Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello again! I'm the one who has the skinny female leopard with the shed problem. Now that the vet removed dried on and stuck shed from the roof of her mouth (it was totally blocking her mouth, and pulling up the sides - poor thing!), she still won't eat. I've seen her watching the mealworms in her feeding cup, but she won't eat them, even when I try to handfeed her one (I've also tried a cricket). I'm still doing her daily baths and the shed's almost completely gone from all of her (still working a bit on her toes). She'll drink about 6 drops of Ensure when I place them on her snout.
It's been a week today since the vet removed the shed - should I continue just with the drops of Ensure (is she getting enough?)? Or should I try to force feed her? If so, how do you go about opening their mouths without harming them?
Thanks in advance for your help!
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1.0.0 Dumeril's Boa, Bruce
1.0.0 Mexican Kingsnake, Vincent
1.0.0 Graybanded Kingsnak, Boris
1.1.0 Ball Pythons, Pete & Sweetie-Darling
2.3.0 Bearded Dragons, Bela, Sally, Marigold, Phoenix & Spook
0.3.0 Fattailed Geckos, Sahein, Beltaine & Soltice
1.1.5 Leopard Geckos, Rune, Apollo & 5 baby rescues
2.0.0 Rats, Captian Howdy & Despero
0.0.2 Hermit Crab, Kraken & Speedy
1.0.0 Pushy Lovebird Baxter

Hey there!
I am glad to hear you were able to get most of the dry skin off of her. She is probably very stressed out from all of the handling and stuck skin. I would recommend purchasing a curve-tipped syringe. LLL Reptile sells them very cheap. You can work the small tip into her mouth while someone else holds her in a warm towel. Vanilla Ensure will help stimulate her appetite and keep her nourished/hydrated while she is being treated. I recommend administering 6-8 drops 2-3x per day. Also, you can pour the Ensure into ice cube trays and freeze it into cubes to make it last. When she is a little stronger, you can make a richer slurry with mealworms and Ensure or mealworms and Pedialyte. Just buy a small, cheap blender at a thrift store or 99 cent store. Eventually, she will start eating on her own. Good Luck!
P.S. Put a towel over her cage to help her calm down a little bit, and minimize the stress as much as possible.

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Nicole

0.1 Boa Constrictor
1.3 Leopard Geckos
2.0 Crazy Dogs

"Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions; they pass no criticisms."
~George Eliot~

don't force feed her if she will take the Ensure on her own. I would recommend going to twice a day though
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
2 screamers born 3/15/05
RIP Peaches, Ghost
13 eggs a-cookin'