Desperate for anyone who has heard of this

[Tami]

Chloe, my 1yr old leo, has been sick for about 30 days. Her appetite suddenly decreased and she became very lethargic. Took her to a local reptile vet who said he thought she had some eggs in her belly and that she likely was ovulating and not to worry. Her tail was fat, she looked good otherwise.

Two weeks later, no improvement and eating next to nothing unless I hand fed, and even then it was iffy. Her temps are fine, she's been on cage carpet. Everything dusted with calcium.

Back to the vet, no answers. Both times he gave her a vitamin and calcium shot.

About a week ago, I came to check on her and found her flipped on her back. I rushed her to a (different) reptile vet, who did basically a full body xray thinking she might be impacted with feces or eggs (she wasn't.). they put her on Baytril and Reptile Rescue 2X day. I'm also giving her pedialyte once daily. I have pulled everything out of her tank and just have her on paper towels now, trying to keep everything clean. I'm really worried about her. She gave me a nice big poop yesterday, so I rushed it to the vet and they're sending it to the lab. They suspect something neurological going on, but could also be a nasty infection???

If anyone has heard of a leo "flipping" I would love to hear about it, or any suggestions in general.

thanks:sad:

 

[diplodactyla]

I had a paroedura picta, she was perfect, but suddenly one day I saw her flipped, and she was in a very strange position, like as she was epileptic...she died a few days ago and three different vets had been unable to tell me the reason

 

[Tami]

So she had been acting perfectly prior to the flip? Chloe has been going downhill for about a month now....sigh. How long after you saw her flipped did she pass away?

 

[hskrborn71]

do you know what morph chloe is? I know enigma's have a genetic issue that they seem normal and then suddening they start acting wierd usually brought on by stress. if she is that may be it if not im sorry i dont have a clue.

Bill

 

[Tami]

do you know what morph chloe is? I know enigma's have a genetic issue that they seem normal and then suddening they start acting wierd usually brought on by stress. if she is that may be it if not im sorry i dont have a clue.

Bill

Hey Bill - y'know I have to admit I don't know much about the whole morphing thing - I got Chloe from Petsmart (I know, I know) about a year ago. She came right up to the edge of the cage and stuck her tounge out at me, and stole my heart from that moment. The only things going on when she started going downhill were that we acquired a new puppy - nothing else in her little world changed.

 

[hskrborn71]

most likely than not an enigma. well at least i have never seen one at a pet store. im really not sure what could be going on then and from the sounds of it a vet might give a calcium shot and vitamin shot and say lets see what happens. I hope things turn around for the little guy.

Bill

 

[lindsaydo]

Enigma syndrome can cause star gazing - where the leo looks up in the air and just stares. Death rolling - flipping onto the back and rolling around. What I call the enigma dance - where they spin in circles and rotate there head in a circular motion.
I had one with bad enigma syndrome, he didn't eat apart from being hand fed, he rolled and died eventually. When they lay on their backs and can't get up they pretty much suffocate themselves as it puts pressure on their lungs. I think you need to talk to the vet about what would be best for Chloe, and whether you would want her to slip away peacefully or potentially roll on her back when you are out and not be able to get up. It sounds neurological, and that means it is very unlikely that it won't get better. It is a real shame that this happens to these poor animals, and it is also very likely that if you did get the leo from a big chain pet store, that their breeders will have inbred the geckos in the past, which does cause abnormalities.
I am very sorry to put all of this on you, but I am only speaking out of experience. I kept hanging on to the little guy I had in hope he would pull through, but really in hindsight I just prolonged his suffering.

 

[lindsaydo]

most likely than not an enigma. well at least i have never seen one at a pet store.

Bill

I have seen plenty of enigma's at a pet store, as they don't know what they are selling. I rescued one from a pet store, the one i was previously talking about. The problem is with these large chain pet stores is that they want to make money by selling pets to a wide range of people, and that includes rodents, birds, aquatics etc, but they don't read up on the enough first. The workers there don't generally know how to sex the leopard gecko's, what a morph is, and what will happen if you don't supplement calcium into a leo's diet. It really bugs me.

 

[AsgerB]

Same problem

I've had the same problem with my Eclipse Enigma male, i dno if its EXACTLY the same, but i looked into hes cage one day and saw him walking around really really weird and flipping around all the time, like he couldnt hold the balance or something was bothering him. So i took him out, put him in a plastic box with only 1 hide, a heatmat under and a blanket wrapped around. He was in there for about 6 hours when i opened it up and he stood up the side looking at me all normal like there had never been anything wrong with him. Its now about 6 months ago, and he is still doing really good. Its worth a try..

Good luck with it ! Its never funny when your animals dont feel good.

 

[Tami]

I have seen plenty of enigma's at a pet store, as they don't know what they are selling. I rescued one from a pet store, the one i was previously talking about. The problem is with these large chain pet stores is that they want to make money by selling pets to a wide range of people, and that includes rodents, birds, aquatics etc, but they don't read up on the enough first. The workers there don't generally know how to sex the leopard gecko's, what a morph is, and what will happen if you don't supplement calcium into a leo's diet. It really bugs me.

Yeah, I will never buy another ANYTHING from Petsmart again...but the thing is, she has been great for almost a year and then suddenly this happened. I would think that if it were a petsmart issue, I would have had problems from the beginning? I am waiting for the results of the fecal from the vet (just to make sure it's not a parasite issue) which should be back tomorrow. If there are no parasites, I will probabably at least wait until she's had the full course of Baytril and then it will be time to make some tough decisions if no better. So sad, I've grown really attached to her.

 

[lindsaydo]

I know it is very terrible. I hate it when an animal is ill, and it's worse when you don't know what is causing the problem or you don't know what to do.
Everything in the long run will be ok though.

 

[lindsaydo]

And might I say that it is very good to see someone doing this for their gecko. The pet shop I go to wouldn't dream of doing anything for the animals they sold. If they lost money because of it, they wouldn't bother, and that's a Reptile Shop which say they "are dedicated to the well being of reptiles, and take pride in providing quality, healthy animals". They have just sold me a leo that is egg bound. Go figure.

 

[Tami]

And might I say that it is very good to see someone doing this for their gecko. The pet shop I go to wouldn't dream of doing anything for the animals they sold. If they lost money because of it, they wouldn't bother, and that's a Reptile Shop which say they "are dedicated to the well being of reptiles, and take pride in providing quality, healthy animals". They have just sold me a leo that is egg bound. Go figure.

I'm up to 5 vet visits, one overnight hospital stay and $500+ trying to figure out what is wrong with this little girl. I keep thinking about putting her down, but then she'll move around her cage and look up at me like, "Yeah, and what?" and I'll think maybe the antibiotic is helping. The next time I'll come in and find her on her back and it just kills me. I was really hoping someone on this form might see this and say, "Oh, well I know what that is, it's...XXXXX" but this flipping thing seems to be pretty rare. Those who have experienced it are not very hopeful for a good outcome it seems.

 

[J.P.]

the enigma syndrome sometimes takes a bit of time to show up. and even enigmas from popular breeders are not perfectly problem free.
but first things first, do post a photo so that we can all see if chloe is indeed an enigma.

 

[Tami]

the enigma syndrome sometimes takes a bit of time to show up. and even enigmas from popular breeders are not perfectly problem free.
but first things first, do post a photo so that we can all see if chloe is indeed an enigma.

I'm not even sure I know what an "enigma" is - can you elaborate? And you can tell from a photo? What do you look for in a picture?

 

[J.P.]

enigma is a morph. try to google it so you will have more information. the enigma "syndrome" is a nerological disorder associated with some enigma geckos, take note that not all enigmas have it, and it occurs in varrying degrees. some are mild, while some geckos have to be put down so as not to prolong their suffering. we can tell from the photo if it is an enigma, and if it is indeed an enigma, then we can conclude that the problem you observed is in fact the enigma "syndrome". if your gecko is not an enigma, then the problem is something else.

 

[Tami]

Chloe is the one pictured in all my posts...does that help?

 

[J.P.]

i see............well, from what i can see in your avatar, she doesn't look like an enigma. so the problem probably lies elsewhere. i hope the vets determine what is wrong with her.

 

[lindsaydo]

Yeah it definatley sounds neurological. Maybe an infection and the anti biotics clear it up? I duno, after the anti biotics could steroids work? It is very strange indeed.

 

[AsgerB]

Hm

Okei so my post was irrelevant since she is not an enigma. Well, MY best guess would be something in her brain like a blood clot, i dont really know if that is the right english term for it, but that would be my final guess. Im really hoping you can find a solution for your problem.

Best Wishes.! Asger.