Leopard gecko not eating

SnakeyJay · 03-22-11, 07:19 AM

So a lad I work with has got a leopard gecko and up till now hes had no problems.. However now its started to not eat hardly.. Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong? Or any alternat ive food sources or ways to entice him to eat? Any info would be a big help..

TeaNinja · 03-22-11, 07:20 AM

is it housed on sand, sand can inpact in geckos intestines and possibly kill it.

SnakeyJay · 03-22-11, 07:21 AM

Nope, no sand or substrate it could ingest...

Lankyrob · 03-22-11, 10:13 AM

Would be helpful to have a rundown of its full husbandry for people to offer advice, otherwise it a case of "is it this?" "no" "is it this?" "no" etc etc

SnakeyJay · 03-22-11, 10:44 AM

Im not sure on all that or id have put it in lol... I just thought id ssk if any1 has any tips in general for helping it get an appetite.. Hes goin to the vet I think this weekend if no luck.

ilovemypets1988 · 03-22-11, 02:29 PM

has he tried wax worms, my eo will literally take then from my fingers and hands, try running 1 down the side of his mouth (starting from the back of the head, working forwards) its only an idea but its worth a shot.

SnakeyJay · 03-23-11, 01:43 AM

Thanks dude.. Will try that

Jendee · 03-23-11, 05:41 AM

lol Ive had every leopard gecko Ive owned die on me for lack of eating and took them to my vet several times..little stinkers got expensive and my vet never found anything but some gassy stuff in there vent??? really weird but she said when they get hungry they will eat lol wow, words of wisdom right there lol I have since found a new vet. But still never figured out what was going on with my geckos. I eventually assumed it came from them being housed together at petco and they had something else going on. I no longer will do geckos or anything besides pythons and boas lol
Good luck I hope you guy eats it really sucks watching them wither away to nothing

ilovemypets1988 · 03-23-11, 08:05 AM

this is gunna sound cruel but if it comes down to it and after trying everything else, i would have the animal euthenaised if i see them suffering in that sence, i just couldnt bare to watch them go through it, so heres what i would do (in steps) to try and help the gecko eat:
1.) rub the food item along the mouth a few times,
2.) cut the food item open (a waxworm would be best i suppose) and put it to there nose to get the "killer" instinct to kick in,
3.) using a pare of plastic feeding tweezers, i would force open the mouth (gently) and put the food item half way in and hope that the gecko doesnt spit it out.

and in all honesty, thas as far as i would go, after this i would take the gecko to a vet and if after a few weeks the gecko still hasnt eaten, then i would pay just to put it out of its suffering and have it put down.

but thas just me tbh and if that seems wrong then so be it.

SnakeyJay · 03-23-11, 12:35 PM

I see your point... Maybe I didnt make it clear... He is eating, just not alot of it.

ilovemypets1988 · 03-23-11, 01:16 PM

this may sound stupid but are you giving it calcium powder, as i found that when my leo didnt come with any, she didnt wanna eat much either, now she eats twice as much, if so, try using supplement food - you can get it from pets at home, its brown and should be with the powders for reptiles, failing this, ive heard of giving the feed insects with gut load feed 2 days before feeding to the gecko, that works alot aparently but dont hold me to this