Young leopard gecko wont eat/swallow!! help!

[johnmacmhaolain]

So about 2 weeks ago I come home from tour to find a pair of Mac-snow leopard geckos waiting for me. My gf had bought them at the local reptile expo and then later bought a blazing blizzard. We keep them all in separate but similar habitats and the male mac-snow and blizzard are thriving and getting large, but the female still refuses to eat. When my gf bought her, the gecko was at 6g, and now shes down to 4g. She hasn't eaten one solid meal since she's gotten here and we've tried everything from mixing up her food, hand feeding, force feeding (she wont swallow) and now we're making a puree of meal worm, vitamins, calcium and appetite stimulant and using a syringe to make her eat (but sometimes she tries to spit up the puree). She doesn't mind sipping the stimulant on its own, but once you get insects near her, he's not having it. I tried sending a message to the company we got her from but they're super unresponsive and I'm gonna try one more time and contact the vet. I've tried dis-impacting her but nothing happened and she seems to poop even though she's not eating. She seems lethargic but once we take her out she's moving around and she looks healthy other than being skinny (walks fine, joints at good angle). Any advice would be awesome, I don't want her to suffer.

 

[indyana]

If you only got her two weeks ago, you've put her through a lot and probably stressed her out a bit. Geckos can take a while to pick up eating, depending on their personalities.

A few recommendations I can make:
* Leave her alone except for necessary care and keep her environment quiet consistently. If you have bright lighting, you may want to turn it off. If necessary, partially cover her cage to cut down the disturbances. Minimize handling to what is necessary.
* Soak her once a day for 10-15 min in warm water. Make sure the water just comes up to her knees; you don't want her to have to swim in it. This will help keep her hydrated.
* When feeding bug slurry, put little drops on the end of her mouth/nose (not in the nostrils) and let her lick it off when it annoys her. Yes, this is a slow method, but it is less stressful, and you do not have to handle her while doing so. I'd recommend trying to feed once a day at first.
* Keep offering live insects as normal. If you are only offering mealworms, you may want to try more active insects like roaches/crickets to grab her attention.

 

[johnmacmhaolain]

Thanks indyana! I don't really mess with her except during feeding time but I will try to cover her to see if that helps. We did soak her the other day and she made a couple large BM's but is still not interested in mealworms so I'll try crickets. Thanks for the help!

 

[indyana]

Okay, let us know how she does!

 

[scm133]

Old trick that might work. Snip off the head of the mealworm & place the oozing part near her mouth. Don't force, but let her taste the oozing part. Most can not resist this and will grab it. This can be done without handling.