Requesting help for mourning gecko that appears to have a cold

[gecko.hale]

We have a little Mourning Gecko (Lepidadactylus lugubris) who seems to have a cold (I didn't even know they could get colds!).

She is sneezing, has trouble swallowing, is bubbling liquid from her nose and sometimes her mouth. She has tried to eat tiny mealworms, but coughs them back up. She also appears to have some trouble breathing and is getting weak.

Is there anything we can do to help her? She's wild, but hangs out around my computer table much of the time, so we could catch her and put her in an aquarium if recommended (of course she would never trust me again).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Aimless]

respiratory infections can sometimes be reversed without meds if you can bump her heat just a little and fix any husbandry errors.

with free range geckos, this could be hard to assess. do you have a place with a basking spot and access to clean water, that the gecko can use?

 

[gecko.hale]

Thank you so much for your help!

We always have water out on our lanai and the sun is warm, but it is also full of day geckos so she wouldn't stand a chance.

I could capture her (she's sitting on my keyboard at the moment) and put her in an aquarium with a heating pad under it (we've tested it before to make sure it doesn't get too hot, plus always give them room to get away from the heat part). And then I could control her water.

My husband is trying to find multivitamins we could give her, but all they have is something called Zilla Vitamin Supplement with Beta Carotene FOOD SPRAY. Selection is very limited here. Not sure what to do with it, though. I put some in a little dish and held it up for her, but she wasn't at all interested. She's not eating and wasn't even interested in the fresh papaya I tried to give her. If I cage her, we could try putting some of it in the water and she might get desperate enough to try it. Something in the water is always our best choice with wild animals.

We'd take her to a vet, but the vets here are basically dog/cat vets. There are so many wild geckos here that none of the vets I've found even bother with them. And some of the geckos are even illegal to keep as "pets."

Thanks so much.

 

[Pirarucu]

It definitely sounds like a respiratory infection, which is usually caused by low heat, sometimes combined with too much humidity. Provide some sort of indoor basking area to start with. You might try buying a radiant heat panel and setting it up in one of the spots she hangs out.

 

[Aimless]

yeah. it's kind of a delicate situation. catching her would drastically increase her stress, which would not help her illness, although you would be able to control her environment.

if it were me, I'd make sure she has a warm basking spot and let her get better (or not) on her own. she IS a wild gecko, and unfortunately isn't likely to have the life span of a captive. but putting her in a cage is not necessarily going to make her happy even if she gets over the infection.

what a conundrum! good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[gecko.hale]

MG with cold

Aloha, Aimless

It's always a problem. We don't have any "pet" geckos, but we have Mourning geckos, House geckos (several varieties besides the Hawaiian), Gold Dust Day Geckos & assorted anoles that hang around all the time. A lot of them live in the house (can't keep them out if I wanted to -- the little Mourning geckos are small enough & limber enough that they just come right in through the window casings).

But the larger geckos are after the Mourning geckos all the time. I swear they have an innate hatred of them. I have had many, many Mourning geckos (my favorites, as they are the most intelligent) killed by the day geckos. They don't eat them, they just kill them (break their jaws, break their backs, bite so hard on their bellies that they are all bruised & die). So she is on the table next to my computer (when she isn't actually on my computer table) where I try to protect them from the larger geckos. It is indoors and is pretty warm (often too warm for me), but it does cool down at night. Not sure what else I can do to try to make her more comfortable without caging her.

She trusted me, even sat on my hand for 10-15 minutes last evening (trying to get comfortable, I think) so I could no longer use my mouse. She lets me put water & food right next to her ... but that would all change if I chase & capture her. I only do that when it's critical, like when one falls from the ceiling & is paralyzed (happens more than you might imagine due to fighting & sex).

Really wish I could take her to a vet.

May not have the chance, anyway. She has been coming out & sitting on my keyboard most of the day for the last several days ... and she did not show up today. I've looked all around her area, but haven't found her.

Mahalo for your encouragement.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi Sherron ~

Long time no hear from you at all. :-( Sounds like you're still enjoying all those free range Hawaiian geckos. :banana:

Hope your little MG shows up later today. She might be attracted to your keyboard because it is warm? About how warm has it been inside your home lately?

 

[gecko.hale]

Aloha, Elizabeth!

Been too busy with rentals & taxes to do much cruising on the web. We do still have all our geckos around. The Mourning geckos kind of have free run on the table next to my computer table & I try to keep the day geckos away from them. Thee seem to be 5 or 6 that live there most of the time, plus some that come in when I feed them. I always think about your little escapee who was 20 years old! Don't think any of our poor little MGs live very long here since the day geckos got established.

I'm sure she was hanging around my table because she likes to sit on the keyboard (sometimes right in the middle of it!) or lays on my USB disk, both of which have a little warmth. She may not have come back because she can't jump over any more (she has gotten weak from sickness and/or not eating).

At night the temp gets down to around 65F and probably up to about 80F during the day.

Mahalo, Sherron