ill phelsuma grandis

Z

zipdk

New member
hi guys

im getting VERY worried for my female grandis, she had a good periode were she didnt want to eat anything beside baby food, and now she has become very slim. : (

her back legs dosent seem to function, currently she is under going a sheed, but she isnt trying to pull off the skin. Also she seems very weak, I can easily take her out and hold in my hand (that would be impossible when shes normal!)

what can I do? I keep feeding her with baby moss with calcium, but is it a lost cause?

I really dont hope I need to put her down, there is no reptile vets in my area, and I dont want her to suffer ....
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
zipdk said:
hi guys

im getting VERY worried for my female grandis, she had a good periode were she didnt want to eat anything beside baby food, and now she has become very slim. : (

her back legs dosent seem to function, currently she is under going a sheed, but she isnt trying to pull off the skin. Also she seems very weak, I can easily take her out and hold in my hand (that would be impossible when shes normal!)

what can I do? I keep feeding her with baby moss with calcium, but is it a lost cause?

I really dont hope I need to put her down, there is no reptile vets in my area, and I dont want her to suffer ....
Click to expand...

Hello ~

Hi GU! Wanted: Phelsuma experts!

Are you providing her with UVB lighting? If so, what brand and size?

Alternatively you might be using some calcium with vitamin D3. If so, what brand and frequency?

How are her sheds? Humidity, temperatures, et cetera?
 
Z

zipdk

New member
hi and thanks for your quick reply.

I have been breeding and keeping phelsuma grandis for nearly 3 years, and Ive never encountered this before, my male is healthy and happy.

they have exo terras UVB ligthning, and its the bigggest version intended for rainforest reptiles.

calcium with vitamin D3 is also supplied on regular basis though baby food (mixed up with D3) its med zoos, I feed it 2-3 times pr week. (please note my male is healthy and in good shape)

she havent ate for a good while, I figured it was due to the winter season, but now she has become quite skinny, and her sheeding isnt succesfull, Ive sprayed her with ligth warm water, but she only got pissed about it.

the humith/tempatures is controlled by a digital computer, so it cant be the matter either. I fear that I migth have to put her down. In that case what is the most humane way to do so? never had to kill a reptile before /:
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
URGENT: Very sick Phelsuma grandis female...calcium crash...D3 overdose?

zipdk said:
hi and thanks for your quick reply.

I have been breeding and keeping phelsuma grandis for nearly 3 years, and Ive never encountered this before, my male is healthy and happy.

they have exo terras UVB ligthning, and its the bigggest version intended for rainforest reptiles.

calcium with vitamin D3 is also supplied on regular basis though baby food (mixed up with D3) its med zoos, I feed it 2-3 times pr week. (please note my male is healthy and in good shape)

she havent ate for a good while, I figured it was due to the winter season, but now she has become quite skinny, and her sheeding isnt succesfull, Ive sprayed her with ligth warm water, but she only got pissed about it.

the humith/tempatures is controlled by a digital computer, so it cant be the matter either. I fear that I migth have to put her down. In that case what is the most humane way to do so? never had to kill a reptile before /:
Click to expand...

You are welcome.

I am hoping someone with a background keeping and breeding Phelsuma grandis (not me) will reply.

How many eggs did this female lay this last season? Maybe your female is having what is termed a "calcium crash"? However, she might also be getting overdosed with calcium with D3 and not have enough vitamins in her diet?

Switch immediately to Zoo Med Reptisun tube fluorescents and at the same time cease using D3 in any powdered supplement. (I have personally witnessed remarkable turnarounds when the tube fluorescent I had been using was beyond it's life.) Both the size and the strength of the Reptisun tubes depend upon the height of your tanks and whether gecko basking sites are provided within the distances recommended on the box. Screen tops can reduce the penetration distance of the UVB rays by 50%.

Try some undusted crickets right away with the back legs cut off. Might she eat those? Recommend Pangea and Clarke's powdered gecko diets. Some people have had problems with some versions of Repashy. Those are way more balanced than baby food.

Exo Terra's UVB lighting is not supposed to be very good. You also do NOT want to supply UVB via a bulb as well as via a powdered supplement. Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3 is the best of the powdered sources.

There are other "higher tech" lighting/UVB options. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Give her a chance with Zoo Med UVB tubes and a different diet.
 
Last edited:
Z

zipdk

New member
hi and thanks for your reply. I have been using thoose exo terras tubes for 2.5 years now, as I said no issues was ever caused by them. Im going to buy a new tube today, and some grass hoppers, they dont care much for crickets .... they are like "EWWW!!! but grass hoppers makers them crazy for them. I also ordered some flies wish is her personal farvorit.

Would you recommend some rasphery gecko diet? to get her improved? her sheeds seem to get off now, I sprayed her with water, and now most of it is off.
 
Tamara

Tamara

New member
We agree with Elizabeth, it sounds like she is having a calcium crash or is suffering from hypervitaminosis D.
We would change the lighting and her diet as soon as possible.
Also, maybe get some waxworms and try if she eats one of those, most gecko's that have some appetite left can't resist them.
In combination with a zoomed 5.0 UVB bulb we supplement 1 time with vitamins with D3 every other week and that's it, all the other feedings we use plain calcium without D3.
We do however always make sure our feeder insects are very well gutloaded before we feed them to our gecko's.

Also, get her seperated from the male so he doesn't bother her now that she isn't feeling well.

If you can get her to eat and give her the correct supplements and enough rest i think she might still have a chance.., but, it could as well be some other problem such as a gastrointestinal infection in wich case she will need profesional help and medication to get here healthy again.

It's such a shame there aren't very much descent reptile vets where one can go to for help. :(
If the whorst case scenario happens and you need to put her down please don't try doing it yourself.
You can always go to any other normal vet and they should be able to help you, the procedure is the same with reptiles as it is with any other animal.

But let's hope the changing of her diet and lighting is sufficient enough to get her to eat again and it won't be necessary.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
zipdk said:
hi and thanks for your reply. I have been using thoose exo terras tubes for 2.5 years now, as I said no issues was ever caused by them. Im going to buy a new tube today, and some grass hoppers, they dont care much for crickets .... they are like "EWWW!!! but grass hoppers makers them crazy for them. I also ordered some flies wish is her personal farvorit.

Would you recommend some rasphery gecko diet? to get her improved? her sheeds seem to get off now, I sprayed her with water, and now most of it is off.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Live food will be good!

Zoo Med Reptisun tubes are much more highly rated, by others too. I change out my Reptisun tubes annually. The UVB rays are probably long gone in 2.5 years. :(

What brand is this raspberry diet?

BTW, how old is she?

I feed my Phelsuma barbouri mostly crickets. They love them!
 
Last edited:
Z

zipdk

New member
Repashy its me who cant spell.

im not sure about the age, I rescued them from a bad home some years ago. I would estimate 5 + years.
 
Tamara

Tamara

New member
Repashy is loaded with nutrients and vitamins for gecko's, if you could get her to eat that it would be so much better than the babyfood.
If she doesn't take it on her own try putting a drop of it on her nose.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
zipdk said:
Repashy its me who cant spell.

im not sure about the age, I rescued them from a bad home some years ago. I would estimate 5 + years.
Click to expand...

Order Pangea instead of Repashy. Some of Repashy's formulations have had problems. You want the best shot at her health that is possible. :)
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Tamara said:
Repashy is loaded with nutrients and vitamins for gecko's, if you could get her to eat that it would be so much better than the babyfood.
If she doesn't take it on her own try putting a drop of it on her nose.
Click to expand...

Which formulation of Repashy's has been successful with your Phelsuma, Tamara?

A friend of mine who breeds Phelsuma mad mads, cepediana, laticauda, and klemmeri swears by the Reptisun 10.0 strength tubes.

Big Apple Herps (USA) carries the 5.0 tubes. However, Phelsuma barbouri prefer a horizontal enclosure (15 gallon LONG). The 5.0s work fine for them
 
Last edited:
Tamara

Tamara

New member
Elizabeth Freer said:
Order Pangea instead of Repashy. Some of Repashy's formulations have had problems. You want the best shot at her health that is possible. :)
Click to expand...

Correct, they all love the Pangea and ours prefer it over the Repashy as well.

Going back trough the topic i also saw that you use the exo terra bulbs, they aren't very good and produce very low UVB amounts, wich you can't see but have to measure as UV ray's aren't vissible for the human eye.
As Elizabeth also said, change to zoomed bulbs as soon as possible and change the bulb itself every half year to a year as the UVB output will be long gone after that.

I'm starting to feel more sure that bad lighting, combined with laying eggs and not enough vitamins is what caused the problems with your girl.
 
Last edited:
Tamara

Tamara

New member
Elizabeth Freer said:
Which formulation of Repashy's has been successful with your Phelsuma, Tamara?

A friend of mine who breeds Phelsuma mad mads, cepediana, days, and klemmeri swears by the Reptisun 10.0 strength tubes.


Big Apple Herps (USA) still carries the 5.0 tubes. However, Phelsuma barbouri prefer a horizontal enclosure (15 gallon LONG). The 5.0s work fine for them
Click to expand...

I believe they ate the second formula the best, but not nearly as good as the Pangea so we also changed to that as well.

We use the 5.0 because the lamps are laying directly on the screen tops of our terrariums, if we would have more room to place them a little higher we would use the 10.0 as well.., but we never had any problems with using the 5.0, we just change them a little sooner.
 
Z

zipdk

New member
oh yes definaly, I want her to recover asap if possible. She had been heavy at my mind at work theese days
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Hi zipdk ~

Notice that you're from Denmark. Have you access to the Zoo Med Reptisun tube fluorescents as well as those Pangea flavors?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top