# Leopard Gecko Slurry



## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

Hello all, as I've mentioned before I have a male leo that's just not at all interested in his food (I think it's due to mating season) and in the past 8-9 weeks he's only eaten; 12 wax worms, 3 crix, 5 locusts and a couple of sheds. :edit: I should add that he's not actually lost any weight during this time hence strongly believeing it's not a parasite issue.

I desperately don't want him to become hooked on waxies but it's all he'll take atm so I've taken it upon myself to start giving him a slurry mix; organic chicken and veg baby food, a pinch of cc formula, a pinch of calcium and a pinch of his vitamin powder mixed with a little warm water. 

I've read Golden Gate Gecko's slurry recipe and want to give it a try when I've got a bit more money and I've seen a guy use yoghurt rather than baby food. 

So what do you think? Obviously it's just a substitute to try to get him back on his grub properly but any one got any other slurry recipes or advice?


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## yellrat (Jun 13, 2008)

i would advise not force feeding him unless he is losing weight it should be a last resort as it causes the gecko a lot of stress and will not really encourage him to feed for himself.
if he has not lost weight in all that time and he is a healthy weight i don't see a problem really offer him less waxies and off him a variety of live-food every other day don't leave it in their to long or i find they lose interest in the food item.
adding avipro or something similar to his drinking water may well help with his appetite.
as i say in a lot of my posts I'm not telling you what to do just giving advice.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

agree with yellrat
if he isnt loosing weight dont see theres a problem, its `normal` for boys to have other things on their mind at this time of year.
if your worried, avipro or reptiboost in his water might help, or get a fecal test done.


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## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

He's never been able to feed for himself, I've had to hand feed him since day 1 and "force feeding" is just dripping it on his nose to lick off which I can't see being more stressfull than being hand or tong fed. 

It was the vet that suggested forcing him with cc formula and I just figured adding the baby food might kick start his metabolism. He did lose 3g before I started this formula and it's gone back on now. 

I totally appreciate that force feeding might be stressful but I can't just sit by and wait for him to develop mdb or something terrible cos he wasn't getting sufficient nutrients. He's over 9" long and is only 52g atm. He's not crazy unhealthily underweight but I don't intend on sitting around and waiting for him to be. 

Don't get me wrong I appreciate your oppinions but when I asked for advice I was sorta more wondering if my recipe would give him enough nutrition


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## yellrat (Jun 13, 2008)

Morwin Nerdbane said:


> He's never been able to feed for himself, I've had to hand feed him since day 1 and "force feeding" is just dripping it on his nose to lick off which I can't see being more stressfull than being hand or tong fed.
> 
> It was the vet that suggested forcing him with cc formula and I just figured adding the baby food might kick start his metabolism. He did lose 3g before I started this formula and it's gone back on now.
> 
> ...


you didn't mention that a reptile vet had advised you to assist feed him so i was going on the assumption you decided to do it yourself.
what i do is when i need to force or assist feed is first dust the live-food how i would normally then add it to a blender of some sort add small amount a water blend till you get consistency you need.
i don't add anything extra as they wouldn't get this if they were eating normally.
still a good idea to add avipro to his water.
all the advice i can offer really if he does not improve would suggest another trip to the vets may be an underlying problem that he has not found yet.


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## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

Cool, don't have a blender hence the baby food. Can I get avirpo from petshops or is it an online kinda purchase?


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

yellrat said:


> all the advice i can offer really if he does not improve would suggest another trip to the vets may be an underlying problem that he has not found yet.


ditto 
with regards to a slurry ~ I don't use human foods in mine prefering to stuck to well gutloaded and dusted mashed livefood
OP in your first post you said ~ "in the past 8-9 weeks he's only eaten; 12 wax worms, 3 crix, 5 locusts and a couple of sheds. :edit: I should add that he's not actually lost any weight during this time hence strongly believeing it's not a parasite issue." I'd personally scrap the waxxies and concentrate on other livefood plus would add that no weight-loss doesn't automatically mean no parasites so would still have him checked for them, also try adding avipro to the drinking water ~ I've found that this can help with their appetites.


> I've seen a guy use yoghurt rather than baby food.


I really would *not* recommend using yoghurt or any foodstuff containing dairy products or lactose derivatives as leos cannot produce the enzyme Lactase which is necessary for digesting dairy/lactose


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## yellrat (Jun 13, 2008)

Morwin Nerdbane said:


> Cool, don't have a blender hence the baby food. Can I get avirpo from petshops or is it an online kinda purchase?


some pet shops do stock it but i got mine from my vets they do the vetark full range.
i hope he starts eating for you soon i know how stressful it is when they don't feed.
sorry if i came across as abrupt in my first post but i was only going on what you had posted.
all the best 
Wayne & Sarah


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## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

No, no, it's all good. 

Sorry I should have been more clear, you know what it's like; there's so much detail you want to include then forget it all when it comes to writing it. As I say, the idea of the slurry is just to kick start his metabloism, the vets recomended the cc formula to keep him well but it was my idea to add the baby food. 

And again, this is very much a temporary solution and I REALLY don't want him only eating waxies but I just feel so terrible for him, if it means he'll eat I can't help myself. I've lost 2 geckos recently (1 eggbound, 1 impacted) and another is (I think)eggbound so keeping Hurley going is totally necessary for my sanity.

Also, def won't use dairy products in the mash


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