationship with my vet with all the rescues I've used them for, so getting a can of AD shouldn't be a problem. Does anybody have any suggestions otherwise? I don't really think I have time to learn by trial and error here.

 

[TokayKeeper]

Do either of the babies appear slightly bloated with the skinny tail? How long have the girls had the geckos?

Something that's driven me up the wall since 2001 was that both Petco and Petsmart would notoriously house their young leopard geckos on vita-sand or calci-sand. PetSmart stopped this years ago, but Petco still practices it.

I'd have that little one checked for impaction, and in the meantime before you can get to your vet, do regular soakings in hopes of possibly getting the gecko to 1) remain hydrated and 2) pass any sand it may be impacted with.

 

[AmberJean86]

The girls have had their gecko's about 3 weeks. I have not seen the other one other then in a cell phone pic, and that one looks for the most part healthy, could put on a lil weight tho. But they feed as much as they will eat, so I'm thinking it's probably already fattened up or will be shortly. The gecko I have does have a very skinny tail. Although, from what I'm hearing...she's already showing improvement with activity here. I will be trying to feed her for the first time tonight.
How do I soak her? She doesn't like to be handled one bit, so that could be a task lol

 

[Pinky81]

for such a small baby you can take a gladware tub Small with cover. put a small amount of warm water in the bottom. put the baby into the tub and cover. I like to fill the sink with warmer water and let the tub float on that water. It helps keep the small amount of water in the tub warm instead of getting cold quickly. Make sure to poke some holes in the tub top of course. 10-15min soak should do.

Also I found with small babies crickets are sometimes difficult to catch, so break off the jumper legs so the cricket can't leap!

Other thing you can try is with a set of tongs...break open a mealie so some guts are coming out...hold that mealie with the tongs just up to the Leo's mouth...allowing it to lick the guts. I found that if you are patient and persistant with getting the little one to lick the guts it will end up grabbing the worm and eating it.

Also describe the babies tank set up to us.

 

[AmberJean86]

It's in a 10 gallon with a heat light and night heat bulb, which she just switched to a uth a week ago. It was on sand, that I changed to paper towel. There was one hide that I increased to the proper 3, including a humid hide. There was no calcium in the tank, but she did dust the crickets. And of course a water dish. This woman is very willing to change whatever is needed, and realizes the pet store is clueless...she just brought it to me so she wouldn't kill the poor thing.

 

[Pinky81]

I say try a soak. get your temps proper with the UTH. And try the mealie gut thing. your improving the husbandry now you just have to give it time to see if the little one can pull through.

Is the baby pooping?? If not you could always try a small drop of mineral oil with the soak.

 

[AmberJean86]

So, I went to the pet store and got wax worms...all they had in stock to try. But now I am currently watching this lil one stalk the worm like no tomorrow. And.....wax worm one is down! No coaxing at all, just dropped two in and she went and found one I dropped in the wrong place and is back to stalking the other. Ah sooo excited right now!

 

[AmberJean86]

How many should I let her eat?

 

[LeoMerlin]

Wax worms are usually used as treats. But if it is helping the baby to eat, just don't let it become addicted. Waxworms are like deserts (if not spelled right, sorry) for people. Try a variety of food. I am having similar issues with my newest gecko. Very tiny thing from PetCo. They had Leos in a little tank on sand. I don't know how old they are. I have the new one on paper towels, with two hides one is moist, the other is a log thing. UTH and red bulb. She/he ate 1 cricket (small) the other day and is starting to lick the guts if I wait long enough but won't actually eat the cricket or the small mealworms yet. If I don't see improvements tomorrow I may try the soak bath to see if that will help. She/he did poop at least once, so maybe it is still settling in? I don't know. My other leopard gecko had no issues eating when we got him home. He is doing well and is in a 20 gallon with paper towels.