URGENT!! possibly blocked?

[bambichik39]

I've had my leo's for over 6 years with no issues. This morning I saw Napoleon out walking around outside of her hide, which is weird for her during the day, but I was up and doing stuff around my room and figured maybe she was curious. Then I noticed she was hunched up as if trying to poop, but didnt produce anything but a very small urate (sp?) and then started vomiting. I put her in some luke warm water twice today, nothing both times. I also gave her some olive oil to try and help it go through her system. Someone please help, is she blocked? she does look bloated... anything I can do tonight? I plan on going to vet tomorrow if I cant fix this before then. Shes currently laying out in the middle of her tank looking ill.

Her set up- 20L, UTH, slate tiles.
Fed crickets, dusted few times a week, calcium always available in tank.
She has a humid hide, and a few other hides. Again, have never had issues before. PLease help!

 

[cricket4u]

I've had my leo's for over 6 years with no issues. This morning I saw Napoleon out walking around outside of her hide, which is weird for her during the day, but I was up and doing stuff around my room and figured maybe she was curious. Then I noticed she was hunched up as if trying to poop, but didnt produce anything but a very small urate (sp?) and then started vomiting. I put her in some luke warm water twice today, nothing both times. I also gave her some olive oil to try and help it go through her system. Someone please help, is she blocked? she does look bloated... anything I can do tonight? I plan on going to vet tomorrow if I cant fix this before then. Shes currently laying out in the middle of her tank looking ill.

Her set up- 20L, UTH, slate tiles.
Fed crickets, dusted few times a week, calcium always available in tank.
She has a humid hide, and a few other hides. Again, have never had issues before. PLease help!

Hello,

If Napoleon looks ill it's best to go ahead and take her to the vet in the morning.

When was her last bowel movement?
Is the calcium being kept in the enclosure without D3?
What are the temps in the enclosure?

 

[bambichik39]

Right now its 85 degrees on the warm side with the UTH. its warmer during the day, but our house drops some at night so its lower than usual. during the day its closer to 90. I believe its the without thats in the tank, and i use the pink container with D3 for dusting. It's prob been about 6 days since last poop, which isnt always abnormal since its winter here and she slows down on eating. Shes just over 6 years old. I really think she will die tonight, and I feel terrible I can't do more. She honestly didnt look this ill until about 530p and I figured after a soak she'd do better, but shes quickly going down hill.

 

[cricket4u]

What makes you think she will die tonight? Bring up the heat and from now on you must make sure her temps are appropriate. Make sure it's plain calcium in the tank.

Are you measuring the floor over the heat mat or air temp?
Are you using a thermometer with a probe or temp gun to measure?

Read through this caresheet and adjust the temps quickly as stated. She is probably constipated from being too cold. Normally we can allow the temps to drop at night, but because she is having problems make sure to provide the 90-95 at night as well until she passes feces.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ell-19-february-2012-update-2.html#post346544

 

[bambichik39]

The only thing I have right now to raise temps is a 100wt red heat bulb. I hae this going and am checking temps frequently with a temp gun to make sure it doesnt get TOO hot. I have an UTH under a piece of slate shes on as well (ive moved her to a empty 20L, shes usually housed with another leo but I didnt want to risk anything happening ot the other one too). Its the temp over the slate (heat mat under it) and I ahve a probe on it thats reading 83 and i just checked with the temp gun and it says 85. I'm trying to raise this temp. Shes not crawling when she moves, and her feet are behind her. Shes looking terrible. I swear I'm not a bad pet owner. She has been fine up until today. I really dont want to loose her, but this is the worse I've ever seen one of my lizards.

Heres a picture of her when I first realized something was terribly wrong, she puked.

Here is a picture of her now (notice her front feet behind her? she looks bad!)

I called AERH which is the animal emergency hospital by me, they dont see reptiles. all they could do is euthanize her for 127 dollars. Help!

 

[cricket4u]

If she looks that bad the only other thing you can do is try to find a pet emergency room in your area. Some hospitals that see cats and dogs will see reptiles in an emergency situation. You will have to call and ask.

 

[cricket4u]

If she looks that bad the only other thing you can do is try to find a pet emergency room in your area. Some hospitals that see cats and dogs will see reptiles in an emergency situation. You will have to call and ask.

I typed this before I saw your post

 

[cricket4u]

Try the vets number. Sometimes they have information on their answering machine incase of an emergency.

 

[cricket4u]

I am sorry There is just not much you can do for a reptile without equipment and diagnostics. Keep her warm and make sure she is hydrated and she does not overheat. Keep calling places.

I know in panic it's tempting to pull them out, but the best thing you can do for her right now is keep her warm. Try bringing the water dish in front of her or dripping a few drops of water on her lips carefully while she is in the tank.

 

[bambichik39]

Thank you for your help. She is basically gone. Everytime I'd touch her or pick her up she was totally limp. Her tail did twitch for a little bit very slightly, but even that has stopped. I just turned off her lights to let her go the rest of the way in peace. I'm 23 years old and moved in with my mom to save up for a house. I literally woke her up bawling not sure what to do. She helped me make the decision it was time to let her go, as the heat, bathes, etc didnt seem to do anything for her. She went down hill quickly. I feel terrible as i feel its my job to do everything I can, and I wasn't able to get her to a vet. I honestly didnt feel she was THIS sick earlier, she went down hill very quickly. As of right now she hasn't looked like shes taken a breath in over 5 minutes, so like I stated earlier I turned off the night lamp and unplugged the under tank heater. If there is any bit of life left in her, its very slim. The closest herp vet I have is 30 minutes away, and no on call number. The dog/cat emergency place (AERH) referred me to a clinic thats a good hour away, she wouldn't survive as I'm pretty sure shes already gone. I'm very saddened by this. I'm now worried for the leo who was housed with her, as I have no idea what caused this. Please pray that one, Napoleon went/goes peacefully and two, my other leo, Pedro doesn't come down with whatever that was. I plan on calling the reptile vet tomorrow to see if they can tell me what happened to see if they should look at my other leo. I also have a bearded dragon and a jones armadillo lizard and pray this wasnt some sort of infectious disease...although I have no idea where it would have come from. Thank you again for everything

 

[cricket4u]

I had to sign off last night, but to be honest I was expecting to hear the worst once I saw the picture. So I am guessing you are not having a necropsy done? It's important for the sake of your other reptiles. As precaution I am sure you know try to sterilize everything. She was of good body weight, happened suddenly, vomiting, what looked like salivating in the picture, possible acute toxicity. You will never know without a necropsy , however if I were you I would be more careful with materials used in the enclosure, cleaning products and supplements. Sorry for your loss.

 

[bambichik39]

Thanks for everything. Doctor said they usually only do necropsys if they dont think they know what it is, but he said by the way she was hunched up looking like she was trying to poop when it all started and the bloatedness of her abdomen he suspects blockage. I'm always very careful when it comes to cleaning their tanks and actually use an all natural product made out of St. Louis. Its called Better Life. I contacted the owners and was reassured this would be safe for reptiles and birds, as its safe enough to drink if you wanted. I'm a nazi when it comes to cleaning and caring for these guys so I'm at a loss for how this happened. I've bleached (diluted) everything in the tank and have been checking temps all day with my infared temp gun. I put what i could into the dishwasher to be sanitized and threw out the old humid hide and made a new one just to be on the safe side. The other one looks fine as of right now, so i hope it stays that way. I did purchase a new batch of crickets late last week, so not sure if that had anything to do with it? I just hope the other Leo turns out alright, and my beardie and jones armadillo dont come down with anything. I do plan on taking the other Leo into the vet this week to be checked over, I just work PRN and have to go to work this afternoon.

 

[Olievertraiqn]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
May Napoleon rest in peace. ♥

It sounds like you were doing everything right, don't blame yourself. You did the best you could.

 

[cricket4u]

Thanks for everything. Doctor said they usually only do necropsys if they dont think they know what it is, but he said by the way she was hunched up looking like she was trying to poop when it all started and the bloatedness of her abdomen he suspects blockage. I'm always very careful when it comes to cleaning their tanks and actually use an all natural product made out of St. Louis. Its called Better Life. I contacted the owners and was reassured this would be safe for reptiles and birds, as its safe enough to drink if you wanted. I'm a nazi when it comes to cleaning and caring for these guys so I'm at a loss for how this happened. I've bleached (diluted) everything in the tank and have been checking temps all day with my infared temp gun. I put what i could into the dishwasher to be sanitized and threw out the old humid hide and made a new one just to be on the safe side. The other one looks fine as of right now, so i hope it stays that way. I did purchase a new batch of crickets late last week, so not sure if that had anything to do with it? I just hope the other Leo turns out alright, and my beardie and jones armadillo dont come down with anything. I do plan on taking the other Leo into the vet this week to be checked over, I just work PRN and have to go to work this afternoon.

You said she pooped a week ago, a week is normally not fatal. Well there is no use of playing detective at this point Hopefully all is well with your other gecko. Good Luck

 

[bambichik39]

I honestly have no idea what happened. It all just happened to fast. I've never had a gecko who was impacted so I'm not sure on the timeline or anything about it really. Maybe the vet was just busy today and wasnt too worried about it? Shes buried now back behind our fence in a nice open field so hopefully shes peaceful now up at the rainbow bridge. I'd never thought I'd be so torn up over a lizard, but I really do care about these lil guys. As they say, "no foot is too small to leave an imprint on someones heart." thank you all again for everything

 

[artes]

Sometimes bad things happen to good geckos and their care takers, and there's nothing that can be done. /hugs

 

[bambichik39]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! I took Pedro, her tank mate, to the vet today. I showed him the pictures and went over everything again. He's pretty confident that it was an infection, most likely bacterial. He said more than likely it was from the crickets I had fed her from Petco. He gave the other leo a good bill of health from what he can tell, and told me to dump the remaining crickets, clean the container well, and purchase new. I've got the new crickets and am about to clean out the old. I'll probably never buy crickets from that Petco again, as I should have known better by the looks of how they keep their animals, let alone their feeders. Thanks again everyone, I feel a lot better now that I got Pedro checked out, as I couldnt bear to loose another.

 

[artes]

That's terrible that your baby got an infection, but its good you caught what it was before your other got sick.

 

[cricket4u]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! I took Pedro, her tank mate, to the vet today. I showed him the pictures and went over everything again. He's pretty confident that it was an infection, most likely bacterial. He said more than likely it was from the crickets I had fed her from Petco. He gave the other leo a good bill of health from what he can tell, and told me to dump the remaining crickets, clean the container well, and purchase new. I've got the new crickets and am about to clean out the old. I'll probably never buy crickets from that Petco again, as I should have known better by the looks of how they keep their animals, let alone their feeders. Thanks again everyone, I feel a lot better now that I got Pedro checked out, as I couldnt bear to loose another.

I am very glad to hear Pedro was seen pet a vet and is doing well. Did Pedro eat the same crickets as well? There is not a whole lot a vet can find by just looking at Pedro. Did you have a fecal exam?
They were housed together so I would imagine they both ate the crickets right?
This is odd:

He's pretty confident that it was an infection, most likely bacterial. He said more than likely it was from the crickets I had fed her from Petco.

I am surprised a vet would even say that. The same vet that would not perform a necropsy because he did not know what might have caused it, which does not makes sense because the whole idea of a necropsy is to find the cause.

 

[bambichik39]

He said a necropsy would be pointless due to the fact i wasnt going to pay the three figure amount to send out samples when he thought it was an isolated incident. They were fed separate but from the same batch of crickets. He said that just like people we all come across bacteria, etc but sometimes our immune system cant fight it off like it should, and he believes thats what happened. I am suppose to bring back a stool sample, but considering how quickly she died, and how the other one is not showing any symptoms is why he believes she will be alright. Basically he got onto some sort of reptile veterinarian website where they review different cases and him a few other vets on there believe it was an infection. Maybe he didnt want it because it was over the 24 hours before I could bring him the body? I'm not sure what the case is, I just know I feel confident and better about Pedros health, and dont think hes at risk for anything as of right now. I'll be taking a fecal sample in as a precaution, but they were previously checked and cleared.