Fat-tail Gecko swollen tongue

Question
Hi... I have a fat-tail gecko that I noticed hasn't eaten in about two weeks... The same cricket has been in there for two weeks. Last pm I fed him a cricket and he went for it but missed and he did that about 7 or 8 times and finally he got him, but when his tongue stuck out i noticed it was huge and preventing him from chewing up the cricket and eating it. He is starving because he was chasing the crickets around the tank and lunging every chance he had. He is drinking water but I am worried he might slowly be wasting away. I do have cricket food that says on the box you could feed it to geckos but Im just not sure he will eat it because he wont go after something unless it is alive. I am worried about him and would be more than willing to take him to a vet. Thanks

Answer
Hi Danielle,
Are the crickets the proper size for him?  They should be slightly smaller than the space between his eyes.
Any time insects are not eaten within 10-15 minutes they need to be removed from the tank to prevent injury to the gecko.  Its possible that a cricket has bitten your gecko on the tongue. He may also have some sort of infection going on. He may even have something stuck in a gland or his throat that is causing problems...sand or other loose substrate can be the cause of that.
I'm guessing you are properly gut loading your crickets prior to feeding them to your gecko since you mention cricket food.   I doubt that your gecko would eat the cricket food..
I would get him to a vet to find out what is going on with the tongue.
I would try offering a FEW wax worms to see if he can eat them as they are softer. Silk worms are also soft...but as I recommend, a vet check up is needed.  You may want to consider the silk worms as a more staple diet.  Wax worms are occasional treats only.
http://www.herpvetconnection.com
http://www.arav.org/ECOMARAV/timssnet/amm/tnt_mdsearch.cfm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/