Force feeding babies

[MartinW]

My babies aren't eating. I ripped off the head of a baby mealworm and held the rest of the worm in front of one of my babies, but so far I've only been able to get one of them to eat just one. The others don't seem interested at all. I've tried 1/4" crickets, smaller crickets, and baby mealworms but I still can't make them eat. Is there a way to force feed them, or to make them eat more? The youngest one is around a week old. Each baby is alone. I tried putting them in a cage with nowhere to hide for the crickets and they still didn't eat. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Martin

[reptiledude21]

Um...what babies are you talking about that would help. ;)

[MartinW]

Leopard geckos

[Tim and Julie B]

How old are they?
For the most part they won't eat until their first shed, or shortly thereafter. Usually 5-7 days, but it could take longer. If they continue to refuse food you may want to reconsider their cage set-up. Often when babies feel insecure it will affect their eaing habits too.

[MartinW]

My babies range in age from 1 week to 1.5 months. I use see-thru rubbermaids, two hides, a water dish, and a mealworm dish, and a paper towel substrate for each baby. The hot end is 88*F. It seems like a good setup to me.

Martin

[Alicewave]

Probably would affect eating habits but do you have a moisture hide? If none of them are eating I'm suspecting either something you are missing with your husbandry or that the parents had parasites and transmitted them to the babies. It's odd that none of them are eating. but I and J are right, they wont eat til after their first shed so I wouldn't force em. Better to try and find the cause of the problem before you force feed.

[MartinW]

I do have a moisture hide. Is there an easy way to tell if they have parasites? Maybe if I put paper on the walls of their cages so they can't see out they'll feel safer? The room they're in is rarely used so they aren't disturbed by people.

Martin

[Sean Day]

Here is what I do and have never had a problem. Keep your hatchlings in a shoebox size rubbermaid, preferable something you cant see through. Use one hide and paper towel as substrate. Check on them once every night to see if they have had there first shed. Only check once as there is no point in stressing them just so you can admire. Once they have had there first shed throw in 1 small cricket then leave them alone until the following night. There is no point in keep checking to see if they have eaten it. Again it will just stress so they wont eat. Usually the next night that cricket will be gone and you can add 2 of them this night. If cricket isn't gone take out and try again next night. I really think the reason alot of people seem to have problems getting to feed is they will just not leave them alone. Doing it this way it seems by the fourth feeding when I go to feed they are grabbing the crickets before I can put the rubbermaid away. At this point you can now start watching your baby eat and enjoy them a little more.

[MartinW]

Thanks for the advice Sean. I'll give some more things a shot first, but in the end if nothing works I might try force feeding with a syringe (without the needle). I'm planning on using Ensure and maybe mix it up with mashed up mealworms and crickets. I'm going to try it on the oldest one first and if it works I'll try it on the younger ones. I'm not sure how I'll get them to open their mouths though. Do I just shove the syringe in the mouth? I'm also thinking of bringing them to a vet so I know the root cause so I can try and avoid it next time. This is really stressing me out:(

Martin

[Alicewave]

I would get fecals done befoer you force feed. Force feeding isn't going to do you anything but cause undue stress if there is an underlying problem.

[Tim and Julie B]

Force feeding can be stressful and is only advisable in extreme cases. All of my leos are in see through containers and I interact with them daily. Believe it or not they do not stress that easily. I would advise that you get fecals done just to be sure there isn't an underlying problem. I would recommend testing your babies and adults to be sure.

[Siretsap]

I didn't get that problem yet, all my baby leopard geckos ate after their 1st shed or a week later at worst. I had to force feed a baby that I got a petstore but he still died. He was full of parasites. You should get a fecal exam done. I recently got some of my females infected with parasites, (prob from a fattail someone sold me saying it was cb and in perfect health till it died on me 3 days later). Tought I always washed my hands after touching her, but guess I must have fogotten one time or someone else did. Anyhow, am treating all my geckos with flagil at the moment, even the babies and it works for the type of parasites they have.

[MartinW]

My babies seem to be eating a bit. I took out everything from their cages for the whole night except the water dish and I let the mealies run free (and the crickets, which I always do), and all the babies ate around 5 worms each! So this is my plan: Take everything out except the water at 7 pm and feed them, at midnight put everything back in. Hopefully it will work and I hope eventually they'll learn to eat better. I'm not sure why they refuse to eat the normal way. Could it be inherited from their parents? They all have the same mother and the same father. I just had another hatchling and this one has a different mother. It will be interesting to see how her eating habits are.

Martin

[Sean Day]

I agree with others get some fecals done. I would not take everything out of the cage, at least leave one hide. Tim and Julie are correct saying they do not stress that easy. But fresh hatchling will stress very easy and not eat if being bothered.