EMERGENCY?- Vent issues garg female

[Cosmonaughty]

Update: She is fine!!!

Hey! I know I ghost this place a lot, but no time for formalities. It was 1:30am, I turn on the lights to mist my gargoyle for the night before I go to bed, and I IMMEDIATELY noticed something is not right with her vent (is it a vent on females too? I think it is). :shock:

I'm not sure if you would call it "swollen" but it looks REALLY different. Here's pics:

https://imgur.com/daRocsJ This is it swollen?? Or whatever is wrong with it

and here I have another pic

https://imgur.com/QEFPZlb This is how it looks normally

I have no idea what to do it's disgustingly difficult to find information on gargoyle geckos ANYWHERE because for some reason they're? Not common? I don't know.

Please help. Links. Suggestions. Anything. I need to know if I have to take her to a vet. I don't want to stress her out and take her unnecessarily, she just got back into eating normally.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Your first photo shows no prolapse. Sometimes a prolapse can be reduced by sugar mixed with water. Try corn syrup instead, because sugared water was ineffective when one of my geckos prolapsed trying to pass a wee bit of sand. It took an emergency vet visit after hours to resolve that.

Swelling and/or lumps can indicate an infection. For that an exotics vet needs to prescribe an antibiotic.

Click: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

 

[Cosmonaughty]

Thank you! I'll have to call and talk to the vet in the morning (unfortunately people sleep at 2:30am). I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, thank you for the link! Finding a vet who does mice with neurological disorders was tough, who knows how long I would have been writing up emails and making phone calls looking for vets who work on exotics on my own. Nobody here has any information online! crazy.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

You're welcome, Cosmonaughty!

I always appreciate updates.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

Hey! I always forget about this website, so I'm sorry for not giving update. She was completely fine. Apparently I was just overreacting

I came here wondering if you could give some advice though? For about the last month or so, I have seen her eat nothing, except for when I leave mealworms laying around the floor (napkin substrate, she doesn't eat the napkin). She has gone without eating before, when she got bored of her food flavour.

Should I be rotating her on several flavours to make her eat? How long can she go without eating CGD?

Thanks!!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hey! I always forget about this website, so I'm sorry for not giving update. She was completely fine. Apparently I was just overreacting

I came here wondering if you could give some advice though? For about the last month or so, I have seen her eat nothing, except for when I leave mealworms laying around the floor (napkin substrate, she doesn't eat the napkin). She has gone without eating before, when she got bored of her food flavour.

Should I be rotating her on several flavours to make her eat? How long can she go without eating CGD?

Thanks!!

I'm glad she was fine.

Which flavor have you been feeding her? Has she lost weight? Has anything changed like the humidity?

You're on the right track: a varied diet. Try rotating flavors. It's a great idea to alternate live prey with a reputable diet like Pangea's. What garg ever tasted powdered diets in the wild!

Mealworms are OK for a change of pace. What diet do they get? What you feed the mealworms ends up in your garg's gut.

For additional information click 98: Common Mealworm & Superworm Dry Diets & Beddings -- Use something else!​

 

[Cosmonaughty]

Humidity hasn't changed, but it has been cold here. Just not too cold to where it was worrying or that i'd buy a heater. Florida escaped the polar vortex of america, too. I'll weigh her again tonight to see what it's currently at, but when she was eating regularly at the beginning of January, she was 44g. She's not lethargic and behaves regularly. I don't feed live mealworms, they're just dried ones I already had for mice, so I've no idea what they've eaten.

My garg, however, recently was on Pangea's fig and insect mix, and before that we tried Repashy's "superfoods mrp" and Pangea's Watermelon. I tried reintroducing the Repashy, but she didn't eat it. She never ate the Watermelon the whole first month I had her, either, and doesn't eat it when I re-offer that. I guess I need to order a couple flavours to alternate and then try also some live insects, to get her going again? I don't know which is better, mealworms and superworms or crickets? Dubias are illegal where I live.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Humidity hasn't changed, but it has been cold here. Just not too cold to where it was worrying or that i'd buy a heater. Florida escaped the polar vortex of america, too. I'll weigh her again tonight to see what it's currently at, but when she was eating regularly at the beginning of January, she was 44g. She's not lethargic and behaves regularly. I don't feed live mealworms, they're just dried ones I already had for mice, so I've no idea what they've eaten.

My garg, however, recently was on Pangea's fig and insect mix, and before that we tried Repashy's "superfoods mrp" and Pangea's Watermelon. I tried reintroducing the Repashy, but she didn't eat it. She never ate the Watermelon the whole first month I had her, either, and doesn't eat it when I re-offer that. I guess I need to order a couple flavours to alternate and then try also some live insects, to get her going again? I don't know which is better, mealworms and superworms or crickets? Dubias are illegal where I live.

Try well fed crickets first. Maybe in a feeding dish?

My crestie George used to eat crickets all the time. Now he doesn't seem interested. George likes Pangea with Insects. Last show I bought Pangea's Papaya Complete Diet. He eats that too.

I think a key thing here is alternating "lives" with Pangea from the beginning. Maybe it's the sweet taste of powdered diets that keeps them holding out for more.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

Try well fed crickets first. Maybe in a feeding dish?

My crestie George used to eat crickets all the time. Now he doesn't seem interested. George likes Pangea with Insects. Last show I bought Pangea's Papaya Complete Diet. He eats that too.

I think a key here is alternately lives with Pangea from the beginning. Maybe it's the sweet taste of powdered diets that keeps them holding out for more.

So! I weighed her now. She's at 38g, which is only a 6g loss, not too bad, right? I got her to eat a little bit of her pangea fig and insect cgd when hand feeding, but mostly she just wanted to explore where I was sitting with her on the floor. I'm going to continue to hand feed while I wait for more flavours to come in the mail and I'll try and get some crickets after class tomorrow. Nobody near me sells cgd unfortunately.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

So! I weighed her now. She's at 38g, which is only a 6g loss, not too bad, right? I got her to eat a little bit of her pangea fig and insect cgd when hand feeding, but mostly she just wanted to explore where I was sitting with her on the floor. I'm going to continue to hand feed while I wait for more flavours to come in the mail and I'll try and get some crickets after class tomorrow. Nobody near me sells cgd unfortunately.

6 grams off 44 grams in one month is significant.

What day and night temps is the room where her enclosure sits? What is it usually?

I've never kept gargs.

Feeding dish examples:

• 
  
  
  My Walmart carries these Anchor brand 8 ounce glass bowls. Cut off the cricket's back legs right below their "knees" to prevent them from jumping out of the bowls.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

it's always been 74ish at night and 76-77ish at day, and I've noticed only a drop or two in degree at night during the colder days but it's been gradually warming up. I've never let it get below 72. Her tank is in front of a window. It's always closed, and there is a curtain and her foam board backing between the window and the tank, so it doesn't ever get overly hot.

I picked up some new food. She's sitting by it now, so hopefully she smells it.

Do I need to take her to the vet if she doesn't eat this or crickets?

also thank you so much for putting up with all my questions. It seems like no matter how much research I do, I still have a lot to ask.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

it's always been 74ish at night and 76-77ish at day, and I've noticed only a drop or two in degree at night during the colder days but it's been gradually warming up. I've never let it get below 72. Her tank is in front of a window. It's always closed, and there is a curtain and her foam board backing between the window and the tank, so it doesn't ever get overly hot.

I picked up some new food. She's sitting by it now, so hopefully she smells it.

Do I need to take her to the vet if she doesn't eat this or crickets?

also thank you so much for putting up with all my questions. It seems like no matter how much research I do, I still have a lot to ask.

You are welcome, Cosmonaughty. Questions further education.

Any lick marks?

It doesn't seem like a couple degree temp drop should affect her eating. Is her enclosure in a quiet location by the window?

If she doesn't try crickets or her new food and continues to lose weight, a knowledgeable exotics vet is the next step.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

No lick marks. She's kept in my bedroom, which is very quiet. I keep the lights off in here at night for her too, so she isn't stuck hiding all night with my insomnia haha

I'm going to contact a vet monday if she isn't eating crickets or food by then. I provided food in 2 locations in case she can't find the normal spot (which doesn't make sense, to be honest, it's never moved since I bought her, but... you never know). Maybe that will help too.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

No lick marks. She's kept in my bedroom, which is very quiet. I keep the lights off in here at night for her too, so she isn't stuck hiding all night with my insomnia haha

I'm going to contact a vet monday if she isn't eating crickets or food by then. I provided food in 2 locations in case she can't find the normal spot (which doesn't make sense, to be honest, it's never moved since I bought her, but... you never know). Maybe that will help too.

What size is her enclosure?

Only weigh or handle her no more than 1x per week.

 

[GeckoLeen]

You may be able to get discoid roaches - they are legal in places where dubias are not.

Try the Pangea flavors, and mix the fruit ones with the flavors with insects.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

She's in an 18x18x24. I have never handled her more frequently than that, I'm too worried about stressing her out haha

I got 3 crickets and dusted them in her food and she ate them quickly. I'm quite proud of her, to be honest.

 

[Cosmonaughty]

You may be able to get discoid roaches - they are legal in places where dubias are not.

Try the Pangea flavors, and mix the fruit ones with the flavors with insects.

Haha thanks! The first thing that popped up when I searched up "Discoid Roaches" was that they're legal in florida lol I'll check it out.

I'll try mixing flavors and see if that peaks her interest. Thank you