Advice needed- female rejecting food

[Isis]

I received the female from a person who had trouble to make her eat anything... te female weighted more than 50g when she developed not fertilized eggs. She lost weight to about 30g and rejected to eat anything.

Now when I got her she laid these fake eggs (almost normal size) but I still cannot talk her to eat.. I tried force feeding but she either vomit right after feeding or spit the food item out of mouth. She doesn't drink either.

She looks more skinny than ever and today was so desperately trying to spit the waxworm I gave her that it appeared dhe would struggle to death...

I have no idea what to do, she sits in a containter with 2 hides, paper towels and everything seems fine...

 

[Halley]

I'd get a fecal sample to the vet, to check for parasites.

 

[RampantReptiles]

I would do more than a fecal, I would take her right to the vet. Sounds like something internal and she is probably already dehydrated if she isnt eating or drinking. Try to get some electrolytes into her.

 

[Isis]

I forgot to mention earlier: fecal test is negative, I've checked it first... her starving is somehow connected to the pregnancy alone and the vet couldn't do more than do an strentgening injection. She is still neglecting food.

 

[OhioGecko]

Does her poop look normal or is it runny or stinky? If it is runny or stinky she might have been misdiagnosed.

She is probably dehydrated. I had a similar girl last year to what you are explaining. Our girl went from 86g pre breeding season to 34 grams post. She also laid a lot of bad eggs. She is now back up to 74 grams and ovulating but will not let a male touch her .

This is what I did. It might not be the fastest or best method but might give you some idea of what to try.

6 weeks on Marcia's slurry. http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=19356

First two weeks once a day. Next four weeks twice a day. After the 6 weeks her energy level was higher and she gained 4 grams.

The seventh week I bought wax worms for the first time and the female ate 4 of them. The first actual live food she ate in 4-5 months. She continued to eat them daily. In the next week she gained another 2 grams.

The seventh weeks I started using a product called Reptaid along with the Wax Worms. She started pounding on the weight 4 - 6 grams a week. During this period I found out she had pin worms (from previous breeder), but she did gain weight and is continuing to gain.

I don't know how much the Reptaid helped it could have just been timing with the wax worm introduction. But the female did gain a lot of weight while taking it. I would not hesitate to use it again because there was no bad affects. But I can't say for sure if it did help. My female is now eating crickets, meal worms, and super worms again.

 

[Isis]

Thank you for your advice- I was thinking of using the slurry next, but it may be suprising to you- I cannot find all the ingredients in Poland.
Hill's A/D is easy to find, but milk thirsle is not available and these supplemental drink Ensure and Pedialite are not imported to Poland. I can add bacteria and baby squash though.

What do you think about mixing only mealies/waxies with A/D, squash, Acidophilus and aminoacid supplement? It will be still better than nothing.

i am only afraid that the female starts to throw tantrums again when I gibe her a drop on the nose- when I gave her squashed waxworm to lick from her nose she began to roll all over like a crocodile to get it off. She spinned like hell and almost suffocated herself- when she stopped she could hardly move.

 

[LZRDGRL]

I had a gecko like that (Twiggy) -- she was 27 grams when I got her, and laid 6 eggs (one even hatched). After that, she started eating. It took several months to get her back to normal weight, but Twiggy is doing fine now!

Just be patient... I force-fed Twiggy in the beginning (with cat food mixed with water, but she didn't like it), and later gave her waxworms which she liked a lot.

Let her finish laying her eggs; she will probably gain weight after that. I wouldn't put her with a male for a year or so after that

If she doesn't have parasites or crypto, and it is just pregnancy-related, she will most probably recover.

Chrissy

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

I'm thinking that you may be able to substitute Gatorade for Ensure or Pedialite. I think they're pretty close in composition. Anybody else think this is an OK idea?

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Get you local vet to do a fecal float right away.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I'm thinking that you may be able to substitute Gatorade for Ensure or Pedialite. I think they're pretty close in composition. Anybody else think this is an OK idea?

The slurry has pedialite and ensure in it, so yes that would be okay. ^^ Just make sure the Ensure is vanilla.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Thank you for your advice- I was thinking of using the slurry next, but it may be suprising to you- I cannot find all the ingredients in Poland.
Hill's A/D is easy to find, but milk thirsle is not available and these supplemental drink Ensure and Pedialite are not imported to Poland. I can add bacteria and baby squash though.

What do you think about mixing only mealies/waxies with A/D, squash, Acidophilus and aminoacid supplement? It will be still better than nothing.

i am only afraid that the female starts to throw tantrums again when I gibe her a drop on the nose- when I gave her squashed waxworm to lick from her nose she began to roll all over like a crocodile to get it off. She spinned like hell and almost suffocated herself- when she stopped she could hardly move.

The milk thistle is a optional ingredient, so there is no need to worry if you cannot find it.

 

[chazthaking2]

I actually have a female like that and the weird thing is she is popping out healthy babies which is weird all together I've tried feeding her all kinds to different insects and the only one so far is crickets but not to wear it makes stop being concerned and i am almost out of options myself as well. as for the ingredients to the slurppy mix it really does work, i used it for another one of my geckos and he's healthy

 

[Isis]

The female started eating on her own but she has long time to go efore she fully regains her weight. At first she could hardly swallow but it is getting better every time she eats. She started from red roaches (her favourite) and now she switched to mealies and her appetite improves.