Rehabilitating Gecko Found on the Street

[cthulhuhail]

Hello everyone. A family member just brought me an abandoned Leo they found outside in the park. Luckily I actually already have a Leopard gecko, so I have some of the equipment needed to help this thing.

It's not in great shape, and it's pretty limp other than when it's freaked out: Where it struggles and has some good strength. It has a skinnier tail and won't open one of its eyes. I tried feeding it (it was not interested, it seems very stressed). It is currently in one of my travel cages over a heat pad, but it still isn't looking too good. I want to maybe give it some privacy and a water cup to see if that helps.

Some things I am worried about:

• Is it sick with something? I don't want it to get my other Leos sick
• It has some shed skin that it seems like it's still removing. It makes it hard for it to use one of its legs. How can I help with this without stressing it out?
• How do I get it to eat?

Is there anything I should do right now? Will I need to force feed it? What should I do I seriously never anticipated this happening. Actually as of writing this it seems like it's moving around more which is a good sign. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[acpart]

Give it some time to recover. Stressed geckos usually don't eat. Put a few drops of water on its nose (one at a time) and see if it will lick them up. There are a variety of home made and store bought formulas to feed a sick leopard gecko. The easiest thing to do is to start with some warm chicken baby food and put a little on its nose in the hopes that it will lick it off. The other thing (or next thing if you get a good response to the chicken) is to mash up a feeder and rub some of the guts on the gecko's nose for it to lick off. A vet visit would also be a good idea.

Aliza

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Please share a photo of your rescued leo.

 

[cthulhuhail]

Here are images:


And here is a video of it moving:
[video]https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5aahjl8lfcms2vz/AADnjqhZHJ-2S7g5Wk_P4GTra?dl=0[/video]

Its current enclosure is still sub-par, being a small travel cage with one hide and a heat pad. I am working on getting my hands on something bigger to keep it in ASAP. As of now, I gave it last night to calm down, results are looking pretty good. It's not moving around like it should, but I got it to finally drink some droplets of water off of its snout and some calcium with the same method. If you look at the video of it trying to walk, you can see that it can kind of move, but it has trouble. I suspect that it has a calcium deficiency. It also seems to have some sort of malformation if you look at the images.

It was able to get off some of the shed skin, the poor thing had shed restricting the movement of one of its feet. It also opened its other eye, so thankfully there's one less thing to be worried about. Now I am mostly concerned with getting it to eat. I have crickets, but I don't think it's in the position to hunt currently. The idea is that I'll mash up some feeders and try to get it to eat that, as recommended earlier on this thread.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks so much! Your video + images are invaluable.

Your rescued leo has significant metabolic bone disease based upon it's front elbows and gait. His MBD requires immediate & frequent treatment to prevent the MBD from worsening. I don't know how much he can recover. I recommend visiting an exotics vet.

Metabolic bone disease (MBD) symptoms include uneven (lopsided) gait, walking on one or both "elbows", bowed limbs, belly dragging, and an underbite. Difficulty chewing should be closely monitored.

Can you tell whether any of his legs are broken?

What brand & exact name of powdered supplements are you using for your other leo? How often are you using them?

 

[acpart]

It looks surprisingly good for all it's been through. I agree there's a pretty significant MBD (metabolic bone disease) but I think there could be a good chance for recovery or partial improvement. I got a juvenile gecko some years ago with moderate MBD and you'd never know it now!

Aliza

 

[cthulhuhail]

Here are the supplements I use. For Leeroy I dust her crickets with calcium and a little of the multivitamin powder every other feeding. Could I get some recommendations on how to get this little lizard to consume enough calcium to improve its future life? I am currently working on getting it to an exotic vet, but I want to see what I can do as of now.

I checked each of its legs for signs of trauma and it seems to be ok. Some of its bones (Its jaw specifically) feel way too soft and I'm certain its previous owner never gave it calcium. The good news is when I took it out to check on it, it made a beeline away from me, so it has enough strength to walk and it moves pretty efficiently, though it stands way lower to the ground than it should. I tried feeding it a dusted cricket, but it showed no interest. I think it's probably capable of eating whole food since I'm assuming before I found it in the park it was eating somewhat regularly, but I may still have to resort to mashing up some crickets and calcium.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

View attachment 49710View attachment 49711View attachment 49712View attachment 49713

Here are the supplements I use. For Leeroy I dust her crickets with calcium and a little of the multivitamin powder every other feeding. Could I get some recommendations on how to get this little lizard to consume enough calcium to improve its future life? I am currently working on getting it to an exotic vet, but I want to see what I can do as of now.

I checked each of its legs for signs of trauma and it seems to be ok. Some of its bones (Its jaw specifically) feel way too soft and I'm certain its previous owner never gave it calcium. The good news is when I took it out to check on it, it made a beeline away from me, so it has enough strength to walk and it moves pretty efficiently, though it stands way lower to the ground than it should. I tried feeding it a dusted cricket, but it showed no interest. I think it's probably capable of eating whole food since I'm assuming before I found it in the park it was eating somewhat regularly, but I may still have to resort to mashing up some crickets and calcium.

Thanks so much! Zoo Med's supplements are excellent. I've used Zoo Med supplements for years for all my geckos.

Based upon what you've mentioned, your rescue's jaws may be too soft to chew whole insects.

Make a Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 paste with water. Place a drop or 2 on your rescue's nose. I hope your rescue will lick it off. Mash up an insect. Add ZM Repti Calcium with D3. Keep trying! If that doesn't work, try adding ZM D3 calcium to Gerber's turkey baby food. Try that as well.

You may need to order Oxbow's Carnivore Care. See below for vital details.


(click to enlarge)

Turkey Baby Food versus Chicken Baby Food
In December 2011 GU member Maurice Pudlo shared this. He's quite knowledgeable about nutrition.

Gerber's Turkey Baby Food -- Mix some Gerber's turkey baby food with clear Pedialyte 1:1. Place that on your leo's nose or let the gecko lick assist diet from the syringe's tip.

• "Turkey baby food is a milder food than chicken and thus provides less of a shock to the digestive system. The goal of assist feeding is not to overwhelm the gecko with nutrients.
• "The recommended 1:1 ratio of turkey baby food (which is has a slightly higher water content than chicken baby food) to pediatric fluids (Pedialyte) helps quickly replace fluids and provides a mild dosage of nutrients that are more easily digestable than the more nutrient-dense chicken baby foods. [Fluid replacement at a veterinary clinic is often highly invasive procedure and should be avoided if at all possible. ???]
• "Turkey is also lower in saturated fats as well as total fats. Fats are in both but the turkey diet after mixing contains just 3.1% where the chicken diet would have 3.95% (close to one percent higher in total fat content, of which a higher percentage is saturated fat).
• "Turkey is slightly more mineral-rich than chicken (based on total ash content) and this may help with replacement of any lost due to a previously substandard diet.
• "Turkey baby food contains 3 times as much total vitamin D (D2 + D3). This offsets its lower calcium levels. My opinion is that the calcium in turkey is more available than the calcium in chicken baby foods due to the higher level of vitamin D."

Without a consistent supply of vitamin D3 your rescue's MBD will get worse.

Please purchase Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3, since you already have D3 covered. The Reptile Supply Co (Lodi, California): 916-226-4089 carries it. National Geographics is an off-brand. I cannot read the ingredient lists from your images.


PS:
You may wish to order Oxbow's Carnivore Care. That's an all-in-one powdered rescue diet one mixes with water. Be sure to read this link on keeping it usuable!!! Otherwise Oxbow's Carnivore Care expires 7 days after opening, because it contains NO preservatives.

For link 34 click: Powdered Assist Foods: Oxbow’s Carnivore Care, Lafeber's Emeraid for Carnivors, & Fluker's Repta+Boost​