Ranga's thread

[Muffins94]

Ranga's thread- need help

I would like to start off by introducing our new addition, Ranga.

We got Ranga yesterday from her previous owner who didn't have time for her. This is her story.
Ranga was a present to the woman's household full of children by the brother in law, as he no longer wanted her. She can in a tank with nothing but sand and a hide. Her eyes were completely closed and caked with infection and shed. The lady didn't know much about geckos at all, but tried to help Ranga. She got her a 20 long tank and used paper towel for substrate. She had quite a few hides as well as a big water bowl. She used a CHE and red heat light, measuring heat with sticky thermos. While not ideal, it was a better situation than Ranga had been in before. She started cleaning Ranga's eyes daily and low and behold, she has eyes! Bright gorgeous reddish toned eyes. She was the only person taking care of Ranga and didn't have enough time for her and put her up for adoption on Craigslist.

We got in contact with the woman and picked up Ranga yesterday. She looks very healthy besides one piece of shed stuck in her eye, so last night we flushed her eye out and managed to get a small piece out. We'll keep trying to get it out an if we can't we'll take her to vet. She also has a funny way of walking, not sure if it's from not having enough calcium and multivitamin but I wouldn't be surprised with her rough start at life. Her tail isn't thin, although a little but more wouldn't hurt. How should I go about calcium dusting for her?

We were told she might be blind or see shadows due to her eye issues in the past. Is there a way I should set up her tank differently? I was thinking the more simple the better. She is a 20 long with tile, a UTH on thermostat as well as a moonlight bulb when necessary. A photoperiod is given either by a household bulb or through opening the window shades, depends on temp. She has three hides, calcium and water dishes, a mealworm bowl and a few hanging plants.

I have no experience with albinos, is there certain lighting/heating that can/can't be used with them?

One more question, if she really does have eyesight issues, how would you go along feeding her? I have a worm dish but I'm not sure if she would be able to use it.

Thanks guys I am used to feeding problems with Fatty, but she can actually see and walks fine. Just want to give this new girl a great life and get her back to health. Any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Muffins94]

This sort of shows her walking, sorry for the bad quality. She just kinda slides around.

Oct 20, 2013 - YouTube

 

[lainezor]

I have a leopard gecko I also rescued from a similar situation (sand filled with dead crickets and feces and one tiny hide). I believe she is blind or has terrible eye sight from the way she acts. The way I feed her is that I take live mealworms with feeder tweezers and set them in front of her face. When the mealworms start to run away I pick it up and set it back in front of her or sometimes I will hold it down. She never looks at it directly so I think she can feel it. She bites at it about 5 or 6 times until she finally grabs it. It is a long process to feed her but she is improving only takes 3-4 bites now. I dont leave a dish in there for her because she seems to ignore it. When I take them out of the dish and drop it in front of her she bites at it like she is starving.

 

[Ignitius]

I have a leopard gecko I also rescued from a similar situation (sand filled with dead crickets and feces and one tiny hide). I believe she is blind or has terrible eye sight from the way she acts. The way I feed her is that I take live mealworms with feeder tweezers and set them in front of her face. When the mealworms start to run away I pick it up and set it back in front of her or sometimes I will hold it down. She never looks at it directly so I think she can feel it. She bites at it about 5 or 6 times until she finally grabs it. It is a long process to feed her but she is improving only takes 3-4 bites now. I dont leave a dish in there for her because she seems to ignore it. When I take them out of the dish and drop it in front of her she bites at it like she is starving.

Please make a new thread regarding the issue, just so this thread stays consistent with the OP. You'll get answers faster that way.

 

[Mardy]

-I believe you are using repashy calcium plus for your other gecko. You can dust using that, it's potent and should help the gecko recover nicely.

-If you suspect she has difficulties seeing, simple is definitely better, no tall decors or cliffs she could fall off. She should have easy access to her hides and water/food dish.

-Albinos are more light sensitive, your current setup is fine, I wouldn't add a basking light directly on top of the enclosure. Stick to UTH for belly heating, or CHE for supplemental heating if needed.

-You'll have to see if she can eat off the bowl or not. If not, you may need to tong feed her. If she can't see or have difficulties seeing, you may need to gut your feeder a bit so she knows you're dangling a feeder. Usually the scent of the guts will trigger their natural instinct to bite into whatever you're dangling. It's possible if she's got shed/sand stuck in her eyes that she wouldn't eat, as it's painful. So make sure to flush her eyes out every day until her eyes are clear.

 

[cricket4u]

Walking low on the ground suspiciously smelling/tasting everything is normal when their in a new enclosure or new flooring has been added. Her belly is close to the ground because she's overweight/poor diet. I'm not implying she doesn't need supplements, I'm simply explaining her behavior.

 

[Muffins94]

I have an update on miss Ranga's eyes, I took her to my local herp shop and they believe her eye is infected. I have an appt Thursday morning with a herp vet to get it assessed and see where we go from there.

I made her set up as simple as possible, I left mealworms in a bowl just in case she tends to stumble upon them, which she hasn't. I have tried tong feeding her, and tried dropping them in front of her with no interest. I am just assuming that she is still uneasy from the move and in pain from her eye. Once we get to the vet and start getting the eye fixed I'll focus more on her eating, I'm not too worried at this point.

Her legs when she walks kinda slide around a lot like she doesn't have much grip, I was wondering if changing from the tile to either carpet or paper towel would help since it's not slippery?

I also have a question pertaining my other gecko, what kind of reasons are they for not sleeping in their hides anymore? My girl likes sleeping under a piece of wood now rather than her hides. She uses them at times but not nearly like she did before.

 

[cricket4u]

I didn't see any sliding in the video. The only way to know for sure is to change the substrate if it's too slippery for her to grip.

Why not try crickets? Lower fat and gut load well, unlike mealworms. She has obviously been on a poor fatty diet which is unhealthy. What she needs is a healthier diet based on variety and properly fed insects. I just want to take the opportunity to mention that supplements are not equivalent to whole foods. Do to the fact that they are synthetic, there are problems with degredation and solubility. The body can only use up but so much at a time which can lead to toxic build up.

You have mentioned only feeding mealworms and waxworms which are the last food items this leo needs. I just wanted to make sure you are not relying mainly on supplements to meet their needs. I'm glad you are taking her to the vet. Hands on examination is important.

I also have a question pertaining my other gecko, what kind of reasons are they for not sleeping in their hides anymore? My girl likes sleeping under a piece of wood now rather than her hides. She uses them at times but not nearly like she did before.

Did you make any changes?

 

[lainezor]

Please make a new thread regarding the issue, just so this thread stays consistent with the OP. You'll get answers faster that way.

I have a thread called "rescue leo" also I was trying to help OP not thread-jack.

 

[Muffins94]

I just haven't got around to getting crickets yet. The store was out when I stopped by, the only had these tiny tiny crickets. Her previous owner said she fed her crickets with the back legs cut off as well as mealworms.

I haven't fed her wax worms, not sure where you read that. My other gecko gets 1 a week but Ranga has not been offered any. I haven't got in any supplements in her either, as she hasn't ate yet. My other gecko gets offered supplements once every other week.

As for my other gecko hanging outside her hides, I made a few changes. I got her a new moist hide and get her the big log which she seems to like hanging out under.

Lainezor, thank you for that info. Helps me with this girl. Hopefully she'll recover and be able to have some vision.

 

[cricket4u]

No, no, no. I was referring to what you offer in general.

I haven't fed her wax worms, not sure where you read that. My other gecko gets 1 a week

According to both their body weights, even 1 a week is not ideal. The fat in the mealworms alone is bad enough fed as a main meal. Perhaps now that you have 2 you can order crickets and other insect on line?

The problem is if you're only feeding one type of insect, especially mealworms, chances are your leos are deficient in certain nutrients. This is why I mentioned the importance of offering variety, in order to avoid having to dust more frequently.

 

[Muffins94]

I can get them at my local herp store no problem, just waiting to get shipment in of the correct size.

Ranga won't be offered any wax worms, only crickets and meal worms. I know she ate at her previous house, she's just still getting settled in. She's had such a rough start, I hope the vet can get her eye back on track. Once she starts accepting foods, I'll make sure she gets proper supplements. I think I will also try switching her substrate to something less slippery. I will keep the tile under her warm hides since it conducts heat well.

 

[cricket4u]

I can get them at my local herp store no problem, just waiting to get shipment in of the correct size.

Ranga won't be offered any wax worms, only crickets and meal worms. I know she ate at her previous house, she's just still getting settled in. She's had such a rough start, I hope the vet can get her eye back on track. Once she starts accepting foods, I'll make sure she gets proper supplements. I think I will also try switching her substrate to something less slippery. I will keep the tile under her warm hides since it conducts heat well.

Perhaps she's not eating because she does not want the worms? She's not at a risk of starvation obviously. I'm just concerned that if she is suffering from a nutritional deficiency, it can progress if she's not eating.

Did you ask the previous owner if she used any supplements?

 

[Muffins94]

Could be, however the previous owner did feed her both crickets and worms. I've only had her a few days I didn't expect her to eat immediately, especially with having eye problems.

They previously had calcium in her tank with d3. She didn't dust feeders. She didn't know much about geckos, and tried to do the best for her, but it was not the proper care all around.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I can get them at my local herp store no problem, just waiting to get shipment in of the correct size.

Ranga won't be offered any wax worms, only crickets and meal worms. I know she ate at her previous house, she's just still getting settled in. She's had such a rough start, I hope the vet can get her eye back on track. Once she starts accepting foods, I'll make sure she gets proper supplements. I think I will also try switching her substrate to something less slippery. I will keep the tile under her warm hides since it conducts heat well.

Merissa ~

Is the tile in your video a textured tile?

 

[Muffins94]

Elizabeth, yes it is a textured tile.

I think I may just switch substrates to make it easier on her to get around.

 

[Muffins94]

Turns out Ranga is actually a boy.. So rango
I switched substrates and he is now eating and getting comfortable with his tank.
Took him to the vet for this eye issue, it was just a retained eye plug. Otherwise he's healthy and good to go!