Leopard Gecko not eating; I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING! HELP!

[nigthelizard]

I don’t think my leo is very old at all. It is only about 5 inches long and I’ve had it almost 2 months. It’s tail had gotten thinner since it had stopped eating, however, it was not ‘emaciated’ looking. It still had a plumpness to it.

My boyfriend is taking care of my leo while I’m on vacation and he has been keeping me up-to-date.

Today he informed me that there were several white stains on the carpet…. So now I’m paranoid again. I hate not being there and being unable to see what’s wrong. I hope my leo isn’t regurgitating it's food. It used to eat from my fingers, but won’t go near my boyfriend’s hand. So now, I’m not sure if my leo is eating. AH!!! The tank’s climate has been correct. Am I just being a worrywart?

I have a few pictures to share. Probably won’t be able to assess much. But I wouldn’t mind posting them :biggrin:

(They are a few weeks old)

I have like this lizard he is like my gecko very the same. he is 41 grams and he is nig. the color is very the same. it is fat and healthy have you tried to feed chicken or pork he like chicken or pork. sometimes if you touch the mouth about 20 or 30 times he will open the mouth for a long time and you can put food in some chicken or pork or maybe cricket or worm if he likes it. hopefully he will become fat and healthy he looks like good gecko many people here have bad gecko

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I have like this lizard he is like my gecko very the same. he is 41 grams and he is nig. the color is very the same. it is fat and healthy have you tried to feed chicken or pork he like chicken or pork. sometimes if you touch the mouth about 20 or 30 times he will open the mouth for a long time and you can put food in some chicken or pork or maybe cricket or worm if he likes it. hopefully he will become fat and healthy he looks like good gecko many people here have bad gecko

CHicken and pork are VERY bad for your geckos.

 

[Saskia]

I have like this lizard he is like my gecko very the same. he is 41 grams and he is nig. the color is very the same. it is fat and healthy have you tried to feed chicken or pork he like chicken or pork. sometimes if you touch the mouth about 20 or 30 times he will open the mouth for a long time and you can put food in some chicken or pork or maybe cricket or worm if he likes it. hopefully he will become fat and healthy he looks like good gecko many people here have bad gecko

Please think well what you are advising, chicken or pork are NOT good for your gecko.... and what do you mean by "he looks like good gecko many people here have bad gecko" ??? addle: "bad geckos"?????

 

[Pokeefe88]

How is Little One?

 

[Emmalou]

Update

My Little One is doing just about the same. Still very lazy and seems to sleep a lot. But, the dreaded fluid is completely gone and my leo seems to have put on a small amount of weight by the looks of it’s tail and head. I used to be able to see so many bones in it’s noggin :shock: However, the skin is extremely stretched from the bloating which will obviously go away with weight gain. I think it’s intestines are finally working normally by the looks of the poo. Which is good :biggrin: Still having to force feed, which I hate because it’s hard to be gentle when your FORCING something :? I’ve been giving my leo regular warm baths with the Pedialyte which has helped a lot with hydration. Now my leo’s eyes are open when I take it out to feed or give the medication. Anyway, the medicine has worked wonders and I’m hoping that now the only way we can go is up. I just hope my leo hasn’t forgotten how to hunt and what foods it really loves the most.

Today’s mission is to clean the tank thoroughly… again. I’ve been trying to keep it as clean and fresh as possible. Now that my leo is looking much better I feel it’s time for another cleaning.

Thanks for all the support again! I know I say it almost every time I post, but it really has given me the boost I needed. You guys are so wonderful. :blushing:

Also, the critical care food the vet gave me is a chicken based type of food. I’m supposed to give it to my leo until it’s weight looks good or until it eats on it’s own, which it has yet to do. Is this a problem? I noticed you guys saying chicken and pork are not food for Leos.

 

[Pokeefe88]

I'm glad little one is doing better! Also I wanted to ask if the critical food is solid or mostly a liquid? If its a liquid do you use a open ended syringe type to push the 1 cc into your leos mouth?

I found out that my leo has 2 parasites (round worm and coccidia) and I had to force feed her 2 different kinds of meds .01 and .02 cc. I found if I hold her in my fist firmly but gently and wait until she stops wriggly-ing around I can press the edge of the syringe to her lips and slide it along them, she will eventually open her mouth and I can them push the medicine into her mouth. I am not sure how you are doing it but thats how I do it. I thought you might be interested in how I force feed.

Also the reason everyone is say that feeding your leo chicken/pork, is because its WHOLE and like a strip of either. Just ignore that advice, what your vet gave is perfectly fine.

I hope Little One will keep recovering and I think under your care, she will!:fight:

 

[nigthelizard]

CHicken and pork are VERY bad for your geckos.

He is never die yet.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

He is never die yet.

That is a very poor reason to continue to do it. Just because it has not killed him YET, does not mean that it is not going to kill him. You can do what you want with your own gecko, but please DO NOT give poor advice such as this on these forums or I will remove you. Do you understand?

 

[Emmalou]

I'm glad little one is doing better! Also I wanted to ask if the critical food is solid or mostly a liquid? If its a liquid do you use a open ended syringe type to push the 1 cc into your leos mouth?

I found out that my leo has 2 parasites (round worm and coccidia) and I had to force feed her 2 different kinds of meds .01 and .02 cc. I found if I hold her in my fist firmly but gently and wait until she stops wriggly-ing around I can press the edge of the syringe to her lips and slide it along them, she will eventually open her mouth and I can them push the medicine into her mouth. I am not sure how you are doing it but thats how I do it. I thought you might be interested in how I force feed.

Also the reason everyone is say that feeding your leo chicken/pork, is because its WHOLE and like a strip of either. Just ignore that advice, what your vet gave is perfectly fine.

I hope Little One will keep recovering and I think under your care, she will!:fight:

Thank you so much! Your way of force feeding works much better than mine did. A spatula was involved :coverlaugh: But I fed my leo one last time before I switched it’s lights and oh my, it was so much LESS of a hassle. Thanks a bunch!

I’m hoping to see more improvement! Everyone keep your fingers crossed!! :biggrin:

 

[TheOneBlueGecko]

I have one suggestion to increase hydration, though it can be a bit stressful for the gecko depending on their temperament, so take it with a grain of salt. Anyway, you can try spraying the tank a bit when the gecko is out, this will get some water in the tank, but also some drops on the gecko which he will probably lick off. You don't really always want to keep the humidity up like this, but it might get your gecko to drink a bit. If you do try make sure you are not just spraying at your gecko harshly, think of it like a light rain.

I swear that my last gecko 'liked' this, because she would go out of her hides whenever I decided to spray and just stand there under the light mist.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Thank you so much! Your way of force feeding works much better than mine did. A spatula was involved :coverlaugh: But I fed my leo one last time before I switched it’s lights and oh my, it was so much LESS of a hassle. Thanks a bunch!

I’m hoping to see more improvement! Everyone keep your fingers crossed!! :biggrin:

A spatula?! That sounds a bit intense lol; I am glad my way is much easier. My vet's secretary told me to use a fingernail, credit card or the syringe itself. I had a friend help/show me the first time. Then I was fine by myself afterward. I always enjoying sharing my experience!

What do you mean switched its lights? Otherwise I hope Little One is doing even better!

 

[Emmalou]

By switching lights, I mean change them out. I have a daylight and a nightlight. The nightlight is more of just a heat emitter with a little bit of light.

 

[Pokeefe88]

By switching lights, I mean change them out. I have a daylight and a nightlight. The nightlight is more of just a heat emitter with a little bit of light.

Oh okay :biggrin:

 

[Emmalou]

I was just thinking today about how much care my Leo needs right now. My hopes are that it will get better and be completely back to normal. However, I was just wondering if anyone had heard of a circumstance where they have to force feed their geckos every day. I hope that this doesn't happen to me, not because I wouldn't want to do it, but because I want my leo's life to feel as natural as possible.... I'm starting to get pessimistic again.... GAH.

Things are still about the same. Stools are normal color but seem a bit soft. Probably/hopefully from the food it is on at the moment. Still groggy and lazy. Eyes not staying open as much anymore.

 

[TheOneBlueGecko]

Honestly, if you are force feeding the gecko either it will get back its strength or its health will improve so that it can eat on its own, or the gecko will eventually pass away. There always could be an odd situation, but that is how it usually seems to go.

If what you are force feeding has a fair amount of water (and that seems like it is the case) the soft stools are probably just because it is taking in more water than it would normally.

 

[Emmalou]

Okay. Thank you for your response Let’s hope the passing away option does not come in to play. Only time will tell. I feel like if my leo has made it this far, it’s a good sign. You know?

 

[TheOneBlueGecko]

Okay. Thank you for your response Let’s hope the passing away option does not come in to play. Only time will tell. I feel like if my leo has made it this far, it’s a good sign. You know?

It is always a good sign if they are still fighting, especially if the gecko has not lost a lot of weight. You just keep try and force feeding her as needed and hopefully you will see a real turn around sometime soon.

Question: are you keeping any food in with her? If it were me I would get some meal worms and put them in a bowl in her tank, even if she is not eating on her own right now, who knows when that might change and just having the food there might prompt her when she feels like it. Plus, it won't hurt.

 

[Emmalou]

Well, I’ve offered food recently, but my leo was not interested at all. And my vet said that it was possibly the food I was giving it that made it sick. He said that it could have been the crickets or the waxworms. My leo has never had a hankering for mealworms…. However, things may change. Also, are superworms okay to feed them? Just wondering.

Thank you for your advice. I usually buy my food supplies at PetSmart. I’m trying to find a different source just so I can see if it was in fact the food that was making me leo sick.

 

[Emmalou]

Update

So, I just got back from the vet. My veterinarian owns reptiles and was nice enough to bring some of his critical care food for reptiles to give to me And, he also took a quick glance at my gecko and told me that it looked MUCH better, which was good to hear.

However, he was concerned about the lethargy and closed eyes, so he wants to do another fecal to see if my leo has parasites. I’m so scared!! :shock: I heard that parasite meds are like chemotherapy for geckos… and can even make them feel worse and lose strength to the point they die. GAH! Let’s hope that my leo does NOT have parasites and that it was just a small infection!

My leo looks ‘thicker’, the vet said, and is glad to see that my leo has perked up a bit and is gaining weight. So, we’re getting closer to recovery!!!!! YAY! If my leo has parasites it’ll be one step backwards.

 

[Mardy]

Glad to see progress, let's hope the poor gecko doesn't have to go through the drugs treatment.