Possible case of Entamoeba Invadens

stuart m · #1 03-23-2006, 06:44 AM

Firstly want to thank Andrew Gilpin from LAC Herps for the thread he posted on these forums which i think has saved my gecko's life.

I bought a 6month old red flame home around two months ago. All temps/humidities settings etc were ok. He seemed fine - just shy and scared as per the initial settling in week or so. I tried to leave him well alone to adjust to the new settings just provided water, baby food and offer crickets now and again. He wasn't moving around day or night wasn't eating and after two weeks of this i was trying to hand feed him because he was down to skin and bone. I was panicking wondering what was happening when i scoured the forums and found the thread below on E.Invadens;

http://www.forums.repashy.com/showth...light=invadens

I noticed his eyes were becoming bloodshot and it all seemed to point to this infection. (Please follow thread). Four days on the medication from the vet and my gecko seemed to slowly come round - his eyes started to clear and he licked bits of food and is slowly putting weight on. "Snorky" is not too bad now, but still not 100%. I am determined this little gecko is going to live and so is he. This hard little f***er has been ill for around 3 weeks and last night he was showing off jumping around the viv! I owe it to him to get him to a ripe old age.

Sorry for the length of this post but i had to share this info just in case it helps anyone else. I don't know whether he had this disease or some other infection but i wanted to thank Andrew and warn other keepers of this species to be vigilant to this infection. IT COULD SAVE YOUR GECKO'S LIFE.

Dr Alan · #2 03-23-2006, 10:15 AM

How was the gecko treated (meds/dosages)?

L.A.C. Herps · #3 03-23-2006, 11:12 AM

hey man, i'm just passing on the useful information. Glad it helped you out. The real person to thank is Randy May at Neoscales.com ..... he did all of the work, i'm just passing it along

let us know how it continues to do if you would and thanks for the update.

stuart m · #4 03-24-2006, 07:06 AM

I mixed in the metronidazole with water/baby food mix down to a low concentration. The gecko was around 10g body weight so he needed 1 to 2 mg per dose. (Dosing level is 100 to 125mg/Kg of body mass) I gave him this for four days.

I will keep you posted with some photos etc soon.

Thanks to Randy then also Andrew!

Thanks

Stu (UK)