Rescue: Leopard Gecko Available for Rescue

mcnulty5 · #1 08-13-2010, 06:51 PM

I am new to Geckos Unlimited and have joined with the hope of finding someone to rescue my son's leopard gecko, Esteban. Esteban is about 1-1/2 years old. Esteban needs special care as his eyes have crusted over. It appears that he can't see well if at all. He has to be hand fed and I am concerned that he will die if I don't find a new owner who will invest the time required to get him healthy again. We are located in the San Francisco Bay area. Please let me know if you might be interested and I will provide more details. Thanks. mcnulty5

**thorrshamri** · #2 08-16-2010, 08:26 PM

Hi there and welcome,
I have friends near you, I'm going to tell them about Esteban

mcnulty5 · #3 08-16-2010, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thorrshamri

Hi there and welcome,
I have friends near you, I'm going to tell them about Esteban

Thanks for your help. We live near San Jose, CA if that helps. Esteban is a cute little guy and I am hopefull that with someone who is willing to invest some time n him that he will do well. I don't know for sure that he is Male since I don't know how to tel the sex of geckos.

**thorrshamri** · #4 08-16-2010, 09:02 PM

Males have a row of V-shaped pre-anal pores, and have 2 bulges at the base of the tail. Look at your inbox...where did you get that gecko from?

mcnulty5 · #5 10-01-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thorrshamri

Males have a row of V-shaped pre-anal pores, and have 2 bulges at the base of the tail. Look at your inbox...where did you get that gecko from?

Esteban appears to be a female. Did your friends have any interest? She is still alive but not eating.

**thorrshamri** · #6 10-01-2010, 09:53 PM

Sorry no, no firend interested in her. Has she stopped eating for long? How does her tail look like? It is important to keep this gecko healthy and fit. If this animal has not fed for weeks, you can force-fed her with some crushed crickets. At the beginning don't give large quantities of food, then increase them but in any case force-feeding is an emergency help, not something you should do on the long term. Often, geckos which have tasted" food again and have had some food intake start feeding again by themselves. Hope that helps

mcnulty5 · #7 10-02-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thorrshamri

Sorry no, no firend interested in her. Has she stopped eating for long? How does her tail look like? It is important to keep this gecko healthy and fit. If this animal has not fed for weeks, you can force-fed her with some crushed crickets. At the beginning don't give large quantities of food, then increase them but in any case force-feeding is an emergency help, not something you should do on the long term. Often, geckos which have tasted" food again and have had some food intake start feeding again by themselves. Hope that helps

Thanks for your input. Esteban has not eaten for several week and her tail is no longer plump. I have tried to hand feed her worms, but she just doesn't open her mouth. Wasn't sure how to get her to do it. Any guidance you can provide would be appreciated. As I mentioned before, this is my son's animal but he has lost interest. I feel sad for her and don't want to watch her stave to death. How do you force feed her the crushed cricket? I appreciate your guidance.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #8 10-02-2010, 01:25 PM

What are your temps and set up like? If a leopard gecko is not being housed properly, it will affect how well (or not) it feeds. Try reading some of the threads in our leopard gecko forum for more in depth information on proper husbandry so that you can keep her alive and healthy while looking for a new home. You need to make sure you're doing that before force feeding as force feeding is very stressful on the animal and will do no good if other husbandry needs are not correctly met as well.

**thorrshamri** · #9 10-02-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverside Reptiles

What are your temps and set up like? If a leopard gecko is not being housed properly, it will affect how well (or not) it feeds. Try reading some of the threads in our leopard gecko forum for more in depth information on proper husbandry so that you can keep her alive and healthy while looking for a new home. You need to make sure you're doing that before force feeding as force feeding is very stressful on the animal and will do no good if other husbandry needs are not correctly met as well.

This is absolutely right. Long story short, it needs approx. a 2'x1' viv with hides, 80°F during the day at the cool end and 85-90°F or even a little bit more under the basking spot. You can keep it on paper towels, newspaper, or fine sand. A small dish with water and another one with powdered calcium (f.e. ground sepia used for birds, easy to find in pet shops and unexpensive) are also necessary. To me, UVB lights are not necessary, but they can't hurt if you can put some in his tank- choose a 5% UVB bulb or neon tube. Lights and heating aggregates must be switched off at night (a 12/12 hours day/night rythmn is appropriate as long as you don't want to trigger breeding). Night temps in the upper 60s-low 70s are appropriate. And as Riverside Reptile said, you will find plenty of more detailed threads on this forum.

As for force-feeding, I have maybe not underlined enough that it is an emergency solution. Check as RR said if the temperatures are correct, and if they are, try first to smash a cricket's head and make the gecko scent it (you can use tweezers for that). It often helps to trigger the predation reflex. If that does not work, try to offer other bugs like waxmoth larvae, silkworms, roaches, locusts...

Then if you see it doesn't work and only then, try force-feeding. I believe it brings less stress to the gecko by crushing some crickets then adding some water and calcium to this "meal" and put it in a syringe- then gently take the gecko on the back of your hand and try to have it lick the contents of the syringe. Force-feeding itself is: you open the jaws by force and put a freshly killed cricket inside its mouth.

mcnulty5 · #10 10-02-2010, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverside Reptiles

What are your temps and set up like? If a leopard gecko is not being housed properly, it will affect how well (or not) it feeds. Try reading some of the threads in our leopard gecko forum for more in depth information on proper husbandry so that you can keep her alive and healthy while looking for a new home. You need to make sure you're doing that before force feeding as force feeding is very stressful on the animal and will do no good if other husbandry needs are not correctly met as well.

I think that the the housing seems good. We had another Gecko who was very healthy and had the same housing, a glass tank, fine sand, water bowl, places to hide. Temps seem good. Only thing we don't have is a bowl of calcium that was recommended. I will try smashing a cricket to see if she will eat it as suggested or put it in the syringe mixed with water, etc. before forcing her to eat. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for your interest and advice.