Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Peatree was given as a gift to me the day before yesterday.Peatree got his name becuz he's so little ! He had his tail detached too. So far I havent seen him eat. Today he snapped at a cricket but didn't catch him and jus forgot about him. I went to Shoprite today and picked up a syringe along with beef baby food to mix wit gatorade to feed him in the mean time pspguy sends me repti-aid.He's takin in alittle when i force feed. Any tips or suggestions ?!~@
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Jae from Jer'z
1.0.1 tremper albinos [juveniles]
0.2.0 albino [babies]
1.0.0 hypo [adult]
0.0.1 normal [seems pregnant]

Give him alittle time to get used to his enviroment. My gex miss crix some times one of them misses quite alot and is usless at hunting. But this doesn't seem to have an adverse affect to his health. If a gecko was so sick she couldn't move to catch a crix I would 1st. take it to the vets to find out why. 2nd after doing #1 I'd try it on Meal worms.

I wouldn't force feed unless you have been shown how to do it by a vet and as a last resort. Force feeding may well cause more stress to the little gex than anything else.

The correct method which involves 2 people I may add is to use a cue-tip/cotton bud and run the stem around the side of the geckos mouth to produce the bite reaction. Once they have done this use the cotton bud stem as a gag. DO NOT PUSH DOWN ON IT or you may break the jaw. Using a syrnge(sp) and a (I've forgotten the name but its a small 3cm long tube about 1-2mm in diam) gently push this down into the geckos stomach. You have to be careful that you don't go down the trach(sp) or you will end up injecting the food into the geckos lungs.... Its not easy to do but it can be done if your not careful.

Hold the gecko firmly and securly with their head poking in the crook between your thumb and index finger when you make a lose fist.

I would REALLY advise you not to force feed without consulting a vet.

Jil.

From Jil's definition of "force feeding"- no wonder no one recommends it!! I believe that I may have been using the term incorrectly.... I used to use the term "force feeding" because that's what I thought I was doing - forcing the gecko to open his mouth in order for me to feed him. However, when I feed my little rescue, Pablo, I don't actually push down into the stomach... (maybe someone can tell me the technical term for the following process?)

I hold him in a cupped hand (similar to forming the "M" in sign language) and I hold him such that his body doesn't move, but his head is sticking out. (At this point, both my husband and I are involved in the feeding - one to hold Pablo and one to brace the head).

If you GENTLY stroke the sides of the mouth, sometimes the gecko will open his mouth WIDE - mainly because by this point he's pissed. I then stick just the tip of the syringe into his mouth and he will clamp down. I fill his mouth up with the stuff from the syringe - and then I stop. Once he lets go of the syringe, I leave him alone and try again in a few minutes.

Hope this helps.

infact i dont even do that.. i used a syringe and put a drop on his snout until he licks it then i keep applying sum and he licks a little up and stop like 15 seconds later i continue this 2 times..ima try doing it 2-3 daily..if that black spot is his spleen then whats his problemm ???
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Jae from Jer'z

my collection and their names..
1.0.1 tremper albinos [juveniles] Yoshi & Laly
0.2.0 albino [babies] Peatree & Little Foot
1.0.0 hypo [adult] Tigga
0.0.1 normal [seems pregnant] Queens