New rescue super thin. Advice please?

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SamanthaLovely

New member
Yes. I'm very happy about it. A found another poop this morning. Can anyone give me a good estimate on how much to feed her? I fed her four small crickets last night two of them earlier then another two a couple hours later. I'm just afraid of feeding her too much in her condition.
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
Great news here!! Eating, pooping!! Definitively an improvement :cheer:
About how much to feed I wouldn´t give her more than 2 or 3 crickets at a time, but if she is willing to take them twice a day (for a total of 4 crickets a day, with several hours between feds), I´ll say she would start gaining weight soon enough, the poops looks really good IMHO, not perfect, but definitely good, I´d say she is on the track of complete recovering!!! :banana:
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
Saskia said:
Great news here!! Eating, pooping!! Definitively an improvement :cheer:
About how much to feed I wouldn´t give her more than 2 or 3 crickets at a time, but if she is willing to take them twice a day (for a total of 4 crickets a day, with several hours between feds), I´ll say she would start gaining weight soon enough, the poops looks really good IMHO, not perfect, but definitely good, I´d say she is on the track of complete recovering!!! :banana:
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I'm glad you think she's doing good. It makes it more real when other people think so too :D I'll keep giving her four crickets, two at feeding time and two before I go to bed. I might just be crazy but he tail looks a little tiny bit bigger today. But that could just be my imagination going wild.
Lookin around. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

She's taking her water good too. Besides the fact that she gets it all over the place:lol: She was out on her hide this morning when I went to check on everybody.
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
Saskia said:
Would be awesome if you could buy a scale so you could keep monitoring her weight.... I have this one:
Amazon.com: American Weigh Scale Pv-650 Digital Gram Pocket Scale, Black, 650x0.1 G: Health & Personal Care

And it works perfectly, you can find some other options on amazon for 10$ or less!!
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When the holiday is over I'll see if I can find anything loacally if not I'll see abouy ordering one of those. We do have scales but they're not very accurate. It said she was around 10g when she was actually 19g.
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
I wanted to share these pictures of her poos to see if anyone can help me with what's up. The seem to be runny still and not digested all the way. Or could that be her pooping out whatever was making her thin? Am I giving her too much to drink? Is there anything I can do to help her digest better?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78671811@N02/6907681732/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78671811@N02/6907682198/in/photostream

She's been staying on the cold side all the time. She's probably more comfortable with that hide because it's the first one I put in and she's used to it now. I'm wondering if I should put it on the warm side for a bit so she gets some belly heat.

Btw she only ate 3 crickets yesturday.
 
aquamentus_11

aquamentus_11

New member
sounds like you have things going really well! doesn't sound like you need to worry about it, but i just wanted to add for anyone else who ever reads this that force-feeding an animal that hasn't eaten for an extended period can be just as dangerous. regardless of the stress and risk of injury, refeeding syndrome kills anorexic humans all the time. when rehabing anything that hasn't been eating to this degree, make sure you add phosphate to the diet or you risk electrolyte imbalance and death in a few days. that said, Ripper and I are pulling for Frodo!
 
aquamentus_11

aquamentus_11

New member
re: the poop. keep in mind that her guts need to get used to working again. she probably isn't absorbing things as efficiently as a healthier eater at this point. someone with more gecko experience may be able to correct me, but i'd suspect that a little watery poop is par for the course. i do think her tail looks thicker in that pic btw. keep it up!
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
aquamentus_11 said:
sounds like you have things going really well! doesn't sound like you need to worry about it, but i just wanted to add for anyone else who ever reads this that force-feeding an animal that hasn't eaten for an extended period can be just as dangerous. regardless of the stress and risk of injury, refeeding syndrome kills anorexic humans all the time. when rehabing anything that hasn't been eating to this degree, make sure you add phosphate to the diet or you risk electrolyte imbalance and death in a few days. that said, Ripper and I are pulling for Frodo!
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I got the Repta+Boost, watered it down and just dotted it on her nose. She ate a bit of it the first day and had some crickets the next. And yes the vet had told me not to worry about food so much and to keep offering but not forcing it. The main concern was water. Thank you so much for your support :)
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
aquamentus_11 said:
re: the poop. keep in mind that her guts need to get used to working again. she probably isn't absorbing things as efficiently as a healthier eater at this point. someone with more gecko experience may be able to correct me, but i'd suspect that a little watery poop is par for the course. i do think her tail looks thicker in that pic btw. keep it up!
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Yes I did have that though in mind. My concern was just that her latest one looks so weird. But I don't have any experience with watery poos and I'm paranoid when ANYTHING looks out of place. I'll get over it soon enough :) Maybe I'm not crazy after all :coverlaugh: My mom and my boyfriend both say she's looking a little bigger :yahoo:
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

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SamanthaLovely said:
Yes I did have that though in mind. My concern was just that her latest one looks so weird. But I don't have any experience with watery poos and I'm paranoid when ANYTHING looks out of place. I'll get over it soon enough :) Maybe I'm not crazy after all :coverlaugh: My mom and my boyfriend both say she's looking a little bigger :yahoo:
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She has only had one dose of panacur, been administered fluids and her gut is not functioning 100% yet. You mentioned she was not happy about the soaks, so unless directed by the vet, I would stop to prevent unnecessary stress. What are the temperatures in the enclosure?
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

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cricket4u said:
She has only had one dose of panacur, been administered fluids and her gut is not functioning 100% yet. You mentioned she was not happy about the soaks, so unless directed by the vet, I would stop to prevent unnecessary stress. What are the temperatures in the enclosure?
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You are probably thinking, "How many times will she mention temperatures?" :lol: Well there is more than the obvious reason. Some like it warmer than others, but minimum belly heat is 90 degrees. Also if the hide is small, it can trap in too much heat and so the gecko will stay on the cool side. So it's best to provide a wider hide so that there is more than one temp underneath the hide. They can also have preference over hides, for example one being more secure than the other. Solution: buy another of the same hide they prefer for the opposite side. She had less stool this time around and so that is why I asked about temps. Now you mentioned she has been staying on the cool end and that can be why.
 
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SamanthaLovely

New member
cricket4u said:
You are probably thinking, "How many times will she mention temperatures?" :lol: Well there is more than the obvious reason. Some like it warmer than others, but minimum belly heat is 90 degrees. Also if the hide is small, it can trap in too much heat and so the gecko will stay on the cool side. So it's best to provide a wider hide so that there is more than one temp underneath the hide. They can also have preference over hides, for example one being more secure than the other. Solution: buy another of the same hide they prefer for the opposite side. She had less stool this time around and so that is why I asked about temps. Now you mentioned she has been staying on the cool end and that can be why.
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Both hides are the same size. Quite big actually. The larger stool was the most recent one but she had another this morning that was about average size but still runny but she didn't eat last night.

The hide she stays in is one of those rock looking ones with no bottom. Should I just get another one and sit it on some sort of container lid? I'm working on getting some thermometers for the belly heat. Her air temps are around 82-85 most of the time. Sometimes they get up to 90 if the room heater fluctuates. I tried switching the hides and it does seem she likes the rock one better.
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

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SamanthaLovely said:
Both hides are the same size. Quite big actually. The larger stool was the most recent one but she had another this morning that was about average size but still runny but she didn't eat last night.

The hide she stays in is one of those rock looking ones with no bottom. Should I just get another one and sit it on some sort of container lid? I'm working on getting some thermometers for the belly heat. Her air temps are around 82-85 most of the time. Sometimes they get up to 90 if the room heater fluctuates. I tried switching the hides and it does seem she likes the rock one better.
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I am not sure what you mean by " Should I just get another one and sit it on some sort of container lid?" Appropriate temperatures and control are crucial in recovery. I cannot stress it enough. A thermometer with a probe or temp gun and thermostat are highly important. Their health depends on it being ectothermic. While a healthy gecko can forgive errors, an ill gecko can take a huge turn for the worst.
 
aquamentus_11

aquamentus_11

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definitely need that thermometer (and a thermostat) for the belly heat: the pad will continue to increase in temperature and probably needs to be turned off once in awhile (at least mine does). cricket, in this case would she want higher temps to help with metabolism, etc.? i know we do that with other herps, but i wonder if this would dry her out even more...
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

New member
aquamentus_11 said:
definitely need that thermometer (and a thermostat) for the belly heat: the pad will continue to increase in temperature and probably needs to be turned off once in awhile (at least mine does). cricket, in this case would she want higher temps to help with metabolism, etc.? i know we do that with other herps, but i wonder if this would dry her out even more...
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I was just thinking of a not so technical way to explain it and then I saw your post :biggrin:. yes, very important that a reptile who is ill and on medications is provided with temps a bit higher than normal. Your right due to dehydration it must be an option and at least a 10 degree varied gradient must be available at all times. It's impossible without a quality thermometer and thermostat. Without fluids are lost, medication will not metabolize and immune system will not respond.
 
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