yesterday my oldest son brought home a tokay from his football coach that apparently was a clasrooom pet at the high school.

Here is my problem, the geckos tail is about as wide as a pencil and he will not eat the crickets put in there for him, he is skinny and his skin is saggy. He drinks like crazy when I spray the sides down but will not drink from the water bowl. I am concerned because he does not look anything like the one I took in a while ago who's tail is very fat and he eats like a pig. This new one doesnt bark or anything and lets you touch his head, he does however still hold onto the sides of the glass. I know he is dehydrated and anorexic, so if someone knows of something I can force feed this creature or something that will get him to eat I would greatly appreciate it!

Oh and No, I had no idea this thing was even coming, my son just said my mom does reptile rescue and brought it home.GRRRRR........ but thats another subject, lol. Since it is already here I need to help it..THanks so much.

I will call the vet in the morning, just hoping that maybe someone can help without it costing me my right leg, since I gave the left for Lucky a few weeks back, lol.

Well Nicole, he is just a rescuer in training...it is how it all begins....

drinking water is a good sign, maybe he is just nervous....maybe some time will entice him to eat.....good luck with him....

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Hi,

good for you to rescue it =) It doesn't sound good if it lets you touch it...probably too weak.

I am not sure how to make it eat, but you can put ice cubes at the top to drip down as it melts for water. Trouble use to love to drink like that. Hoefully he will eat better when not so stressed and maybe warmed up?

Good luck!

Seems their diet is very similar to a leo diet so...here is a slurry that Lacey gives to her geckos when they are sick. Try it and maybe it will help yours as well.

Lacey's personal slurry mixture:
Chicken Baby food (make sure its gerber or something mainstream that is JUST chicken and broth...no preservatives!)
Pedialyte (usually near the babyfood)
Vitamin supplement(just a pinch)
Calcium powder just another pinch.

I mix a small amount of babyfood and pedialyte as the base until it is runny enough to suck up into a small syringe or eye dropper then I set it somewhere to warm up for a few minutes (on the heat pad or near he lamp) then I drop the mixture one drop at a time onto the geckos nose. Generally at first they shake their head and back away but usually they figure out its tasty and start licking it off willingly.
For a 12 gram gecko I was feeding a little over 1ml twice daily (once in the morning and once before lights out) If he wanted more i'd give more but usually he would get restless and limp away after 1ml.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Thank you! Thats just what I was looking for! I have all that stuff here, time to try it. Hopefully he will scream at me this morning!

Good deal. Keep us posted on his recovery

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Yeah...what Marsha said I said....

I wouldn't be too alarmed if he only wants to drink water off of the glass, my Tokays never touched a water dish, I just kept their cage constantly misted and they did alright...

Good luck getting some food into him, hopefully he'll be a cranky little ball of fire soon enough.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

well I got him to eat by just dropping it on his nose and he kept licking a lot! He finally did bark at me when I went in there this afternoon to feed again, so that was kind of funny. I did call the vet and he said honestly that I am doing everything that he would do, but I have to watch for kidney damage and or failure since he was that starved. He is a pretty skinny little guy. So time will tell. If it looks like he starts suffering of kidney failure I will have him put down as I will not let him suffer that bout, I have seen too much of it with the iguanas and the outcome is usually never good, but I hope all goes well as I find them very funny little geckos.

I am glad he is doing better!

Sounds like he's on the road to recovery The added electrolytes from the Pedialyte should give him an added boost and jumpstart his appetite to encourage him to eat more. I usually add some to the water as well. Speaking of which, tokays will rarely drink from a dish. Misting often will give them the water they need.

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