# leopard gecko



## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

My bro has a leopard gecko.. like 3-4'' in a 10g for a few weeks. Hes been feeding it mealies and crickets but the last few days it hasnt been eating, it got so bad we had to force feed the poor thing tonight







we just kinda opened its jaws and threw a cricket in.. i felt so bad for the lil guy









anyone know why he would just stop eating?


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

firstly, you didn't need to be so hasty in force feeding him.

Leopard gecko's are notorious for going without eating for long amounts of time. One of mine goes a week or two without being interested in food. As long as the animal is healthy and has a nice plump tail it should be ok.

If you do start to get desperate and feel that they really need to be fed, this is what to do:

1) Get a wax-worm and squish some of its guts out of its bum 
2) Rub its "mucky bum" on the gecko's nose. I find that when my geckos get anything on their face, they are very quick to lick it off.
3) When they have their mouth open to lick their faces, you might be able to slip the rest of the wax-worm into their mouth. If it wont let you do this, just keep on squeeezing those guts onto the gecko's mouth.
4) repeat this process untill the gecko has had a good meal. Do this for a few days.
5) After a while, the gecko should have regained its strength and start eating again.

You dont really need to use wax-worms, crickets or mealies should work just as well. The advantages of wax-worms are that they have a very high fat content. this is usually a disadvantage in most other situations but in this case they are great for rebuilding body weight. They are also very squishy, so its easy to squeeze outs the guts.

As i already mentioned, waxworms are very high in fat and low in "goodness" therefore they are a poor staple diet. Once you have got the gecko eating again, you should get it back onto its normal diet.

if this process doesnt work, and you get very desperate, i think a trip to the vets would be necessary.

good luck


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

well we didnt really force it much, more like tickled its mouth and threw the cricket in... we'll see if he eats tonight... ill try the worm trick also

BTW- it doesnt have a fat tail... that means its female right?


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## WolfFish (Jun 30, 2004)

shutter13 said:


> well we didnt really force it much, more like tickled its mouth and threw the cricket in... we'll see if he eats tonight... ill try the worm trick also
> 
> BTW- it doesnt have a fat tail... that means its female right?


 no, they all should have fat tails, but not so much when they are small. If you put a few crickets in and maybe a waxworm he should eat. The way to sex them is to look at the base of the tail, i will try and find some pictures for you as its hard to describe.


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## 00nothing (Mar 26, 2004)

i have seen leopards that have shyed off of crickets from owners keeping to many in the cage and it getting bit frequently try just putting mealworms in a small clear dish the movement gets a feeding response for me every time


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

great job everyone

looks like u all have this covered

just listen to j burf and everything shall be fine

and a little cup with mealworms always gets there attention


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

WolfFish said:


> shutter13 said:
> 
> 
> > well we didnt really force it much, more like tickled its mouth and threw the cricket in... we'll see if he eats tonight... ill try the worm trick also
> ...


 here is a male:

Note the pre-anal pores and two swellings at the base of the tail.

You wont be able to use this method of sexing intill the gecko is about 7-9 months old. It is possible younger but the pores are much less obvious.

I'll take some pics of a female soon to give you a comparison.


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

..


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

i just took the lil guy out and put him on my bed, then i put a mealie right in front of him... he didnt even look at it









plus it was moving and wiggling


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## WolfFish (Jun 30, 2004)

shutter13 said:


> i just took the lil guy out and put him on my bed, then i put a mealie right in front of him... he didnt even look at it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 have you trie just leaving some mealworms in atub inside his tank all night? My lg doesn't feed sometimes when taken out.


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

shutter13 said:


> i just took the lil guy out and put him on my bed, then i put a mealie right in front of him... he didnt even look at it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I dont think i have ever heard of anyone being able to get their leo to eat anything outside of its usual home.

I think the best advice is as wolffish said. Leave the gecko alone in its tank with some mealies in a tub for a couple of days. It must be feeling really stressed now, especailly as its only young and I doubt its properly tamed town yet. Just take a step back and relax, give it time and everything should be ok. If after a few days you get really desperate, do what i said in my first post.


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

any updates?


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