Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, what happened to me was, that suddenly my gecko wouldn't eat. He just would refuse food and act as if it was not there. I eventually realized he was getting alot skinnier and took him to the vet. The veterinarian said that I should force feed him. And how to force feed him I was told was to rub his lower Jaw and it should open, and if not, give a little pry on the jaw and it should open up. Drop in a small DUSTED cricket and he will be forced to swallow it. If he drops it, retry. This takes alot of patience but it keeps the gecko alive. Thats what I did and it WORKED. I highly suggest that if your gecko is not eating for any apparent reason. -Jon

Force feeding should only be done under the following circumstances:

1) The gecko is in dire, DIRE need
2) You actually know what you're doing.

Force feeding is not only a dangerous physical risk to the animal, but extremely emotionally traumatizing.

Leos and other captive herps will stop eating every once in a while for a plethera of reasons.

In particular, during the winter, many leos will greatly reduce their food intake, or stop eating all together. Even if you keep the temps the same or close to it. They know these things. This "fast" is normal.

Other times leos will get bored of a certain food. Or they don't like something you're feeding them.

Or they've got some serious medical problem.

These animals are designed by nature to go for long periods of time without eating if it has to happen. So there's no need to start panicking, even if they don't eat for a few weeks.

Force feeding does, very periodically and in specific cases, have to happen. I had a blind baby hatch and this was the only way he would eat. Other cases, such as a severly neglected leo with a toothpick for a tail, who is so close to death that he doesn't have the strength to eat, will merit force feeding. But it is a dangerous risk and rarely the best solution.

In particular, on these forums where many people are young, inexperienced and uninformed, I think recommending force feeding is a dangerous move. If you're concerned for your leo, take him / her to a vet, like the starter of this thread did.

But I would NOT recommend it as a solution in 99.9% of cases.

Joel

(To the original poster ... I'm not saying what you did is wrong, esp. if that was on the recommendation of your vet. I'm just saying that it should not be applied as a band-aid solution to a problem which is most likely unidentified anyway!)
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2.3 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Pythons
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake

Force feeding is extremely stressful to your gecko and can be dangerous, you can break their jaw- I have seen at least one person come on this forum who broke their poor geckos jaw by trying to force feed. There are times when it is necessary but only in truly desperate circumstances, and you need to know how to do it correctly- a vet can show you and if the situation is that bad you should definately take the gecko to the vet. While the original poster did that, and the vet recommended it and taught them, that is much different than going out and telling everyone to start force feding their geckos if they stop eating for awhile. I think it is pretty irresponsible to recommend it to anyone whose gecko may just be taking their natural winter vacation from food, or may be ill and need medical treatment.

I find that even when geckos are ill, feeding can usually be accomplished by safe, and far less stressful assisted feeding (dropper feeding onto nose for gecko to lick off).
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

Leos generally slow down on eating during the winter. I've noticed a ton of non-eating posts. Its all normal so there is no reason for force feeding. I've heard it does more bad than good anyway. There are too many other reasons that i gecko might not be eating that are just normal. Force feeding is only called for in very rare circumstances. Thats my opinion anyway.

but during that time he was brumating and gradually loss wait. Then suddenly he started eating crazyly, and was eating everything in sight. I hesitate hand feeding, becuz it will scare the and stress the gecko, and he will lose his/her "trust" in you.
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1.2.1 Leopard Geks
1.0.1 High Yellow, 0.1 Blizzard, 0.1 Normal
2 White's Treefrogs
2.1 Fire Bellied Toads
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
Fish:
0.2 Parrot Cichlids
1 Upside Down Catfish
0.0.2 Bullhead Catfish
1 Geophagus jurupari
1 Fire Barb
0.0.4 Blue Gouramis
Goldfish

Herpin since 93'

Was check for the reason why your leo stopped eating. That way, you're getting to the root of the problem.

It seems like the most common reason for lack of appetite is improper temperatures. If it's too cold or sometimes even too hot, this is going to adversely affect your leo's appetite. What leo wants to eat when he's got indigestion?

Since you said he's losing a lot of weight, he's probably not brumating. If that were the case, his metabolism would have naturally slowed down to compensate for the lack of food intake.
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chickabowwow

3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)

I don't cool my geckos for longer than a month and because the herp room houses other non-cooling the reptiles the temps are usually in the 70's so I feed sparingly and weigh bi-weekly to make sure they're maintaining their weights. Every January though there are a few geckos that refuse food all together and I usually move them to the coldest place in the room (near the widow) where I can maintain them at the lowest possible temperatures to reduce their metabolic rate. I keep them cooler longer than my other geckos and they usually start feeding within a week of being heated back up.

Occasionally if there is one that is still reluctant I will add liquid vitamins (like exo-terra electrolize)and feed small lobster geckos which they like to chase. This has always done the trick.

Randy
DeadFish Herpetological