Sick Gecko

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

So my baby leopard gecko hasn't eaten in 2 days (all his crickets are still in the tank, he shows no interest) and now he isn't moving right. I tried to get him to walk and it is almost as if he can't hold the front half of his body up. He kinda drags himself along. And he is usually a very jumpy guy and he is acting very sluggish.
I'm really worried.
A little more info: I got him in November, he is housed alone in a 10 gallon tank with 3 hides (warm, cool and humid), he is fed crickets with an occasional mealworm here and there. On reptile carpet with an overhead heat lamp (was planning on getting him an undertank heater this weekend).
Does anyone have any ideas? Im kinda freaking out. He just doesn't look right.

Thanks for all quick responses

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Pull all the old crickets out of the tank. Make sure he has water. Recheck all of his temps. 2 days isn't much time to go without eating. No need to freak out yet. It's that time of year when many herps are going into brumation. So it's not so unusual for them to get a bit lethargic either. Leave him alone for a couple of days and then try feeding him again. See what happens then. In the mean time, get your uth .

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

Thanks for the input but I d=took him to the vet today and he has MBD and I have a liquid calcium supplement I have to give him and an anti inflammatory. His bones were so thin that his arm bones and a small part of his spine didn't even show up on the xray.

Oh, the vet also told me that it's pretty pointless to have a little cup of calcium in the tank all the time, they don't usually eat it anyway, it's most important to dust the crickets before feeding.
And that a uvb light is important because leo's normally get their vitamin d from the sun.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Well I can tell you right off the bat that your vet is mistaken. A uvb light will do your leo little to no good. Leo's are nocturnal and don't bask in the sun. In fact, forcing your leo to be under too much uv light can cause skin and eye issues. You need to provide your leo with calcium that contains vit. D3 when you dust your crickets. And leo's will indeed lick calcium from a bowl on a regular basis. However, this should be calcium that does NOT have D3 as to avoid over supplementation. MBD is quite common in leos that aren't provided D3. Do some reading through the thousands of old posts here. You'll learn a lot.

PS: good luck with his recovery. Make sure to get that UTH still. Belly heat is important for helping digestion.

Edit to add...here's a good example of what you should be dusting your crickets with: http://www.bigappleherp.com/Rep-Cal-Calcium_2

 

[OffshoreMetal]

Good thing you went to the vet ! And for the calcium dish , I have to disagree... Yes it is important to dust the food but the calcium dish in important too because when they figure out that what is inside is calcium they will use it. Probably not all Leo will do it but you have nothing to lose.

Ethan was faster than me

 

[butterfly]

my leo eats from his calcium dish. I've only had him for 2 1/2 weeks, so i am not an expert, but i have seen him licking at it EVERY night, as well as his water dish. My vet said they can use the light, and so did PetSmart. They also that it was not necessary, but they can have it, as long as they have some where dark to hide if they dont want to be in the light. But an UTH is better. If you choose to go with no light in the tank, you need to have the light on in the room they are kept in, otherwise they will get mixed up as to night and day, and that can make them stressed. Again, I am not an expert, or not a vet, but this was what I've been told, and what the majority of my research suggests as well.

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

I appreciate everyones advise and thoughts. However, at this moment I am going to do what the vet suggested I do. I understand that everyone here has their own geckos and their own way of taking care of their geckos.
I will be getting the UVB light, and like the vet said, moniter the temp closely to make sure he does not overheat. The light gives off vitamin d, which my gecko needs to help build up his bones. I will also be getting calcium to dust the crickets with.
I know that many people here are breeders and have alot of experience with leos, and I value your input. But i believe the vet considering she went to school for years to do what she is doing, which makes her an expert. And as butterfly said " we are not all experts, nor are we vets", which suggetsts that there are people who are and who know more than most of us, which is why I will follow the vet's directions.
Anyway, thank you for the feedback, I will keep you posted on my geckos progress.

Oh, and last night I got him to eat a mealworm an he ate another one this morning. It is going to be a long recovery for him but his name is Zeus, which means living, so I think he is going to be strong and pull throught this.

 

[Allee Toler]

Yeah my last vet is an "expert" who went to school, told me my gecko needed 105F heat through out the tank, a UVB, no UTH (they were "unneeded" he said), and that they prefer freeze dried food.

But go ahead and listen to your vet. He's probably never kept a leo before, at least not past 5 years old I'm betting. He's not an expert IMO if he's NEVER kept an animal for a significant period of time. But that doesn't matter because he went to school for "general" vet care, and never read that every care sheet on the internet for this species says no UVB. But whatever, he's an expert, right?

Your animal, your choice, your funeral.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

What you don't seem to understand is that while vets go to school for many years, very little time is spent on "exotic" animals. I have 20+ years experience working with reptiles. I don't know if that qualifies me as an "expert". But ask your vet how many years of actual reptile experience they have? The advice that your vet has given you would be great if you had an iguana for a pet. But a leopard gecko has very different requirements. However, it's certainly your choice how to deal with your animal. Just don't expect anyone to be very sympathetic if/when things don't work out.

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

First off, the vet I went to specializes in exotic animals.

Second of all, how do you know whether she has or has not kept any certain animal for however many of years.

And third of all, I don't think its necessary for you to be rude to someone who is just trying to do what she thinks is the best for her animal (whether you agree or not). Not once was I rude to anyone, not once did I give a reply of "Your animal, your choice, your funeral", which by the way certainly cant be coming from someone who cares about any creature if that is their response to someone who is trying to care for their sick gecko. All I ever said was that this is what the vet told me, this is what I'm going to try in an effort to save my gecko, and that I am taking all this conflicting advise into consideration to try and save my little boy's life.

And by the way, the uvb light is not the heat source and will not be on all the time, it is mainly to give him the vitamins (vitamin d, best when made by the animal after absorbing through the skin - this is from a vitamin d scientist) that he is lacking at the moment. Perhaps UVB light is not "necessary" for all leo's as, some online sources say (btw the internet isn't always right), but in my boy's case, I think it will help his fragile little bones. And I monitor the temps to make sure it is not too hot for him, and he will be receiving heat via an uth.

Why is it that all you senior members and gecko administrators feel the need to jump down peoples throats and insult people for knowing less then you. You give off a strong impression that you think you are much better than all the other people here who don't have 20 years of experience. Not the best way to get others to trust you, in my opinion

Overall, I just think that there are ways that you can give advise without being rude.
I am going to continue learning everything I can so that I can best take care of my geckos, and I appreciate those of you who did not jump down my throat when I shared what the vet told me, and what I was going to do to try and help my boy.

 

[Holly12]

Yeah that calcium dish is a must very important and my 2 female leos they are eating less also so like Ethan said your leo might be slowing down on food intake. I hope that your leo is going to be okay let us know whats going on with him.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Any vet can say that they are an exotic animal or reptile "expert". The fact of the matter is that there is NO veterinary board certification in the US for specializing in reptiles. I spent 15 years of my adult life working in veterinary medicine. I can tell that your vet doesn't know what they're talking about by the poor information you were given. It's that simple. A leopard gecko, being nocturnal will not bask in sunlight and thus, the light will do no good. And yes, it can do harm. As I said above, it can cause both skin and eye issues. If you want to provide proper levels of vit. D3, you need to dust with the calcium that contains vit. D3. This is simple common sense. Am I sometimes a bit short with people on here? Of course I am. I have 18,000+ people here that I deal with on a daily basis for FREE. I get paid NOTHING for my time on here. I simply don't always have the time to blow flowers up your butt...especially when many people don't even take the time to simply use the search function and do their own research on basic subjects that have been covered over and over again. Try spending an hour of your own time reading through old threads instead of wasting my time having to type it all out AGAIN. As I said, it's your pet and it's up to you to treat them as you would like. I have nothing to gain by wasting my time giving advice to people who don't want it (and then want me to be friendly about it on top of that).


PS: if you think I'm an a-hole (which I certainly can be at times), you should try some of the other reptile forums out. I'm pretty damn friendly compared to many of the others out there.

 

[Holly12]

Well Ethan is right UVB will not help your leo at all leos are noctrunal they do not need the UVB and Ethan said that too. We all can tell you the samething put in a calcium dish in thier with D3 leave it in thier at all times. And Ethan is not being rude he is only trying to point out to you things that are for you to know. And yes read up on leos thier are care sheets on here to read so please take the time and read them and if you still have answers then post them up on here.

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

I do believe that I said I appreciate everyones advice, so thank you. Sorry you have so many people to deal with. If you don't have time to answer questions and be civil, maybe it's time for a nap. Holly, thanks for being supportive of my lil leo!

 

[Captain Stitch-Mozart]

As I said earlier, I do appreciate everyones advice and I am taking it all into consideration. After reading much of different conflicting information on UVB lights, I decided to not use it, it does make sense that it could be damaging to his eyes. I also bought one and it is extremely bright.

And as I said before, I am open to trying and listening to advice to figure out what is best for him.



I just purchased calcium with d3 so coat the crickets, and will soon be buying calcium without d3 to use as well.

Thank you all.

 

[GeckoGirl1990]

*timidly stepping into the fray...*
I agree that many vets don't know a thing about reptiles, and will give random advice just to sound like they know what theyre talking about. I've heard way too many bad stories to think otherwise. And because most people in general ALSO don't know a thing about their reptiles, the vets usually get away with it.

The thought of a leopard gecko needing a UVB light is rediculous. These geckos don't bask, they hide from the light. Theyre nocturnal. And yet, Petco employees and vets unite to say "use UVB at all times!"

BUT... I also have to side with Cpt. Stitch here. I've witnessed some unnecessary snapping and retorting here (and in other threads). We are a rather rare 'community' of humans who like scaly things. We should be working cohesively towards making lives better for geckos and the hobby more enjoyable, and creating a condescending feeling towards the less experienced members is not the way to do so =(

I also wanted to say that perhaps a UVB light would be beneficial for little Zeus, just while he's ill. Its perhaps a more direct way to get some vitamin D into this gecko.
Also, I've tried the calcium dish thing several times over the last 7 years of having my leopards, and my two females never took to it. I was very insistent, even smoothing the top of the powder so that I could see if they ate some, but they never did. I think it may be because I supplement with almost every feeding, and usually even spoil the crickets with nutritious food and the "calcium fortified" cricket quencher.

So Cpt. Stitch, do as you wish. Find out what kinds of reptiles your vet has experience with. Just know that 90% of the time, you'll get better information from here.

Good luck

 

[J.P.]

if you read the older posts about gecko health problems, the seniors usually advice the owner to take their animal to a vet. that means that they believe in veterinarians.

i suggest you get a second opinion from another qualified vet, if you can. just to be sure you are doing the right thing. i would if i got the same amount of contradiction. (of course there is a possibility that your vet could be pioneering a radical treatment that is not yet popular with other experts.)????