Sick Leo Gecko Needs Help

Question
Thanks for your past response.  I did seperate my geckos, and the larger one is doing great.  As for my baby, hes not as good.  I took him to the vet yesterday because I noticed him eating his moss under his hideout, and he had not been eating for a few days.  I was concerned about impaction, but he did however deficate at the vet and she ruled out impaction.  She tested for parasites and de-wormed him and she told us in general he looks ok, we just have to get him to start eating again because he is still so small and has little fat source in his tail.  She gaves us a small syringe and said to "force feed" him some baby food meat.  I am really worried though cause he pays no attention to the crickets, he used to eat them so well, and in large numbers, I dont know what happened! He does however still drink water. I am feeding him through the syringe and he is doing better with that, slowly.  He is starting to open his mouth for it and swallow some.  But I dont know if thats enough.  He seems to be getting skinner and underneath his chin is smaller.  Do you have any ideas on how to get him to start eating crickets again?  I dont want him to starve, and the vet said he might not have much time.  He goes back to the vet in a few days but I really need some suggestions on getting him to eat, and stay healthy..... PLEASE HELP

Answer
HI Sarah,

Glad you got them separated and also the vet check up. Usually when reptiles are given medications for parasites, it destroys their gut bacteria.Low or no gut flora(bacteria) which is needed so they can digest their foods.(Like when we take antibiotics its recommended we eat yogurt to replenish gut bacteria). For reptiles they make products such as BeneBac, Nutra Bac, Acidophliz+....I use just plain acidophilus capsules. One capsule should give a leo 3-4 days of treatment..  I get the capsules at Wal Mart.You can mix these in with the baby food chicken. Some people use about 1/2 cc of active live culture  yogurt for boosting gut bacteria. If you would choose to use yogurt, I would recommend the new one called "Activa" Again, the dosage is for 3-4 days. They will generally lick this off the syringe.   It can take a few weeks for him to begin to show results.  Of course if he starts to get skinnier, then the vet is again needed. You need to go very slow with getting him to eat as too fast will stress out his system.  Do make sure he stays well hydrated to ease the stress on his kidneys. You may also want to mix a tiny (less than a small pinch) of a good leopard gecko or all purpose vitamin powder in with the food a few times a week.
After treating with one of the above products for at least 3 days, I would try offering him a cricket by hand and see how that goes. You may have to do this with several crickets to get him going again.  To start him back out eating on his own (yes, they do get very spoiled, very fast with hand feeding) you may want to try breaking the hind legs on the crickets and placing them in a very shallow dish or just in front of him.  With the crickets legs broken, they can't hop so will be easier for him to catch.  Be sure to really feed the crickets well before offering them to your leo as he needs as much nutrition as he can get right now.
Double check all your temperatures, etc from the care sheet I gave you before.  There are also ways to gut load the crickets in the care sheet.