I've had success using this
to get nasty tasting antbiotics and nice tasting CalciVet into skinks and dragons, the trick is to get the plastic tube past the lips and teeth at the back corner of the mouth , not necessary to force the mouth open , as a
22G catheter tube will simply slip in with a little "jiggling/wriggling of the tip , but is a two person job
> one person restrains the lizard
> the other person slips the catheter tube into mouth and pushes the syringe plunger.
Been my experience giving nasty tasting oral meds that they very quickly wise up and the lizard will know what's coming and will do it's darnest to make it hard to get the stuff into it's mouth .... like a child who doesn't want to eat or drink something that tastes nasty and the skink will toss a tantrum after the dose is administered so my advise is have something it likes as a treat handy to give to it afterwards with lots of snuggles.
I've also used this kind of setup
to get HerpaBoost , VetaFarm Reptile Critta Care and viscous liquid meds into the mouths of lizards, got to get the mouth open enough to get the nozzle into the mouth , the plastic playing card trick can help here, again a two person job unless the lizard is prepared to lick the paste off it's nose and lips , works well.
Plastic playing card trick :
fold the card lengthwise in half, cut a hole large enough to get the end of the syringe or small food item into the mouth in the middle of the fold, slip folded card between lips and teeth at the lizard's pointy end , slip the food item or feeding tube or syringe feeding nozzle between the folded card and through the hole into the mouth , the folded card will provide enough leverage to force the mouth open enough to do the job.
and for really difficult situations this works and the indestructible and wont hurt the lizard's teeth, gums , jaws or mouth
Works well for giving olive oil to my big 800g girl Peppa when she occasionally goes longer than 7 days between poos so you should be successful giving oral meds using an 18G crop needle (only need to get the end past the teeth at near the front of the mouth). I'd apply some honey to the end of the crop needle to make the experience more pleasant and easier (to do) because if the meds are nasty tasting, you'll be battling to get the next dose past the lips.
If the beardie gets angry and tries to destroy the crop needle , being long, your fingers will be far enough away to avoid a mauling.
Fortunately for me Peppa likes the taste of olive oil so she's not a great drama getting it into her mouth using the above set up.
The two other options above involve plastic tubes or nozzles and a powerful lizard like even a juvenile beardie can quite easily bite a piece off the end of the plastic (if a catheter tube or nozzle) so I think your best option is to buy a feeding needle from the vet or a vet supply place that sell these for feeding sick birds. Crop needles are virtually indestructible and designed not to hurt the animal.
Here is how to use a crop feed a lizard
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687
