Is My Leopard Gecko Dying?

[SebGecko]

Hello All,

Recently, one of my little guys has been extremely weak. I've been able to pick him up and he remains almost motionless like a statue, only slightly moving his limbs and tails. I'm even able to lie him on his back, something I've almost never been able to do. I'm afraid he's getting old. I adopted him when he was an adult and was not told how old he was. He also seems not to be eating at all too, which is what I assume is the reason he's very weak. I know my habitat is fine because my other gecko seems to be in very healthy condition. Can anyone give me a second opinion about my gecko's health? Or maybe some sort of alternative to feeding him that doesn't involve solids like worms and crickets?

Thanks so much

 

[PoppyDear]

He doesn't look too good.

I reccomend a vet trip as soon as soon as you can.
•Could you please describe all aspects of husbandry?
•Does he have a cage mate?

I first reccomend separating him from his cage mate if he even has one. Go over all your husbandry here so we can trouble shoot everything and correct it. I think it might be a variety of issues that built up to this moment. Pay special attention to his poops, if he has had any, what do they look like? I would also reccomend, if they aren't already, to change the substrate to paper towel, this way you can see poop easily. I am sure getting a fecal sample to the vet, if that is something you can do, wouldn't hurt. That stuck shed on his toes needs tending to as well. Does he have a moist hide? I would say to give a bath to rehydrate him and get that shed off if possible.

If these methods are ineffective or if there are any signs of infection, seek vet attention immediately!

METHOD #1
•Use warm water. The water temperature should be no greater than 86*F/30*C, a leopard gecko's preferred body temperature.
•Take a plastic container (like a GladWare container) a little bigger than your gecko
•Poke holes in the lid so that your gecko can breathe
•Add a little water up to the belly of your leopard gecko. If your gecko is smaller, then use scrunched up paper towels that have been dampened or sprayed to maintain the necessary humidity. Include a rough rock or a small piece of cork back with the damp paper towels.
•Spray the insides of this container
•Add the gecko
•Snap on the lid
•Place this container inside your leo's enclosure and right next to the warm dry hide (right above the heat mat). OR •Place this container near a lamp containing a low wattage bulb (15 watt or 25 watt incandescent bulb or similar wattage compact fluorescent). Water droplets should form on the insides of your plastic container!
•Monitor the temperature frequently
•Monitor your gecko at all times
•Repeat this procedure, if necessary.

After 30 minutes, perhaps longer, remove the gecko and gently attempt to remove the stuck shed using a gentle rolling motion with a dry q-tip.


METHOD #2
•Use warm water. The water temperature should be no greater than 86*F/30*C, a leopard gecko's preferred body temperature.
•Fill a shallow basin or the bathroom sink with lukewarm water to your gecko's belly depth.
•Let your gecko soak for 10-20 minutes.
•Then take a dry q-tip, and with a gentle rolling motion, work on the toes. Use tweezers gently, if necessary.
•Monitor your gecko at all times!

This should definitely loosen any shed remaining on the critter's toes.

As for food, make sure you have the appropriate belly heat, we could really use your temperatures and heating method to know if he is having issues digesting. It would be helpful to know substrates, diet and if he is pooping so you avoid feeding him if he is impacted or constipated.

For assist foods.
•Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...emo-video-4-jan-2013-update-4.html#post377825

Good luck!

 

[SebGecko]

Thanks so much for that quick and detailed response.

As far as I've observed for the past few years I've taken care of them, I've observed absolutely no signs of intimacy between my two geckos, though they are both a male (the pictured above) and a female. I am planning on seeing a vet as soon as I can, however.

Thanks a lot for those instructions on helping them shed their skin. I didn't include it in the post, but I have been following Method #2 over the past few days, but I've been giving him breaks in between so he wouldn't have to go through too much trauma.

I have two heating pads on either side of my tank, and a heating lamp. The temperature of the tank while the lamp is on is 85 degrees F, and I've included shades for them when they don't want to bask in the heat.

I'm currently feeding them rapashy gut loaded superworms (the pet store ran out of small mealworms). I'll definitely look into that "carnivore care" food alternative.

Thank you so much for that info. You've been a tremendous help.

 

[PoppyDear]

No problem

A few more questions;
•Do you have 3 Leopard Geckos in your tank? (1 female and 2 males?)
•If you 2 males in the tank please separate them, they can fight and severly injure or even kill one another.
•Is it possible for you to separate your sick gecko from the rest?
•What size is your tank?
•What is the substrate provided?
•Could you please describe all hides provided, is there a moist hide?
•Do you have a thermostat to control your lamp and more importantly, the heat mats?
•What are the temperatures meassured with? What are the ground temperatures of the UTH?
•How often are the geckos fed? With what brand(s) of suppliments do you dust with, how often?

Belly heat is vital to digestion, ground temps above the UTH need to be approximately 89°F-92°F measured by a thermometer with a probe and controlled by a thermostat. The light also needs to be controlled by a thermostat, is it a normal incandesant bulb? Speaking of digestion, has your ill gecko pooped, if so please describe the poops. Again it would be a help to know the other care aspects so we can rule out impaction. However I do know that mealworms and superworms can cause impaction.


Look on your Leo's belly;
•Does it have any dark splotches?
•Does it feel firm or hard?


Are any of your other geckos displaying symptoms? I also will add that suppliments are very important, your gecko could have a deficiancy adding to his declining health. It would be beneficial to know those and we can make amends if needed.

I would like to know why the geckos are housed together. Are you planning on breeding them or is it a space issue? Geckos are solitary and really do better alone, males with males fight and the opposite gender will breed. It isn't really good to house the males and females together full time if that is what you are doing. The female usually (Not always) will be pestered to breed constantly and waste resources on eggs if you don't intend to breed her.

I would suggest you take a look at this care sheet~ http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-macularius-demo-video-4-jan-2013-update.html ,specifically posts 87~http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...emo-video-4-jan-2013-update-9.html#post425040 and amending your care if needed.

Sorry this is all over the place, there are a lot of things to cover, once we know all the husbandry we can more properly look at the issues!

 

[SebGecko]

Thanks for being so happy to help,

I have one male and one female which was told to me by their previous owners, though I am reluctant to admit that I've had trouble distinguishing their sexes. They could also be both females, which would make sense seeing as they've been completely docile to each other the entirety I've cared for them.

The tank has a 30x12 inch base and 15 inches high, so if I did need to separate them, I could do so with a metal sheet or something.

I use a rug and not sand on the bottom of my tank.

I have two shelters that could completely hide each gecko. I've removed one in the picture so my guy can sit on the heating pad while simultaneously lying in front of his food bowl. I also have half a log and some large plastic to be wooden thing, that both provide addition shade. There's also moss for their usual spots so they can create comfortable hides.



I do not have a temperature adjusting lamp or heat pads. I use a 50w exo-terra infrared lightbulb and I'm not sure what brand the heat pads are, but after measuring them with a flat thermostat, it read about 100 degrees F.

I use rapashy calcium plus to gutload my worms. Typically, I feed them vita-bugs mealworms and I don't feed them on dates, I just ensure there's always worms in their bowls. Since I've cleaned their tank, I'm pretty sure only the other one has pooped, and I havn't noticed anything different in any of their poops since I started caring for them.

Thankfully, I do not see any dark spots and they do not feel firm in my hand. They feel rather tender, and I handle them as carefully as I can.

The other one seems to be in perfect condition. She will scutter around if you wake her, her tail as well as the rest of her body seem to be in good condition, and she eats as she normally should.

I keep them together in a tank simply as pets. I don't intend on breeding them at all.

Here is a picture of the other one for reference:



Update:
As of writing this and taking pictures, my poor guy is acting a little more different.
Here he is in a weird position on his side in his bowl. I assure you he is still breathing.
In the next pictures, he's just slouching in and around his bowl. Something is ailing the poor guy.







As a recap: He seems to be completely weak and statue-like as well as acting in peculiar ways he usually doesn't, he won't eat or poop, and he seems to prefer staying out in the open. He doesn't appear any different than when I got him except a bit more skinnier.

Thank you so much, you've gone so much further than what I expected in helping me with my gecko. I appreciate it so much.

 

[PoppyDear]

Thank you for providing such a detailed response! I will try to organize this in a better way.

Sexing Leopard Geckos
Leopard geckos become sexable at about 6 months old. Males can be distinguished from females by a distinct v-shaped row of pores and by bulges right under the vent.
•Click: Sexing Leopard Geckos
•What are the sexes?

Enclosure
Your tank is suitable for about one gecko, although another could be squeezed in assuming it has the appropriate number of hides. I would really reccomend separation especially because your little guy is not looking too good. Here are my recomendations;

•Add more hides, the minimum is three per gecko, a DRY cool hide, a DRY warm hide, a MOIST warm hide
•You can make hides out of old margarine containers, it really looks like they need a moist hide, it will help with shedding and hopefully stop the stuck shed on their toes
OR
•Temporarily section off a part of the tank with everything your ill "male" gecko needs until he is better
OR
•Get a new setup for one gecko in order to separate them and avoid any fighting issues as well as providing a better place for your gecko to possibly recover

Heat
Your tank doesn't need an UTH on both sides. You need a warm and a cool side gradient, for one side of the tank use a 11 x 17 inch Fluker's or Ultratherm UTH. The dome your light is assumably in should be above the warm side although you don't want to use an infared bulb, it is very disruptive. Instead use a standard incandescent bulb, 15 watts is suitable. You want a thermostat for the UTH as well as the light, I use and reccomend this model;
•https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-Controller-Thermostat-Germination-Reptiles/dp/B000NZZG3S

Here's a temperature guide for all leopard geckos as measured with the probe of a digital thermometer (and controlled by a thermostat set at 91*F/32.8*C):
•88-92 F (31.1-33.3 C) ground temperature right underneath a leo's warm dry hide
•no greater than 82ish F (27.8ish C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
•no greater than 75 F (23.9 C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the cool end

Suppliments & Gutloading
Are you saying you gutload your insects with Repashy's Calcium Plus or you dust them with it? You should always gutload your insects, simply putting your mealworms in a container with some ground up grains and some fresh fruits and veggies will suffice. Gutloading with a suppliment will do you nothing or could overdose your geckos. Have you been dusting the worms?
See: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...mo-video-4-jan-2013-update-11.html#post434916

Mealworms aren't the best of staples either, can you pick up some Dubia Roaches or Crickets? Feed the staple twice a week and mealworms once, your gecko could be impacted due to improper temperatures and excess mealworms. Dust with Repashy's Calcium Plus 3 times a week.

Breeding
If they are opposite gender, they are probably breeding and the female is stressed, but at the moment one seems utterly unresponsive. As a caution, make sure to pay attention to the gender.
•Opposite gender = Breeding
•Males = Fighting
•Female = Possible fighting

Treatment
You need to amend your husbandry as above, I can provide feeding schedules if you would like. Your gecko sounds like the husbandry issues have slowly caused your gecko to go downhill. He may have deficiancies in nutrition if he has been only fed mealworms. I would first reccomend you get him his own little quaratine setup whether that be a new setup or sectioned off part of his tank. Then see if you can book an emergency vet trip, he does not look good.

In the meantime you can try some of the assist foods and baths to get the shed off as well as hydrating him. Whilst in the bath you can try a little massage on his belly in case he is having trouble moving his bowels. The quaratined area will help you identify his poops and keep him safe from the cage mate.

I would move him a little far away from the heat mat so the temperatures are moderate since it looks like he is barely moving and cannot pick temperatures as needed. It may be a good option to collect a fecal sample for your vet, if you would like instructions I can provide you with them.
Vets: Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians | ARAV Membership

I can't tell you for sure what this is, but he needs to see a vet soon, before it is too late. Praying he makes a recovery. ♡