long term assist diet

[kitedemon]

Long story here, I have a adopted dragon whom had periodontal disease. I have stopped the progression and decided (myself and my vet) that the corrective surgery is not a good option. (If you have not seen it it removes most of the lower jaw and chunks of the upper they look flat faced and have chewing issues.) It seems vets are on the fence some believe in it some don't. The up shot is he will not eat on his own. This means 4 times a week he gets assist fed (forced fed) He eats off a syringe. Zeke's story is here http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...dontal-disease


The feeding is quite easy I place him on my desk he knows now what this means I put a drop on is lips he licks it off and the tip of the feeding tube. It isn't very traumatic for him I don't restrain him at all. He is fed critical care herbivore mixed with Critical care carnivore(3:1). He seems lately to be getting board of this. I was thinking of every now and again maybe once a week using repashy gecko diet in place of the carnivore CC. He still always has fresh greens but rarely eats them, he also has crickets and super worms offered but again rarely eats them. We tried a stoppage of assist feeding for 2 months but started when he simply refused to eat.

Does anyone feel that the complete gecko diet would be an issue as a 'treat' or flavour changer every now and again?

[babyknees]

What if you pureed fresh greens/crickets/fruit/etc and offered that via syringe? As a treat.

I don't know about the gecko diet.

[NormanSnake]

They make that stuff that's like crickets in a can. I've never bought it, but I think it's probably like the consistency of canned dog food. here's something similar I found http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo

[kitedemon]

I tried the can crickets it is canned crickets. It stinks too. I have pureed fresh stuff too it often gets stuck in the cannula tip. It is a great idea just very hard to get it really fine. I just got a reply from Allen Repashy when I had asked him. I'll paste it in below. I believe his reply I just was wondering if anyone else had experience with using his product line.

Hi Alex,

Many people use the crested gecko diet as a "Rescue and Recovery" syringe feeding formula. It is high in sugars, so I wouldn't use it exclusively, but it would make a great addition to a regular rotation.

You could also look at my "Savory Stew" formula which is an omnivore gel premix, you can just mix it with water and not heat it to make the gel.... which will make a good meaty syringe feeding formula.

I am actually working on quite a few new products right now, and there are several "Rescue and Recovery" hand feeding formulas that will be out later this year in addition to a bird hand feeding formula, so keep your eyes out.

Thanks for the support and taking such good care of your lizard!

Cheers, Allen

[Dracoluna]

I'm curious if you have tried any of the pelleted formulas now that he's had several months to put on weight and such? Obviously, he won't eat them dry but when soaked, they turn very mushy and he may even be able to eat that on his own without bothering his teeth much since it doesn't get chewed really. Is he at a solid weight and does he look at any food with real interest? Does he lap at all versus just taking it off the syringe?

Personally I use the Rep-Cal and it seems to be 100% complete along with being tasty. My dragon looks forward to her feedings and always seems to pick out the red ones first so I'm not sure if that's color triggered or taste triggered but she's done that since the first week I had her. Though she can chew them dry, I prefer to soak and rehydrate them to avoid her hurting her teeth and if left with plenty of water, they become very squishy and soft. If she's avoiding lettuce and insects due to the pain of chewing, that might be an option. It doesn't necessarily have to be chewed (and often isn't by my girl). Just a thought. I'm used to tube feeding snakes but have never had to force/assist/tube a dragon.

You could also take whole fruits (strawberries, bananas, blueberries, etc), add some water, and blend them up for a snack. Make a decent sized batch of 'treats' and then freeze it using ice cube trays. That way, it preserves it and you can thaw what you need. That's what I do with tube feeding and it works wonders. The freezing and thawing also seems to break down the food further.