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My little Gimpy finally started eating on her own. This is incredible! I've had her since about January of 2003 and I have never seen her eat on her own. She looked like a normal high yellow when I got her. Her health deteriorated when she quit eating not long after I got her. She lost a lot of calcium and her bones became soft. I treated her water with some calium supplement that dissolves in the water. Her bones hardened again however she will always have a kinked up leg and a curved jaw.

The curved jaw seemed to make it harder for her to eat. I tried some Jumpstart to get her to eat and it never worked. She never would eat and if she did it was not much. I never saw her eat. I would forcefeed her on occasion since she ever had an interest in the food. I even tried various food items, but no eating.

I put a new foodbowl in her enclosure earlier this week. The bowl was designed in such a way as the mealworms cannot get out and she could get in and out of the bowl. I placed 10 meal worms in there. In 2 days I looked in her bowl and noticed that 8 were gone and 2 were left. 1 of those remaining had a chunk taken out of it. I looked throughout her enclosure to see that there were no escapee mealworms.

I looked at her tail and it had gotten fatter. I almost cried! I then decided that I would load the food bowl up. I put 25 mealworms in there this time. I took her out of her hide box and placed her in her foodbowl. I watched as she went nuts on those mealworms eating about 10 more.

During typing this message I looked to count the amount of mealworms in her bowl and she snagged another one up. This is the best feeling ever. To think that I put her in the freezer to put her out of her misery. She was in there for about 1 minute and I took her out because I did not have the heart to do it to her. I'm glad I did not. She is such a little beast.

Anyway just thought I would share.
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
Found 2 Leo eggs (JungleXBlizzard) today. 5/23/04
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1 Gray Ratsnake 0.0.1
2 Dekay's Snake 0.0.2
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum
1.1 Green Tree Frogs (H. cinerea)
1.1 Gray Tree Frog (H versicolor)

Congrats!!! I'm SO glad to hear that you didn't have to freeze her (ick)

>I put a new foodbowl in her enclosure earlier this week. The
>bowl was designed in such a way as the mealworms cannot get
>out and she could get in and out of the bowl.

Where'd you get that from!??!?!?!?!

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~

CONGRATS!!!! What a tgif ( Thank God It is Friday!) that is wow good for you and her!!!

By the way, my leo had layed eggs a while ago and me panicing about the eggs might die, they did end up dieing (sinking in on me )
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TLC

I designed it myself. I do not like purchase things if I do not have too.

Take a plastic container you do not use anymore. I used an old mealworm container. You could also use a butter tub.

You can make food and waterbowls this way.

Cut the container in half so that the lid would be on one side of the cut and the bottom of the container would be at the other side of the cut.

Once you have the container cut. Trim the lid side of the container so that there is a thickness of about 1 inch from the lid of the conatiner fo the cut. Keep the lid on for it will serve as the bottom of your foodbowl. No meal worms got out of this container because the sides of the bowl come in slightly not allowing the mealworms to climb out. Your gecko can pick most of them out. I'm sure it can because if my gimpy can a normal gecko should be able to as well.

Place your gecko in the food container the first time you use it so that it can associate the new bowl with food.

The other half of the tub can be used to hold water. Just trim it to how deep you want the water to be.

Voila! Cheap food and water bowls. If they ever get too nasty you can make new ones.
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
Found 2 Leo eggs (JungleXBlizzard) today. 5/23/04
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1 Gray Ratsnake 0.0.1
2 Dekay's Snake 0.0.2
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum
1.1 Green Tree Frogs (H. cinerea)
1.1 Gray Tree Frog (H versicolor)

Congrats on your gecko eating. We are still having no luck and have force fed her crickets and mealworms. She still shows no interest on her own. Could you please take a picture of the bowl? I am having problems visualizing it.

Thanks

That's so great to hear!!! I'm really happy to hear that
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund