Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all... i have a leo that has been to the vet. She is not eating on her own yet. The Vet told me to force feed her ( either crickets/mealworms). I tried to do that last night by opening her mouth (gently) but I couldnt get her to bite down and actually eat the mealworm. She would bite down and almost spit the worm out. Should the worm be dead? How do you successfully force feed a gecko? Any tricks of the trade would be great.

Thanks!

Lol,
It's not like that
You gotta get a seringe, grind up the mealworm/cricket/silkworm guts, and then put the seringe in her mouth and put that in, then close her mouth closed if you can to get her to swallow it. I once had to do that with my leo for a few months actually, she ended up dying soon later. You can also try baby food, i think its the beef one, or chicken, im not sure though. I used that too.
GOOD LUCK!

Baby food is probably easier. i have no idea how I would crush up crickets/mealworms. Not to mention that is just flat out nasty.

The vet did not say that i had to create some sort of mash. He basiclaly said open up the mouth and drop in the the bugs and you are good to go...

Where does one get syringes?

I can help you out.
First you need to either get an eye dropper or a syringe from your vet. I like the eye dropper better, you can buy them at Walgreens or any drugstore.
My vet has told me before to get meat baby food and add some Ensure to it, I've not tried that before. I have fed baby food with reptiles vitamins mixed it it. Even better would be to get some meal worms and crickets and put them in a blender then use that to feed to your leo. Don't worry, bugs don't have feelings.

Thanks for your suggestions....

Somehting about putting bugs in a blender that i am not to keen on. It's kind of nasty.

I might try the baby food/ensure method with an eye dropper...

I know how you feel about putting bugs in the blender - go with the baby food. Good luck

I just bought some baby food (chicken and vegetable). How much do feed to the leo? 1 Table spoon more? How do you know when they have been force fed enough?

Before you begin to "force" feed - try just squeezing a small amount and putting on the tip of your geckos mouth. See if she will lick it up, if she does, then slowly let her lick up some more. If you can get her to do this, I say feed her as much as she will eat. If not, what I do is SLOWLY squeeze an entire eye droppers worth.

Got it... Thank you!