when do you give up

[Kristi23]

I have a hatchling that is a month and a half and it still won't eat on its own. If the gecko was lethargic, I would have already put her to sleep, but this gecko is super hyper and full of spunk. How long do I go before making that decision? I've never had to put a gecko down before and I really don't want to with this little one. I'm already attached. I cannot see anything wrong with her and she's more active than most my hatchlings. She's just still skinny and will not touch bugs at all. We've tried everything.

 

[dprince]

Honestly, the answer is - if you don't want to, don't. I've had to hand feed several babies for a few months, but they ended up eating on their own and thriving. I sold them as pets only, because they didn't eat well initially, but one in particular ended up being one of my favorite geckos - probably because we spent so much time together.

It really depends on what you want to do. If you don't mind the hand feeding, and have the time to do it, go for it - as long as the gecko is thriving all other ways.

 

[robin]

Honestly, the answer is - if you don't want to, don't. I've had to hand feed several babies for a few months, but they ended up eating on their own and thriving. I sold them as pets only, because they didn't eat well initially, but one in particular ended up being one of my favorite geckos - probably because we spent so much time together.

It really depends on what you want to do. If you don't mind the hand feeding, and have the time to do it, go for it - as long as the gecko is thriving all other ways.

i completely understand but some animals have the failure to thrive syndrome. my feelings are if the animal can not survive on its own (after trying everything) and is just dwindling away, it's not fair for the animal. we want to save everything and we try and this is good but do we keep trying and ignore the fact they may be suffering.? there is generally a reason why the animal do not thrive and even though we want to save them all, nature suggests it just wasnt meant to be

 

[acpart]

I agree with what everyone else has said. However, what has it been eating, slurry, worms? I have had a few as well that don't eat well on their own. Since I feed the babies mealworms so I can hold the ones that don't eat and poke mealworms into their mouths. Eventually they learn, even after a month and a half. Sometimes I end up chasing them around with a jar lid of mealworms and when they strike at the lid, they get a mouthful of worms. Most of these geckos who don't get it together are also pretty hyper. I call them my ADHD geckos.

I had one extreme case with a gecko that had deformities at birth. I went away last winter for 2 weeks and my gecko feeder agreed to keep it (it was a newborn then) in her house. She fell in love with it, though it needs an extreme amount of feeding assistance. It's now 9 months old and only 10 grams but looks great and still needs a lot of help to eat. My friend is actually enjoying the care it needs and says she's happier with it than she would be with a "normal" gecko. If you can identify someone like that, maybe you can adopt it out.

 

[Shadraak]

well after havign to cull the one blind and partially deformed gecko it's sibling had some issues with it's belly rupturing and stuff coming out , was going to cull it as well however it had a lot of energy as well, slowly kept it medicated and eventually it stopped and it started eating well, and poo'ing but after next shed it opened up again, so we did the whole process again and now it's full of spunk eating, and pooing like crazy. One decision i was about to do that i'm glad i didn't.

 

[BioWorkZ]

That's a tough call. I'm a believer in the concept of "survival of the fittest", so if your little gecko isn't eating by itself...well, maybe it wasn't meant to survive in the first place. Yes yes, there will be lots of people that disagree with me, especially under the circumstances of being captive bred, taking responsibility for the young leo and lots of other factors not mentioned. If the leo doesn't have the drive to live, why force it? Then again it could only be a phase. Nevermind, I'm just going in circles here.

 

[Kristi23]

Thanks everyone. I started feeding her slurry after 3 weeks. I've tried getting her to open her mouth so I can get a worm in there, but she's stubborn. She will eat some slurry, but not a lot. Her potties are super small.

Since she is so active, I'm going to give her more time. If she gets bad, then I'll definitely put her down. I know a lot of people would have already, but she really seems fine except for the whole eating thing.

I don't know. This is so tough.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

I had a trouble eating gecko that i had to keep feeding by hand, and one day i decided to throw some crickets in there and it instantly went after them. to this day it still won't eat worms but its doing fine on it's own with crickets. Just a thought in case you haven't tried switching tit's food yet. But as for me i find it hard to give up, I like to give them as much of a chance as i possibly can. Good luck.

 

[Kristi23]

I had a trouble eating gecko that i had to keep feeding by hand, and one day i decided to throw some crickets in there and it instantly went after them. to this day it still won't eat worms but its doing fine on it's own with crickets. Just a thought in case you haven't tried switching tit's food yet. But as for me i find it hard to give up, I like to give them as much of a chance as i possibly can. Good luck.

Thanks! I haven't tried crickets, just mealworms and roaches. The biggest problem with her is that she's always trying to climb the walls on her tub. She is hardly ever looking at the ground. As soon as we open the tub, she's shooting out and up our arms. She's a crazy girl.

 

[Shadraak]

Thanks! I haven't tried crickets, just mealworms and roaches. The biggest problem with her is that she's always trying to climb the walls on her tub. She is hardly ever looking at the ground. As soon as we open the tub, she's shooting out and up our arms. She's a crazy girl.

that's like my SS male that doesnt eat at all for me anyway, everytime the tub is opened he wants out, pays no attention to the feeders, i've tried every feeder i can find and nothing, i just leave a bowl of mealies in there and he maintains his weight but not many are eaten he scares me starting to loose some weight finally but it's been that way since i've gotten him.

but for hatchlings i've found a very shallow dish/plate or lid for the xs ziploc bowls works for me it's low to the ground and they can see it.

 

[Kristi23]

that's like my SS male that doesnt eat at all for me anyway, everytime the tub is opened he wants out, pays no attention to the feeders, i've tried every feeder i can find and nothing, i just leave a bowl of mealies in there and he maintains his weight but not many are eaten he scares me starting to loose some weight finally but it's been that way since i've gotten him.

but for hatchlings i've found a very shallow dish/plate or lid for the xs ziploc bowls works for me it's low to the ground and they can see it.

There are always worms crawling around the tank because the dish is small (and see thru), so that's not it.

 

[niki0458]

I have had to hand feed a few of my hatchling albinos. I never give up I have only lost one but he was very tiny. I feed mine crickets so what i do is pintch the head of the cricket to kill it fresh and I hold the gecko in my hand so that their head and front feet are between my thumb and finger, I then tap the dead cricket against the side of its mouth until it get upset and opens its mouth then I stick the crickets head in its mouth and 95% of the time they will swallow it very rare have they ever spit it out.I know it sounds kind of mean but I have had great results with this.This is just one of my success. This is teardrop he was only about 1" when he was born and with lots of time and love he turned out great.before View attachment 27868
after View attachment 27869 . So I say lots of time and love don't give up.

 

[Kristi23]

Your gecko is doing great. Mine however will still not eat. I've put the worms in it's mouth and everytime she just spits it out. We've tried the guts trick and everything else I could think of.

 

[lillith]

My little Stubby just isn't growing, either.

It's odd because for awhile he was handfeeding really well, even though he would only eat white squishy mealworms... then he stopped eating. He clamps his little jaws shut when I try. Even if I manage to ever-so-sloooooowly wiggle his mouth open with a squishy mealworm and get it in and he bites down, he spits it back out. It's like he's on a hunger strike.

He's gone from his all-time high of 12g to hovering between 6-7g. I've tried slurry, and while it takes a good 45 minutes to get some in him, he shakes almost all of it off. It's become very depressing. Since I spend so much time with him, he's soooo sweet and mellow and it's breaking my heart to watch him. At this point I have decided I will give him another week to decide if he wants to live. His clutchmate is 23g already. If he can't gain wait on twice daily slurry-ings, I don't know what else to do, and I would want to put him down before he really suffers. And if I have to, I will.

But I don't want to.

I guess I'm just trying to say, I feel ya.

 

[godzillizard]

I have nursed ALOT of 'special needs' geckos, but if we choose to breed them, we have an obligation to these animals to keep possible 'bad' blood from recirculating in the gene pool. When I began to breed leos, 4 years ago, I bought animals because of their looks. Now, after a few years experience and constant research, I'm finding that color is great, but I'm far more interested in producing happy, healthy animals. I don't care if it's the coolest thing I've ever seen, if it doesn't have an enjoyable experience of life, neither will I

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

I have nursed ALOT of 'special needs' geckos, but if we choose to breed them, we have an obligation to these animals to keep possible 'bad' blood from recirculating in the gene pool. When I began to breed leos, 4 years ago, I bought animals because of their looks. Now, after a few years experience and constant research, I'm finding that color is great, but I'm far more interested in producing happy, healthy animals. I don't care if it's the coolest thing I've ever seen, if it doesn't have an enjoyable experience of life, neither will I

I kind of feel the same way. I'm on the fence as far as how I feel about "pet only geckos". I really don't trust people not to breed these pet only animals and I feel that this only perpetuates the "bad blood circulating in the gene pool".

 

[Deko Gecko]

Try diferent types of feeders:
did you buy this gecko? Some times if you offered a diferent food type they will not respond! Ask seller what he feeds his hatchlings...
You have to take this in. Consideration wen buying feeders...

 

[Kristi23]

Try diferent types of feeders:
did you buy this gecko? Some times if you offered a diferent food type they will not respond! Ask seller what he feeds his hatchlings...
You have to take this in. Consideration wen buying feeders...

This is a gecko I hatched and I've tried all kinds of feeders.

 

[critternerd]

Im having the same type of problem. Mine wont eat very much.

 

[Kristi23]

We ended up putting her down. She was 2 1/2 months old and wouldn't eat. She shook the slurry off and hardly ate any of it and started sleeping more. It just seemed like the right thing to do, but it was a really hard decision to make.