Reptile & Amphibian Forums

one of my young leo has shown no interest in food lately.... if i have to how would i go about force feeding??

Force feeding is very hard on any animal, but if you are left with no other option...
You'll need a small 8cc syringe w/out the needle, a jar of high protein baby food such as turkey w/gravy, jumpstart or other appetite stimulant, and a little calcium powder or liquid calcium drops. Mix this together, equal parts of baby food and jump start and a little bit of calcium. Open up your babies mouth and squirt in about 1-2cc at a time until she/he wont take any more.

Hope this helps,
Uriah and Tina Walker
geckoville

Well, don't assist feed unless the leo hasn't eaten in a very long time and is losing weight. Have you tried a variety (waxworms often get them to eat)??? A way to assist feed a leo is to make up a bug slurry for it (a bit of vanilla or strawberry ensure, waxies, mealies, crickets, etc purreed in a blender) and feed it through a syringe. Put a drop on the animal's nose and let it lick it off...if you are lucky, you may get the leo to feed right from the syringe.

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

Do not force feed, assist-feed. You can break a jaw by force feeding, and it is almost never neccessary or prudent to do. Make a mixture or turkey baby food, a little ensure or strawberry-banana nectar, a bit of calcium and vitamin powder. You can also add a couple drops of flax seed oil. Get a small 1cc syringe without a needle. drop mixture on animal's nose. Be patient. Once the gecko starts licking it should hopefully take as much as it can eat. Keep gently squuezing up the miture with the syringe to keep pace with the gecko's licking speed.