Failing health with our leo gecko

[Missinova]

Well one month exactly ago we got my son's gecko from the pet store. He seemed to be settling in ok... He was eating, pooping, active, but hasn't really grown at all since we got him.

Then about a week ago, he basically stopped eating... we are lucky if he will eat a mealworm. He just doesn't look well at all. He is so tiny and his tail, looks like a rats tail.

We have an appt at the vet for Thursday ( the earliest we could get an appt.) I hope we can get him turned around.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Good luck with the vet appointment. Do some reading through the older threads. There's a ton of info to be had as it seems to be a frequent issue with leos. Lack of appetite can be caused by many different things. So there's not really one easy simple answer.

 

[adam03]

Hope your Leo's health makes a quick turn around soon.

 

[Missinova]

Our little gecko seemed to be a bit better yesterday.

My son and I had built a second level out of wood and slate tile a while back for his cage, and had put his hide on top of it... "Sneaky" seemed to like it up there and stayed in the hide most of the time. My sons thermometer's probe was under this level on the bottom of the tank at the hottest point, and most of the time it was only in the mid 80's. Now we have a UTH and a heat bulb above, so my thought was that the little guy may not be very warm up there, a not enough belly heat, so I had my son take that out. Just to see if it makes any difference.

When my son came home yesterday he was out moving around, and when my son threw crickets in there, he ate two of them. Still not a lot, but it is a little improvement.

We go to the vet today to see what is up with him. He is still too tiny.

 

[Missinova]

Well we went to the vet today... I'm a little hopeful but discouraged after the visit.

First the vet tried to weigh him on their electronic scale, and the poor little guy didn't even register. The vet said that in 15 years this is the smallest gecko he has ever seen in his clinic and is super frustrated for us. He figures he is probably just under 1 gram. :shock:

He said that the little guy doesn't appear to be sick... eyes are clear, no obstruction, or indication of infection etc. No mites. Other than the fact that he is so small and skinny, appears to be not sick. He said his tail looks troublesome as it has no thickness to it at all.. like a striped mouse/rat tail.

At first he said he didn't want to de-worm him or give him anti-biotiotics because we could poison him as we couldn't get anything to register weight wise... But after sitting down and figuring out some things he said he was confident that he could mix up a solution that would be safe for him. He also said that this suspension will also help hydrate him, which may help him regain some energy, and interest in feeding again. He said to look around his terrarium and see if there was anything around that would cause a vibration that would cause him to be in defensive mode too much so he won't switch back to predator mode... So I'll take a look around, but I don't think there is anything there... He said things like amplifiers, fluorescent lights that hum, etc..

The vet also said that we were doing everything right, and sneaky may still continue down hill, even after going through all of this. But he was impressed that we brought him in and wanted to try something to help him. He said he would call in a week to see how he was doing.

So we have a de-worming solution, and an antibiotic to give to him twice a day for 14 days. Also he said to try giving him .1mls of water at that time as well.

So hopefully we can save this little guy...

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi Missinova ~

Many thanks for updating GU after Sneaky's vet visit. How old is Sneaky?

I read this thread and did not notice anything about calcium powder. Are you using some? The calcium should have vitamin D3 and be phosphorous-free. I like the Rep Cal brand . You should leave a dish in his tank and lightly dust his prey. There is also a human-grade liquid calcium syrup called Calcium Glubionate. This is available over-the-counter, but may have to be special ordered by your pharmacy. Your gecko would lick this off his nose.

 

[Missinova]

Yes, we have Rep Cal calcium with D3 to dust the crickets with plus we keep just calcium in a very shallow dish in his cage... My son also would touch the powder on his nose and he would lick it off...

We don't know exactly how old he is... the pet store said they thought he was around 4 months when we got him, I'm not sure I believe that though... that would make him 5 months now, and about the size of a 2-3 month old.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Excellent idea your son has to touch the calcium to Sneaky's nose. Good to hear Sneaky licks it off.

Best wishes on making a difference. Sneaky "knows" you're cheering for him ;-).

 

[Missinova]

Here is an update...

After communicating with a few breeders and people who are more knowledgable than I am regarding leo's, we decided to stop the medication. Others felt that if the Dr. didn't do a fecal exam and did indicate that the leo didn't look sick or parasitic that treating him for that when he didn't need it could make him worse, especially if he couldn't get an accurate weight. Which on Saturday, he did look worse, a lot worse... So we stopped the meds for now.

So I was advised to remove Sneaky from his normal enclosure and put him in a small enclosure with just a hut, and water dish, and his calcium... and keep the temp at about 95... Removed the daylight lights, and just opened the curtains in the room.

I made the Slurry recipe for him, and fed him about 0.2mls yesterday. He ate only one cricket on his own last night, and I fed him about 0.5mls of the slurry so far this morning.

The picture below is the end of September just after we got him... So he never really was big... I was told he was about 4 months around then by the pet store - not sure if I believe that.

The picture below was taken on Friday... So you can see he has deteriorated... I will take another picture either today or tomorrow so we can compare and see if he is improving or not.

Some think this is more of a case of picky/stubborn baby than a sick gecko. I will keep you updated.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Many thanks for your detailed update. Glad that you inquired further about the vet's advice. Is that vet a specialist in exotic reptiles?

 

[Missinova]

I did a search around for vets for reptiles, and the choices were far and between... I found an online Canadian Reptile vet directory and this vet was listed. When I called they indicated they did in fact have a reptile vet on staff... This was almost an hour's drive from me... and the closest one I could find. I didn't think they would be so rare...

I guess I was wrong...

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Glad that you saw the closest reptile vet in your vicinity! I hope with the additional info provided to you by the breeders Sneaky is improving. How is he doing eating his slurry? Another food you might try is chicken baby food to get some protein in him. Just place some on his snout and usually geckos will just lick it right off.

 

[Missinova]

Well Unfortunately the little guy passed away tonight...

We thought he seemed to be doing better... still eating the slurry... But tonight he just started acting strange, disoriented and falling over and rolling on his back and stuff, and then he was gone... I just wish we knew what was wrong with him...

My son is devastated.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi ~

I am very sorry to hear of Sneaky's death this evening :sad:. You guys tried your very best with him.

Perhaps, if you decide to try again, an older gecko might fill the bill. Many herp societies sometimes have leopard geckos up for adoption.

 

[beardedgeckoballs]

Due to the exotic nature of reptiles and the tiny size of leopard geckos, there are very few vets that have any knowledge for treating them. Most will apply general techniques, normally used for dogs and cats, for dealing with sick reptiles. Anyhow... The picture of your gecko looks about the size of my biggest new born geckos which are only 3 weeks old. I have bred leopard geckos numerous times throughout my life and have just recently come to the realization that baby geckos can be hard to start them feeding. Never have I had a problem before, but this time out of 7 babies 3 died because they never started eating and 3 more I have had to force feed since the time they hatched. Finally today the three that weren't eating all started eating on their own My point is that it doesn't necesarilly mean disease is present just cause they don't eat. Keep hand feeding your gecko untill it eats enough on it's own and raising the temp like you did is good also, reptiles cannot digest their food if they don't have adequite heat. Also, wild caught reptiles often have parasites, wild temperaments, and other problems, not to mention taking animals from the wild depletes the earth's wildlife population. Hopefully your baby isn't wild caught. Because of this, it's always best to get your geckos from a breeder or if from a petstore make sure that they sell captive bred babies.

PS. Always quarantine any new geckos for a few weeks before housing them with geckos you already have. This helps prevent any new arrival that might be diseased from infecting any geckos you already have.

 

[Missinova]

Thanks for the kind words...

I feel bad for my son, as he really adored the little guy. The vet warned us that because he was so small that he may still continue to go down hill even if we were doing all the right things...

We are going to bury Sneaky today, and then take both enclosures apart and disinfect them and all the contents and clean everything really well... Then in a few weeks we will look for another leo for him... We'll keep our eyes open... But my son needs time to get over the loss of Sneaky and reflect and learn from what happened.

 

[InsanePirateDragon]

Like Elizabeth said a older Leo might be a bit better, or maybe you could locate a reptile breeder, their babies are always in very good shape and know what they are doing.

Or maybe even check out a reptile show that might be in your area, they often sell old retired breeders that are looking for a new home.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks for the kind words...

I feel bad for my son, as he really adored the little guy. The vet warned us that because he was so small that he may still continue to go down hill even if we were doing all the right things...

We are going to bury Sneaky today, and then take both enclosures apart and disinfect them and all the contents and clean everything really well... Then in a few weeks we will look for another leo for him... We'll keep our eyes open... But my son needs time to get over the loss of Sneaky and reflect and learn from what happened.

Hi Missinova ~

Hope Sneaky's burial went alright and that your son is feeling better about the passing of his pet.

Good to hear that all will be disinfected just in case.