New rescue super thin. Advice please?

[SamanthaLovely]

I definately have a heat lamp I can use for the extra heat. For now I've put a little thermometer on the floor but it's just one of those round ones that stick to the side of the tank. Can't get supplies today since everything is closed but I'll go on the hunt for everything I needs ASAP.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

I definately have a heat lamp I can use for the extra heat. For now I've put a little thermometer on the floor but it's just one of those round ones that stick to the side of the tank. Can't get supplies today since everything is closed but I'll go on the hunt for everything I needs ASAP.

So the belly thermometer has been reading 100 on the warm side. I turned the heat down assuming it was too hot. She ate 2 or 3 tonight (I can't remember which.) and she had a poo but it was all urate with a little undigested food. Is this normal too? I'm sorry I have so many questions. I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong with her because of the condition she's in.

 

[cricket4u]

So the belly thermometer has been reading 100 on the warm side. I turned the heat down assuming it was too hot. She ate 2 or 3 tonight (I can't remember which.) and she had a poo but it was all urate with a little undigested food. Is this normal too? I'm sorry I have so many questions. I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong with her because of the condition she's in.

Now you know why she was avoiding that side. It's not normal, however we cannot expect normal right away. It could have been caused by her not spending much time on the warm end because it was too hot. When is her next dose of Panacur? The vet did not mention bringing in a sample? I would call the vet and ask if you can drop it off for testing. Panacur will not treat all parasites, so the fecal is important and in her state unnecessary medications should be avoided at all cost.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Now you know why she was avoiding that side. It's not normal, however we cannot expect normal right away. It could have been caused by her not spending much time on the warm end because it was too hot. When is her next dose of Panacur? The vet did not mention bringing in a sample? I would call the vet and ask if you can drop it off for testing. Panacur will not treat all parasites, so the fecal is important and in her state unnecessary medications should be avoided at all cost.

I can call the vet and see but they're always busy so I don't think I'll be able to talk to her personally. The cold side is at 80 and she's been laying on the warm side for a while. Is it fine for her to be on it if she wants to be there? I just don't want her to get too hot or too cold. The next dose of her treatment is for two weeks from the first one. So next week sometime. The vet didn't ask for a sample.

 

[cricket4u]

I can call the vet and see but they're always busy so I don't think I'll be able to talk to her personally. The cold side is at 80 and she's been laying on the warm side for a while. Is it fine for her to be on it if she wants to be there? I just don't want her to get too hot or too cold. The next dose of her treatment is for two weeks from the first one. So next week sometime. The vet didn't ask for a sample.

Let your gecko choose temperatures. She knows what is best for her. Just provide as many hides as possible so that she does not choose hiding over temps. The vet being busy is not your problem. Just leave a message with the staff. How will the vet know if she/he is treating the correct thing without a sample? You cannot leave everything up to the vet. They have too many patients and not enough time.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Let your gecko choose temperatures. She knows what is best for her. Just provide as many hides as possible so that she does not choose hiding over temps. The vet being busy is not your problem. Just leave a message with the staff. How will the vet know if she/he is treating the correct thing without a sample? You cannot leave everything up to the vet. They have too many patients and not enough time.

She's going into both her hides now. She came out of her hide to have a horn worm last night which is really good because until then she wouldn't eat unless the crickets were in her hide. She seems to be coming out of her shell little by little. I walk into the room and see her run back into her hide so I know she's been going out and getting more comfortable. I found a solid poo in her tank this morning which I'm taking as a good sign. She seems to be getting on the right track now that the temperatures are sorted out

 

[XoVictoryXo]

glad to hear a happy update

 

[SamanthaLovely]

And hopefully another happy update. If my new scale I got today is on par with my vets she will have gained 1 gram. She was at 19 at the vets and my scale puts her at 20. I'll be weighing her regularly to see if it goes up. On a side note I picked up a male today that someone was getting rid of and they're giving each other Romeo and Juliet looks from across the room. I told her she's to young for boys.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

So I have a bad update which I'm hoping isn't as bad as I think it is. I went to clean Cherish's (Frodo's) tank this morning and she had thrown up most of her food last night. a cricket and two silkworms. Now, the cricket did look a little too big, she is currently getting ready to shed and she just had her second dose of medicine yesterday. I think it was just the cricket being too big and blocking her from eating the worms but I don't know. Her tank is normal temps 94-97 on the warm side about 75-80 on the cool side.

 

[cricket4u]

So I have a bad update which I'm hoping isn't as bad as I think it is. I went to clean Cherish's (Frodo's) tank this morning and she had thrown up most of her food last night. a cricket and two silkworms. Now, the cricket did look a little too big, she is currently getting ready to shed and she just had her second dose of medicine yesterday. I think it was just the cricket being too big and blocking her from eating the worms but I don't know. Her tank is normal temps 94-97 on the warm side about 75-80 on the cool side.

Is she tolerating 94-97 well? meaning is she spending more than an hour without moving?

Fecal test done? diagnosis?

What medication?

Hydration status?

Whenever I heard of a gecko tolerating a temp of over 94 belly heat, air heat was not provided. When air heat is provided they will normally prefer belly heat of about 90-92 which provided them with a balance of body heat. Obviously if the air is cold they will lay there trying to suck in as much heat as possible, not ideal. Imagine yourself in the middle of winter outside half naked.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Is she tolerating 94-97 well? meaning is she spending more than an hour without moving?

Fecal test done? diagnosis?

What medication?

Hydration status?

Whenever I heard of a gecko tolerating a temp of over 94 belly heat, air heat was not provided. When air heat is provided they will normally prefer belly heat of about 90-92 which provided them with a balance of body heat. Obviously if the air is cold they will lay there trying to suck in as much heat as possible, not ideal. Imagine yourself in the middle of winter outside half naked.

She seems to be tolerating it fine. We do have air heat in a sense. I've been keeping the heater on in the room for the sick ones. It keeps it warm but not too warm. It's a decent sized room so it can't get too hot.

She never did a fecal. She just treated for parasites and said not to bother because she already treated for it.

The medication just says Safe-Guard Suspension

I syringe her water and give her baths so I hope her hydration is good now.

I'll be taking her in again soon.

She seems to have shed fine too.

 

[cricket4u]

I'm going to shed some light on my previous temperature comment. This is random writing (complaining maybe) so don't expect perfect grammar.

I am a forum noob for the most part. I had never had much time to play around on the internet, but when I finally did I was shocked and disappointed. I could not understand why people were having so many problems with leopard geckos. To me they were a piece of cake. Then I began researching, collecting data from several forums, websites, ect. The amount of improper information was outrageous. Yes, I was naive to the matter.

At the same time I had local friends call me and asked if I can come over and see if I can help with a gecko. Many of the problems I was seeing was obesity, dehydration, anorexia, regurgitation, constipation. When I went to these people's home I realized they were only providing belly heat. I asked why, "Because I read it on the internet." Well the problem with that is reptiles are not capable of internally regulating body temp unlike mammals and humans.

Yes, Leopard geckos practice thigmothermic behavior because they are crepuscular, eyes sensative to light (no they will not go blind just by being exposed to sunlight in a few minutes), which increases the chance of becoming prey.This does not mean that they only need belly heat. They do get warm completely by protective basking in between rocks, exposing a body part, ect.

Time and time again I have people lie to me and then they wonder why their gecko is not getting better. I will show up at their home and low and behold my suspicion was correct. Excuse- I didn't think it was important. Belly heat was 94, but air temp at 70 degrees. I made sure they raise it and the geckos gets better. Yes, they can live at lower temps, but most will have shorter lifespans.:shock: I was called to someone's house whose leo was having undigested food and their 5 year-old daughter tells me, "Look he falls asleep in my hand." I would too if I was "cold-blooded", the room temp was 60 degrees and you are my only heat source.

God forbid the diet! MBD Blame it on too little D3 when you are feeding worms which calcium rarely sticks to causing a diet too high in phosphorus. Most of these problems are due to poor diet, poor heating, being kept too dry. I have known people who own leo's and live in places where the humidity is normally remains high for most part of the year and not one gecko had a case of upper respiratory infection. 40-45% RH will help with dehydration.

Care must be taken not to overheat the enclosures. Huge problem in small areas and can lead to terrible consequences. DO NOT allow the enclosure to exceed 85 air temp on the warmer end, unless they have lower temp options available. No your gecko is not trying to look cute by sleeping upright on the glass. They want to get the hell out of there for some reason!!!

Can't you tell I am tired of repeating myself and I am at my wits end. :lol:

 

[cricket4u]

How about if she has a bacterial infection or even cryptosporidium? There is a reason she continues to regurgitate. These must be ruled out.

The previous post was not directed at you by the way.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

I'm going to shed some light on my previous temperature comment. This is random writing so don't expect perfect grammar.

I am a forum noob for the most part. I had never had much time to play around on the internet, but when I finally did I was shocked and disappointed.
I could not understand why people were having so many problems with leopard geckos. To me they were a piece of cake. Then I began researching, collecting data from several forums, websites, ect. The amount of improper information was outrageous. Yes, I was naive to the matter.

At the same time I had local friends call me and asked if I can come over and see if I can help with a gecko. Many of the problems I was seeing was obesity, dehydration, anorexia, regurgitation, constipation. When I went to these people's home I realized they were only providing belly heat. I asked why, "Because I read it on the internet." Well the problem with that is reptiles are not capable of internally regulating body temp unlike mammals and humans.

Yes, Leopard geckos practice thigmothermic behavior because they are crepuscular, eyes sensative to light (no they will not go blind just by being exposed to sunlight in a few minutes), which increases the chance of becoming prey.This does not mean that they only need belly heat. They do get warm completely by protective basking in between rocks, exposing a body part, ect.

Time and time again I have people lie to me and then they wonder why their gecko is not getting better. I will show up at their home and low and behold my suspicion was correct. Excuse- I didn't think it was important. Belly heat was 94, but air temp at 70 degrees. I made sure they raise it and the geckos gets better. Yes, they can live at lower temps, but most will have shorter lifespans.:shock:

God forbid the diet! Blame it on too little D3 when you are feeding worms which calcium rarely sticks to causing a diet too high in phosphorus. Most of these problems are due to poor diet, poor heating, being kept too dry. I have known people who own leo's and live in places where the humidity is normally remains high for most part of the year and not one gecko had a case of upper respiratory infection. 40-45% RH will help with dehydration.

Care must be taken not to overheat the enclosures. Huge problem in small areas and can lead to terrible consequences. DO NOT/B]allow the enclosure to exceed 85 air temp on the warmer end, unless they have lower temp options available.

Can't you tell I am tired of repeating myself and I am at my wits end. :lol:
Search button for now on for things I have already mentioned unless I am up for it.:biggrin:

My current air temperature is at 85-90 degrees depending on which tank as some are larger/taller etc. My humidity is at 40-50 again depending on size of tank and if I sprayed them 10 mins ago or not. I've got a humidifier that runs in the room if it gets too dry.

I realize it's annoying to answer the same questions over and over and I do search my butt off in the forums. I've read almost every thread that's been posted since I joined and about 10 pages back. But they're situations are not exactly the same as mine and I feel the need to double check if nothing else because this animals life is in my hands. One wrong move from reading something wrong or interpreting it wrong and there might not be a going back.

As for a bacterial infection or crypto, I don't know. My vet is the only exotic vet in the area who could take me on when I needed to go and they're booked up right now most likely due to it being the time of year for baby rabbits. I can try to drive there and drop off fecal samples but she's an hour to an hour and a half away and I don't even know how long it'll be with them so busy. Not to mention the geckos don't always poo where I want them to and they're on paper towel.

I've had so much to do lately, sick family members, work, helping with my mom's bussiness that I've hardly time to look things up. And I'm really sorry for asking stupid things that other people have already asked. Next time I'll call my vet and see if she's available to answer questions.

 

[cricket4u]

NOOO wait! You have never asked dumb questions. I was just venting with you:lol:. I wanted to explain how important the temps were and then the rest was just my experience that I have had with people.

 

[cricket4u]

Sorry, it was meant as a conversation. My concern would be they cannot thermoregulate if you meant they do not have a cool side?

 

[cricket4u]

Constant high air temps in leopard geckos in the whole enclosure can lead to dehydration. 85 degrees is towards the warmest end. They must be able to cool down if needed. That alone has caused a leo to refuse food. During the summer I must set my air conditioner to 75 or less depending on the room temp.

 

[SamanthaLovely]

I'm sorry I snapped at you. The internet doesn't make it easy to understand how someone is saying something. The temps were higher today because I had on the heater because it was cold this morning when I left but it got really warm before I got back. And for some reason my heater doesn't want to work right and stop heating when it gets warm.

I took her out to get a good look at her toes after her shed and her skin is looking so much better. I don't know if the pictures before showed it well but she had these little flakes of dry skin all over. Kind of like dandruff but not the same. And they're gone now. I'm hoping that is a sign of better hydration.

 

[cricket4u]

I'm sorry I snapped at you. The internet doesn't make it easy to understand how someone is saying something. The temps were higher today because I had on the heater because it was cold this morning when I left but it got really warm before I got back. And for some reason my heater doesn't want to work right and stop heating when it gets warm.

I took her out to get a good look at her toes after her shed and her skin is looking so much better. I don't know if the pictures before showed it well but she had these little flakes of dry skin all over. Kind of like dandruff but not the same. And they're gone now. I'm hoping that is a sign of better hydration.

We are talking about Frodo right? Just want to make sure I don't get them confused. If possible can you take a current picture of her?

 

[cricket4u]

She was really thin, so I would feed her very small amounts. Her stomache obviously cannot hold much. It would be better to feed smaller amounts more frequently. Be very careful with size of insect as well.