Hey guys the other day while I was browsing craigslist I saw an ad for a 2.1 group of leopard geckos. I asked for a pic and the seller sent me pictures of really emaciated geckos. The males have pencil thin tails from the looks of it but the female looks so so, definetly needs some weight on her though. How would I properly get these guys back up to health if I pick them up? What sort of foods should I be feeding to them that would be easy to digest and how small of meals should I start them on?
How to feed malnourished gecko?
- Thread starter Wretched5705
- Start date
Do you have more geckos, specially leos? If yes then it may be VERY risky to bring them in because they could be infected with Kriptosporids for which there is no cure and a classic simptom is pencil thin tails. Leos are more vulnerable to it then other reptiles but they dont get sick unless stressed, I gess neglect can cause it. Consider your moves, even if free from kript they could be sufering from a very hard to treat condition (subnutrition can be only a simptom). To fat them up waxworms are good. On the other hand it can be extremelly rewarding to help a animal in need, just make shure you apply for a rigid quarentine protocol and have vet help in hand 
Oh yah i dont have any other leos so im not to worried about that its just me trying to help out some neglected animals :/ I'll get some pics up and everything if this guy ever gets back to me. Thank you for the quick response
Cryptosporidosis*
very emaciated animals are difficult to work with, you need to be very careful with them, cannot just get them eating like normal right away and you can't force feed hole prey items if they are very far gone. the first thing to do would be hydration, warm soaks in water with elecrolytes. any drinking water you put in the cage should have electrolytes in it.
soft bodied worms, wax worms especially are the best start with... if they are very far gone...like skeletons...you may want make a wax worm slurry but mashing them up untill they are able to be sucked into a syringe... wouldn't hurt to mix in some electrolytes here to. you will need a small syringe and a soft tube suitable for sticking down the animals throat. if you are going to force feed you need to make sure the tube makes it to the animals stomach, if you just squirt food down the throat it could make it's way into the wind pipe and kill the animal you are trying to save. This would be an extreme measure though...if they have the energy to try and eat on their own you should not need to do this....
If you are going to get these animals talk the guy out of em for free....or at LEAST VERY cheap.... it will take a lot of work and more money to get them back and track and he doesn't deserve much of anything for it. do not pay for sickly animals..especially off craigslist...
very emaciated animals are difficult to work with, you need to be very careful with them, cannot just get them eating like normal right away and you can't force feed hole prey items if they are very far gone. the first thing to do would be hydration, warm soaks in water with elecrolytes. any drinking water you put in the cage should have electrolytes in it.
soft bodied worms, wax worms especially are the best start with... if they are very far gone...like skeletons...you may want make a wax worm slurry but mashing them up untill they are able to be sucked into a syringe... wouldn't hurt to mix in some electrolytes here to. you will need a small syringe and a soft tube suitable for sticking down the animals throat. if you are going to force feed you need to make sure the tube makes it to the animals stomach, if you just squirt food down the throat it could make it's way into the wind pipe and kill the animal you are trying to save. This would be an extreme measure though...if they have the energy to try and eat on their own you should not need to do this....
If you are going to get these animals talk the guy out of em for free....or at LEAST VERY cheap.... it will take a lot of work and more money to get them back and track and he doesn't deserve much of anything for it. do not pay for sickly animals..especially off craigslist...
I know I'm usually pretty good about buying healthy reptiles (except for my blood python, RIP) but when it just ended up being one of those things where I saw them and my heart just went out to them you know? Want to try and help these little guys :[
I know exactly what you mean...thats why i'm spending 8 years in college to be a vet
but you can't save the world...a fact i am having a hard time accepting myself.... and in this case..if the guy wont go to almost free i wouldn't go for it.... guilt him down if you have to..hell i would even if i had no intention of buying i would let him know he is a horrible person for letting em get that way....
but you can't save the world...a fact i am having a hard time accepting myself.... and in this case..if the guy wont go to almost free i wouldn't go for it.... guilt him down if you have to..hell i would even if i had no intention of buying i would let him know he is a horrible person for letting em get that way....
I managed to nurse a young (4 inch?) leo back to health from emaciation after his caretakers at a petstore put a UVB bulb over him with NO heat source whatesoever, cage temp was lucky to reach 70F
He hadn't eaten in at least a month by all accounts and had trouble walking. I cleaned out the enclosure, removed the substrate replacing with newspaper, added an undertank heat pad and a 60w bulb and tinkered with it until he had a nice 85-90F hide area and good ambient temp of 76F. I also put a dish with powderded calcium supplement near his water (with electrolytes) and syringed him some warm electrolytes. As soon as he warmed up he perked up and tried (with much effort) to hunt very small gut-loaded crickets liberally coated with vitamin powder. I fed him 1 or 2 said crickets as often as he'd hunt them (about 4 times a day) for several days and continued trying to syringe electrolytes but if he fought me I put him back for fear of stressing him too badly (he was also not used to being handled, ever).
I also tried various worms and syringing him worm/electrolyte mash but he did NOT like that as all he had ever been fed was crickets. Not sure how much he ever actually ingested.
Within a week he did start eating live waxworms but remained reluctant so mostly what he ate was dusted crickets. After the 2nd week he was HUNGRY at all time so I still fed him 3 or 4 times a day, still small meals, and he started getting his color back.
Within a month he was being fed only 2 or 3 times a day, was putting on weight at a pretty steady rate but still a little thin, colors looked good and vibrant, still reluctant to eat other bugs but would at least once or twice a week if that's all I gave him at a feeding.
After 3 months he was looking good, active, eating well, used to handling by now of course, started growing again(!) and got a new home with a former gecko keeper that had been rooting for him.
Last I knew, about 6 months after I took him in, he was growing like a weed with his new owner, seemingly to make up for lost time, and spoiled rotten. They pretty much kept him in the same setup I had to avoid substrate ingestion and allow constant access to electrolytes and calcium.
The keys to bringing an animal back from starvation are hydration first, then gradually easing them back into a normal diet.
Use oral electrolytes if you can and definitely add them to the waterbowl. NEVER syringe an emaciated or shocked animal cold fluids! At least equal to their body temp or slightly warmer.
Introduce food and regular feedings slowly or it can cause "re-feeding syndrome" which can shock their system and be fatal. If the body is not used to digesting food or being nourished the sudden introduction is stressful on the body.
Very small meals several times a day until they start regaining strength, then slowly up the amount on the same schedule or same amounts more often until they can handle larger meals. Forced or syringe feeding may be neccesary, mash whatever you are trying to feed them (helps familiarize them to the taste as well) and add water with electrolytes until it is a workable consistency, load your syringe/spoon/whatever, and try gently to get it into their mouth. I generally have luck with a syringe feeding but that's just me. Lots of experience in it with birds.
Hydrate and refeed slowly in as stress free an environement as possible.
I've had luck using this general method in cats, dogs, sheep, cattle, birds/parrots, rabbits, rodents, geckos, a snake, and a tegu.
He hadn't eaten in at least a month by all accounts and had trouble walking. I cleaned out the enclosure, removed the substrate replacing with newspaper, added an undertank heat pad and a 60w bulb and tinkered with it until he had a nice 85-90F hide area and good ambient temp of 76F. I also put a dish with powderded calcium supplement near his water (with electrolytes) and syringed him some warm electrolytes. As soon as he warmed up he perked up and tried (with much effort) to hunt very small gut-loaded crickets liberally coated with vitamin powder. I fed him 1 or 2 said crickets as often as he'd hunt them (about 4 times a day) for several days and continued trying to syringe electrolytes but if he fought me I put him back for fear of stressing him too badly (he was also not used to being handled, ever).
I also tried various worms and syringing him worm/electrolyte mash but he did NOT like that as all he had ever been fed was crickets. Not sure how much he ever actually ingested.
Within a week he did start eating live waxworms but remained reluctant so mostly what he ate was dusted crickets. After the 2nd week he was HUNGRY at all time so I still fed him 3 or 4 times a day, still small meals, and he started getting his color back.
Within a month he was being fed only 2 or 3 times a day, was putting on weight at a pretty steady rate but still a little thin, colors looked good and vibrant, still reluctant to eat other bugs but would at least once or twice a week if that's all I gave him at a feeding.
After 3 months he was looking good, active, eating well, used to handling by now of course, started growing again(!) and got a new home with a former gecko keeper that had been rooting for him.
Last I knew, about 6 months after I took him in, he was growing like a weed with his new owner, seemingly to make up for lost time, and spoiled rotten. They pretty much kept him in the same setup I had to avoid substrate ingestion and allow constant access to electrolytes and calcium.
The keys to bringing an animal back from starvation are hydration first, then gradually easing them back into a normal diet.
Use oral electrolytes if you can and definitely add them to the waterbowl. NEVER syringe an emaciated or shocked animal cold fluids! At least equal to their body temp or slightly warmer.
Introduce food and regular feedings slowly or it can cause "re-feeding syndrome" which can shock their system and be fatal. If the body is not used to digesting food or being nourished the sudden introduction is stressful on the body.
Very small meals several times a day until they start regaining strength, then slowly up the amount on the same schedule or same amounts more often until they can handle larger meals. Forced or syringe feeding may be neccesary, mash whatever you are trying to feed them (helps familiarize them to the taste as well) and add water with electrolytes until it is a workable consistency, load your syringe/spoon/whatever, and try gently to get it into their mouth. I generally have luck with a syringe feeding but that's just me. Lots of experience in it with birds.
Hydrate and refeed slowly in as stress free an environement as possible.
I've had luck using this general method in cats, dogs, sheep, cattle, birds/parrots, rabbits, rodents, geckos, a snake, and a tegu.
Well apparently the guy pawned them off on someone else, hope they know what theyre doing :/ He said he thought I was showing a "lack of interest" even though i was trying to email him constantly getting as much info on them as I could before I drove over to pick them up....man...some people....
