need help reviving a very sick baby leo

[buckaroo_blues]

hello! im new to this forum. im needing a bit of advice for a leopard gecko i rescued. so, heres the scoop:

i work in a pet store caring for animals. all of our sick animals get isolated and treated according to our vet's orders until theyre healthy enough to be released. a little under a month ago, i had to isolate this tiny baby leopard gecko because he had hardly any fat on his tail and wouldnt really eat on his own. no big deal. this happens sometimes. took him to the vet and her instructions were to syringe-feed him .5-1 ml of oxbow critical care twice a day (morning and night) and 2-4 mealworms or small crickets. while in isolation, one of my co-workers accidentally picked up one of his hides in his tank to look for him and set the hide back down not realizing he was right there, trapping his tail under it, causing him to drop it. so not only is this gecko terribly underweight, but now his tail is gone too. its been a couple of weeks since the tail dropped and it seems to be healing alright but he has been more lethargic and even more hesitant to eat on his own since. anyway, my manager had a sneaking suspicion that i was the only one actually treating this poor thing and told me if i wanted to take him home and nurse him back to health myself, that i could, and so i did. hes set up in a 10 gallon with repticarpet and paper towel in his potty corner, 3 hides (warm, cool, moist) and a heat pad w/ thermostat. his temps are the same as my own gecko's, which is no more than 90°f during the day and low 80s to high 70s at night. he's too weak to catch crickets so im only focusing on giving him mealworms right now. he is also on the same dusting and feeding schedule as my own gecko too. they are both very young, so having the same schedule works. im going to be responsible for making sure he makes it to the vet every couple of days for his treatment. my question to you all is what extra steps can i take while he is at home with me in my care to help get him back on his feet? im still giving him the oxbow critical care, however im looking into switching him over to flukers repta boost, or maybe making him a golden gate smoothie. im also going to give him warm water soaks a couple times a week to hopefully help stimulate his appetite. and ive been told to give him lots of wax worms to help fatten him up, but i worry he will become addicted to them and reject all other foods, so im iffy about that.

i know he looks really bad, trust me. it breaks my heart just looking at him. despite how sickly-looking he is, he is surprisingly alert and active, just slow, as he doesnt have very much energy.

some more specs in case anyone's wondering: i dust with repashy calcium plus and keep calcium without d3 in their tanks. hes also being housed separately from my own gecko as she is about twice his size and i dont want her to eat his food, pick on him, or stress him out.

pics of him are attached. any and all advice is greatly appreciated. ♡

 

[PoppyDear]

Hello! Thank you for bringing this Leo home to aid him!

Right now I really suggest a fecal sample to double check for parasites. Can you describe the current poops? If you work at a chain pet store more often then not they probably come in sick or with parasites. It doesn't help if it is a particularily transmitable or fatal parasite, so I think a test is very important. I urge you to be very cautious and vigilant with this sickly one among your healthy geckos until you rule out parasites. Don't try to cohabitate him with your female or you put her at jeopardy for illness and breeding if "he" is a he. A quaratine period should be 3 months or longer with your ill gecko.

Your husbandry sounds pretty good although I have a few questions;
•Are you force feeding this gecko with the insects?
•What are your warm end and cool end ground and air temperatures seperately?
•With your suppliments, how frequently are they used?

I think you that either liquid assist foods would do but you may listen to your vet or talk to them about switching first. Here are some guidelines you may already know;
•http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...emo-video-4-jan-2013-update-4.html#post377825

You may want to try freezing crickets for a few minutes to slow them down. Or try Dubia Roaches rather than mealworms, both of those are much more nutritious. Keep an eye on his weight and keep feeding him, I would really talk to your vet about parasites.

Good luck!

 

[buckaroo_blues]

Hello! Thank you for bringing this Leo home to aid him!

Right now I really suggest a fecal sample to double check for parasites. Can you describe the current poops? If you work at a chain pet store more often then not they probably come in sick or with parasites. It doesn't help if it is a particularily transmitable or fatal parasite, so I think a test is very important. I urge you to be very cautious and vigilant with this sickly one among your healthy geckos until you rule out parasites. Don't try to cohabitate him with your female or you put her at jeopardy for illness and breeding if "he" is a he. A quaratine period should be 3 months or longer with your ill gecko.

Your husbandry sounds pretty good although I have a few questions;
•Are you force feeding this gecko with the insects?
•What are your warm end and cool end ground and air temperatures seperately?
•With your suppliments, how frequently are they used?

I think you that either liquid assist foods would do but you may listen to your vet or talk to them about switching first. Here are some guidelines you may already know;
•http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...emo-video-4-jan-2013-update-4.html#post377825

You may want to try freezing crickets for a few minutes to slow them down. Or try Dubia Roaches rather than mealworms, both of those are much more nutritious. Keep an eye on his weight and keep feeding him, I would really talk to your vet about parasites.

Good luck!

thanks for your response! the vet has ruled out parasites. his stools are somewhat softer than normal, but not to a concerning degree.

warm end temps are 90 floor and 80 air. cool end temps both floor and air around mid 70 to low 80 (hopefully that made sense).

the only time im assist/force-feeding him is when hes getting the critical care morning and night. other than that, he eats the mealworms on his own, he just wont eat enough of them (maybe only one or two a day) and he shows 0 interest in crickets or anything else. mealworms are the only thing i've been successful with. supplements are used with every feeding, which is every single day, sometimes 6 days a week. the calcium supplement without d3 remains in their tanks at all times.

i dont know for sure if he is a "he" as he is too young for me to sex, i just refer to him as male by default. he is nowhere near my own gecko currently as a precaution to them both.

i think the reason he got this bad was because our reptile breeder sent him to us far, far too young and too little and we had to house him with a larger, much more active leo. the larger leo ate up all the food and picked on the littler one, so he didnt get enough to eat and became malnourished enough that he just gave up on eating altogether. he came to us skinny to begin with. its horrible and ive sent multiple complaints to corporate about it because this is a frequent issue with us getting any animal at too young of an age, but theyve yet to intervene. its horrible.

i hope this answers your questions! please feel free to let me know if theres anything i could/should be doing better, not just for the sick baby, but for my own leo.

 

[PoppyDear]

I appreciate the information.

I think you are currently doing the best you can for the little guy at the moment. Pet shops seem like such a difficult place to work at when you recieve animals in inadequate conditions whether that be size, age, gender or health.

The softness of poop is probably linked to the liquid assist food you are feeding him. Speaking of feeding, have you tried dubia roaches? You may attempt to leave in a small bowl of mealworms over night, count them and see if he eats them whilst you are away, if you haven't already. There are hornworms, calci-worms, etc. that you can try if you haven't already.

As for suppliments;
Leave in the bowl of pure calcium from age 0 to 2 months, take it out as he matures or else you risk an over dose. Only dust with Repashy Calcium Plus 3 feedings out of 2 weeks and 1 feeding in pure calcium for Leos under 12 months.

Keep up with the feedings and try weighing him/her weekly. I think everything else just relies on him eating and getting well, you are doing what you can. Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[Tahteegames]

I’m just curious if this little fella made it or not…. It’s quite a few years later now. Poor thing, I’ve tried to rescue geckos from my local chain pet shop in similar shape and not one of them ever survived. The stores said they’ll get put down anyway and seems they’re all so “cost effective” about everything, I wondered if they’d be left to die and tried giving them a fighting chance but I mean they looked almost exactly like this, and all I could really come up with for cause, was a septic infection. I Tried so hard, I can tell you have the same sort of heart for animals it’s hard to just sit and do nothing in situations like this, I hope you were able to save him but if not, at least this poor creature had some love and tlc before he went.