Although leopard geckos are fascinating lizards that make better companions for human beings, they are highly susceptible to disease and often fall into the hands of owners who neglect their well-being.
If you come across a malnourished leopard gecko and decide to help it recover, this write-up will provide some insights on how you can help it regain its health.
How To Help A Malnourished Leopard Gecko Recover?
An emaciated leo might be difficult to work with since you can’t get them to eat regular food immediately. However, you can help malnourished leopard geckos regain their energies and vibrancy in the following ways.
1. Take Your Leopard Gecko to a Vet
When you adopt or rescue a leopard gecko, the first thing is to take it to the vet for examination. Before you embark on the transformational journey of helping the leo regain its health, you’ll need to know whether they are ailing from any condition.
A reptile vet will first determine whether the leopard gecko has parasites since they are the usual suspects that cause weight loss and emaciation in leopard geckos.
Conversely, they’ll examine the leo for other common diseases such as metabolic bone disease and respiratory infections.
· How To Hold a Malnourished Leopard Gecko When Takin it to a Vet
One of the toughest parts of caring for an emaciated is knowing how to hold it when taking it for a checkup or when trying to feed it.
Because of how weak they look, you’ll always feel worried about hurting or stressing your leo when you hold it.
While it’s not advisable to handle your lizard when in this condition, you’ll need to transport them to the vet for a checkup, force-feed it if it can’t eat, and administer medication. Here is how to hold your leopard gecko safely:
- Find a large piece of fabric like a towel
- Approach the gecko from the front and hold it carefully. Alternatively, you can let it stand on your hands.
- Wrap them with a towel or a soft piece of clothing. Using a piece of fabric will help minimize the pressure on its body.
- Hoist them up, ensuring that you don’t apply too much force as they are delicate and can be easily injured.
- Let the leo relax before transporting it to the vet or administering anything. If the lizard feels threatened, it might drop its tail.
2. Make Sure That The Terrarium Conditions are Ideal
The next thing you should do once you take your leopard gecko to a vet is to ensure that it stays in a conducive environment. Things you should check include the following:
· Substrate
Since your leopard gecko may have trouble walking due to malnourishment, you should opt for a substrate that won’t make moving around the cage hectic. Experts recommend using newspapers or paper towels since they are easy to walk on.
· Temperature
Leopard geckos need optimal heat to regulate their internal body temperature and digest food. Ideally, the leo’s tank should be divided into two sections with a temperature gradient for easier cooling off.
Place an overhead heat lamp and a heat mat to ensure temperatures stay between 83 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool side should have temperatures ranging from 70 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, ensure temperatures drop between 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit. Install two thermometers on the cool and warm sides to monitor the temperature.
· Humidity
Another important aspect that most leopard gecko owners tend to forget is the moisture content. You need to provide optimal humidity levels of between 30 to 40%.
Conversely, you must place humid hides on the warm side and another on the cooler side.
3. Hydration
Water is one of the most integral elements for leopard geckos. When you take your leopard gecko home from the vet, you should try to hydrate its body.
For starters, you must soak the lizard in warm water with electrolytes. Conversely, you need to put clean water in its terrarium for it to drink up.
4. Feeding
How you feed your leopard gecko will depend on its condition and how emaciated it is. If it can still eat, you should allow it to eat soft-bodied insects such as wax worms and mealworms.
However, if the gecko is too weak to hunt or eat, you’ll need to force-feed it using a syringe.
· How To Force Feed Your Malnourished Leopard Gecko
If a leopard gecko refuses or cannot eat because of malnutrition, sometimes the vet may recommend that you force-feed it using a syringe. You’ll need to mash soft-bodied insects to make them slurry so they can be easily sucked into the syringe. You will need to gut-load the worms to make them more nutritious. Conversely, you’ll need to dust them with vitamin and calcium supplements before mashing them up.
The process of force-feeding your leo may be daunting, but it’s something experienced owners and beginners can do. It should be as follows:
- Gently grab your leopard gecko and let rest on your weaker hand. Restrain your gecko, ensuring you don’t apply too much pressure.
- Wrap your hand around the leopard gecko, ensuring the fingers come from below its mouth except for the thumb.
- Using your thumb, open the side of the mouth and try to press the tip of the syringe in until the leo opens its mouth.
- Push the syringe from one edge of the mouth, ensuring that it doesn’t go further into the throat and choke it.
- Slowly empty the contents of the syringe giving your leo time to swallow. Don’t squirt too much down the leos throat as it might get into the windpipe and kill your leopard gecko.
- Alternatively, you can place the food at the tip of the mouth drop by drop as you wait for the lizard to lick it.
- Remember to add electrolytes to the mashed insect to make the mixture light and easy to digest.
Feed your leopard gecko until it gains the strength to hunt by itself. Once your leo starts to feed on its own, you should introduce staple feeder insects such as crickets.
This will ensure that it gets a slightly higher protein from crickets. Once it recovers fully, you can diversify the diet to ensure they receive all the essential nutrients they need.
5. Get Rid of Stressors
As we all know, leos don’t take or deal with stress well. Therefore, if you think that something is stressing your malnourished friend, you should move quickly to get rid of it. Your leo won’t gain weight or grow if something is stressing it.
First, you should avoid handling your leopard gecko unnecessarily. If the leopard gecko’s cage is open to other pets or people, you should put a barrier or move it to a more private place.
Conversely, don’t introduce any new décor or accessories into the cage abruptly. Also, check the tank conditions and adjusts them accordingly. Ensure that the temperature and humidity are optimal and also the tank size.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Risks and Dangers of Force-feeding Your Leopard Gecko?
When force-feeding your leopard gecko, you risk inflicting physical injuries if you apply too much pressure when restraining it. Also, handling and forcefully feeding your leo can frighten it, which may cause it to drop its tail.
The leo might also bite you when trying to open its mouth. You might injure their jaw or cause internal injuries if you push too much food into their throat or make them swallow larger objects.
Lastly, if you don’t force-feed your leopard gecko well, it might lead to regurgitation, choking, and impaction.
How Long Will it Take to Help a Malnourished Leopard Gecko Regain Its Strength?
Essentially, there’s no timeline for getting your malnourished leopard gecko healthy again. The time it takes to help your leo grow healthier may depend on how emaciated or weak it was when you found it.
However, if you follow the steps in this piece, you should be able to see changes within a month.
Final Verdict
If you adopt or rescue a malnourished leopard gecko, you can nurse it back to health by following some simple steps. To help your leopard gecko get better, you should:
- Take to a vet
- Check the terrarium conditions
- Hydrate the leopard gecko
- Feed it with soft-bodied worms
- Get rid of stressors
Once you follow these steps, you can transform your leo into a lovable and healthy pet.