Leopard Gecko not eating; I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING! HELP!

[Saskia]

Honey it's hard to tell, but that looks like a gravid gecko to me!! specially in the second picture I can sort of see two eggs , but the lighting is not good.... this is how a gravid gecko looks like:

Leave her alone as much as possible, don't stress her, provide a laying box.... how much does she weight ???

 

[Emmalou]

So, do you think it’s a she? I’m not sure of the weight. I haven’t had a chance to go get a scale yet. But I plan to go today. When I looked last night, That’s what my leo looked like. We will just wait and see… Thank you again for your help.

Do you have any advice on other essentials I might need? Like food, types of hides, something that will cause less stress?

Thanks again Saskia

 

[houseape57]

Your leo if full of fluid, I have seen this many many times were I work as a Vet Tech. You will need to get to the vets and have him perform an abdominocentesis, which is
removing a large amount of fluid from the abdomen.

 

[MauricesExoticPets]

Your leo if full of fluid, I have seen this many many times were I work as a Vet Tech. You will need to get to the vets and have him perform an abdominocentesis, which is
removing a large amount of fluid from the abdomen.

If this is the case, why? I've never seen such an issue in leopard geckos.

Maurice Pudlo

 

[Emmalou]

What causes the fluid retention? Is there any other way I can handle it? I don’t have a vet close to me that takes care of geckos and my one source is out of town for 2 weeks. Will my leo be okay until then? Is it deadly?

 

[Debbie7054]

The only case I know of was caused by a virus the gecko needed antibiotics and the fluid drawn out. Looking at that I'd say it needed drawing out asap thats a lot of fluid.

 

[M&S-328]

I hate to tell you this.. But if you do not get your leo to a vet ASAP its condition can become too far gone to do anything about.
This a a really bad virus - I had a leo that just died from the exact same thing. Removing the liquid is helpful. I will make the leo feel better and maybe get hungry again too. But you absolutely must get some kind of meds to put your leo on too. Otherwise the virus wont go away and you leo will just fill back up full of fluid and be even sicker the next time. =/

 

[Emmalou]

I have a vet appointment Friday morning. Do you know what the virus is called?

 

[Saskia]

Is it really possible to tell that just by looking at a picture? that is a delicate diagnosis.... !! Hope the vet knows something about this animals

 

[Saskia]

PLease keep in mind that veterinarians are NOT animal experts, if they are not familiar with this species they probably couldn't do much, think about this for a second: Human doctors study 7 years of medicine school and then 3-5 more years to speciallize in one part of the human body.... veterinarians study 5 years, it is impossible that they know about anatomy for many different animals, diseases, etc, they usually get (or at least should) get speciallized in a ceirtain species with practice, if he is not familiar with leopard geckos there is a chance it might not be of help, you should give him/her a heads up so he/she can (perhaps) read some, or call a friend and ask for advise IN the CASE he/she is not familiar with leos....

 

[Emmalou]

I’ve been doing further reading on the reovirus. Most of the stories I have read have not had happy endings. But, my leo’s symptoms are the same as most of the others with the virus…. I hope I don't lose my leo Thanks for your posts though. I think I’ve finally figured out what’s wrong. Let’s hope we caught it in time.

I hope the vet knows what to do…. Wish us luck.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I’ve been doing further reading on the reovirus. Most of the stories I have read have not had happy endings. But, my leo’s symptoms are the same as most of the others with the virus…. I hope I don't lose my leo Thanks for your posts though. I think I’ve finally figured out what’s wrong. Let’s hope we caught it in time.

I hope the vet knows what to do…. Wish us luck.

Emmalou ~

The reovirus is totally new to me :yikes:! I am glad that GU members were able to point you in the proper direction.

Good wishes for you and your leo. Hope the fluid can be drained and that a cure is quickly upon your horizon.

 

[Emmalou]

Thank you Elizabeth. I hope so too.

I think my leo has a lot of fight in it! We’re ready for whatever gets thrown at us :fight:

And thanks to all the GU members who have been keeping in touch with me and trying to help find out what’s wrong. Your support has helped so much and I appreciate you!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thank you Elizabeth. I hope so too.

I think my leo has a lot of fight in it! We’re ready for whatever gets thrown at us :fight:

And thanks to all the GU members who have been keeping in touch with me and trying to help find out what’s wrong. Your support has helped so much and I appreciate you!

You are very welcome, Emmalou. Here is a GU link, although you may have already seen it: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ovirus-clear-liquid-belly-one-symptoms-2.html

Go, leo...go...fight :fight:...win :banana:!

 

[Emmalou]

Yes, I have read that thread. One of the sadder ones

But thank you for the link!!

 

[M&S-328]

I also have 2 threads about reovirus (as I said, one of my baby leos just passed from it not long ago).

You can do some of the draining yourself.. but not for long. Eventually it becomes impossible to "manually" drain them. So you must must get medication to kill off the virus ASAP.

And dont give up finding a cure! If necessary, go to more than 1 vet.
My local vet was no help at all. had never seen it before, didnt know what to do, and just gave the basics like "keep him well hydrated", "keep trying to force feed", "keep giving him warm baths" etc.
Unfortunately because of the lack of help and my baby being "too far gone" in their opinion - I lost him a few weeks later. Very very sad!

I hope the best for you! and please please keep us updated! I would love love love to know if there is any medication that your leo gets put on and how it helps!

 

[Mardy]

Good luck, hope your gecko pulls through.

 

[Emmalou]

Update

I called my vet earlier today and he said to bring my leo in immediately. So, I drove there as fast as possible. Anyway, they were very sympathetic and said the prognosis was not good. But my little leo has ‘spunk’ the doctor said and feels that medication is worth a shot.

The performed and abdominocentesis(sp?), but they didn’t remove all of the liquid, though he did look much thinner, and an enema so they could do a fecal, which there wasn’t much to test, and gave me critical care food. My leo will be on the antibiotics for 10 days or as long as there is still some left. I have my fingers crossed for the little guy. I gave my leo it’s meds first thing when we got home and it even ate some of the food, probably because the pressure in his abdomen has been relieved.

So wish us luck. My leo is all tuckered out right now. Will update soon!!
Thanks for all the support

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Does the reovirus have to do with their kidneys not processing fluid? Can you tell us more about this virus?

 

[M&S-328]

Even though my leo had it, I was not told squat about it. I looked all over the web for information, and while many people say their leos got it, and the symptoms were always the same, I could not find what caused it!

If anyone does know what causes this I also would LOVE to hear more!