You asked for it.....how I feed my blind baby leo

[TribalGecko]

Hi there,
Decided to start this new topic because the deformities one is so long. Remember how I had the baby leo born with no eyes and I was going to try to feed it using a syringe method and grinding up the crickets? Someone had asked me to keep them posted on how he is doing. Well this is how we got him to eat: we took a giant mealworm and cut the tip of the tail off. When we picked up the baby gecko, he would open his mouth to defensively and we then squeeze the insides of the mealworm into his mouth! No muss, no fuss! He is very thin but he might just have a chance now. My friend had given up with him this morning but I think this might just work. The mealworm didn't like it too much though......

[reptile gallery]

Now that's dedication!!
Good luck to you (and your gecko)!!

[JeffT]

Aw thats really sad, hes gonna ave a tough life. Good to know you really love this leo. Many people would probably give it away.

[Alicewave]

That's a really fun and disgusting idea! Hope it works for you. But don't forget, you need to get calcium in him too somehow.

[TribalGecko]

Oh no problem with the calcium. We just dip the gooey end of the worm in the powder. I just hope we don't have to feed him like this forever. I think he will get used to being fed by hand as he grows up, if he grows up. I will post a picture of him, he is really pretty.

[Trace]

Here are a few solutions I use for rehabilitating chameleons:

Bug Juice:
Crushed or blended insects

Add only enough of the below ingredients to liquefy the crushed insects enough to draw into a syringe:

Ensure Plus
Pedialyte
Raw egg yolk

Refrigerate remaining bug juice. Discard if not used within two days.

Or: Emeraid Nutri-Support. It's a prepackaged long-term enteral nutritional food available from veterinarians.

Now please read this disclaimer!!!!!

I am not a veterinarian, before attempting ANY of these feeding solutions, PLEASE check with your vet before offering! My knowledge on Leo's is sketchy at best and I'm not sure of their nutritional requirements. I just think it may be somewhat easier on you and your time if you can use a liquid food source for the leo.

Good luck!

Trace

[Alicewave]

I would go with Enteral Insectivore from herpnutrition.com myself.

[Samba]

I second that, Meg. I've been using it on my kids since they went off insects (still don't know why they do that?) and they still look great! The albino female I was trying to fatten up originally has gained more than 15 grams, and is eating more live prey now.

This thread reminds me of when I rescued a baby one-eyed fat tailed gecko. I had to hand feed her as well, and despite all my efforts she passed away about 6 months later. Hand-feeding is difficult to maintain, just because it wipes you out, emotionally and time-wise. I'm glad to hear you are so dedicated to this little one, despite his misfortune. Please do post a pic so we can see him!

[TribalGecko]

How often do you think he needs to eat? He can't take very much at a time so I am figuring 3 to 4 times a day? Here are a couple pictures of him. Note how thin he tail is :(

[TribalGecko]

well okay here is the second photo....

[matt_winter]

Thats really nice of you to keep him and still try to help the little guy out. Good job!

[Colonel SB]

What a cute little guy, I hope he makes it.

[drewlowe]

Hi tribal i was the one that asked since i had 2 born that way last year that i had to put to sleep. I didn't try the mealworms but i did try something like that with cricket guts. It was gross but i didn't want them to die. But anyway they wouldn't eat at all they spit thiers back out. They absolutly refused to eat.

I'm glad to hear the little guy is eating. Keep trying and you can pm me to let me know how he is doing cause i'm real intersted in how you get him to eat. (if it ever happens to me again).

I wish the best of luck.

Jamie

[Samba]

His tail is thin, but he may fatten up over time. One thing you have to remember is his lack of eyes may not be the only deformity he has. I would keep a close eye on him (no pun intended-really). I would suggest feeding 1/2 to 1 Cc of 'food' a day. You can try suppliementing his diet with some chicken or turkey baby food to keep his proteins and fat levels up. Please keep us updated... he's awefully cute!

[TribalGecko]

Well its all over now. We had to put him to sleep. He started having bloody stool (old blood) which suggested to me some type of upper GI problem. He started to look bruised on his belly too. Oh well.....he is out of his misery at least...=(

[drewlowe]

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish it would have worked out for you. You at least took the time to try to help him, more than alot of people i know.

[TribalGecko]

yeah, thanx. I am thinking if I had started with the feeding method right from the start, he might have survived. I hope the 4 other eggs that are left are okay :dumb: .....I guess 88 degrees might be too high for them to incubate at but I don't want to start messing with the temps now that they only have a couple weeks to go. My leos are working on another batch of eggs and I will incubate them at 82 degrees this time.

[Samba]

Tribal... my condolences. I'm sorry he didn't make it, but I commend you on your efforts to help him. Keep us updated on the other eggs.

(P.S. I don't think 88 degrees is too high... just my opinion).

[Alicewave]

Tribal sorry to hear it but he is probably better off in the long run.

Samba: I think tribal meant that he suspects the eye problem is a result of the tremper method where you increase the temp to 88 after two weeks so they hatch faster. 88 is fine if you are incubating for male then ron suggests to lower the temp a bit. I don't know if that would be a good idea either. I tend to agree with the theory that eye problems are a result of Vit. A deficiency in the mothers myself.

[TribalGecko]

Well I am gut loading my crickets with all kinds of fresh fruits and veggies including carrots and using Minerall too. The parent colony is looking really well.....I do have one question though. My original colony consisted of 4 females and 1 male. Then I bought three more babies, 2 albinos and 1 leucistic. I put them into the tank with the other leos when they were teenager size and now know that the leucistic is a male (the 2 albinos are females). There has been no problems YET.....they all get along great but won't two males eventually fight with each other? The tank is a 20 gallon and they seem like they are comfortable with enough room.

[drewlowe]

8 Geckos in a 20 gallon seems a little too small to me. i house 7 adults in a 75 gallon cage. I know thats a little big but i have several hides, and i plan on getting a few later on to add to that cage. And i belive you will have problems with both of the males in the same cage specially in a 20 gallon. When your sub adult male is ready to breed that is when you will most likely see the problems start. Even if there isn't any fighting you may notice the smaller or submissive one isn't eating as well as the other male. Or you could stress out the submissive male. If you want to contiue to have both i would suggest separating one of the males into his own cage,( or separte both males from all the female into there own individual cages.) if you want him to breed with the other females you can just introduce the female into his cage. but you have to be careful of that because she may have already mated with the other male so you would never know for sure which male was the father. Just my thoughts.