Very worried - please help

Rhian · Aug 31, 2010

Hi everyone,

I am really worried about one of my geckos. He's not eaten a decent amount for a couple of weeks now, and today when I took him out I noticed he's got what looks like blood/brown stuff around his vent

he's been licking himself today too - I've taken a photo, does anyone know what this could be please? Any help would be much appreciated x

robin · Aug 31, 2010

did you see anything hanging out of his vent? he might have had a prolaps. you may want to wipe the area off with a warm cloth. put him on paper towel to see if he is bleeding. what is his substrate? is there anything in his case he could have injured himself on?

Rhian · Aug 31, 2010

Thanks for replying so quickly, haven't seen anything hanging out but it looks sore

I'll try the paper towel now - is a trip to the vets the best option or is there something I can do to make him more comfortable? He's on repti carpet, there's not anything in his house that could have cut him. Is a prolapse treatable?

robin · Aug 31, 2010

sometimes prolapse are treatable but if this is the case with your gecko most likely not. i would take him to the vet especially considering the unexplained either diarrhea or blood coming out of his vent.

Tony C · Aug 31, 2010

robin said:
sometimes prolapse are treatable but if this is the case with your gecko most likely not. i would take him to the vet especially considering the unexplained either diarrhea or blood coming out of his vent.

:main_thumbsup: When in doubt, consult a vet.

Enigmatic_Reptiles · Aug 31, 2010

Def needs to see a vet

Rhian · Aug 31, 2010

Thanks for your help everyone, will take him to the vets tomorrow, will let you know what they say x

robin · Aug 31, 2010

cool. yes please keep us updated

Rhian · Sep 1, 2010

Hey everyone, just a quick update on Nessy. He's been to the vets today - they said he's got an infection and there were lots of faeces stuck in his vent (which they removed) they couldn't really explain why it happened though, and the infection is quite bad so I'm really worried. We've got antibiotics to put in his vent and also to give him by mouth, keeping my fingers crossed it does the trick. Is there some way of preventing this happening again? x

fl_orchidslave · Sep 1, 2010

Repti carpet can hold bacteria. I would get rid of that and use paper towel, at least while he's healing up. A lot of people also like tile substrate, easy to clean and one time inexpensive investment.

Rhian · Sep 2, 2010

Thanks for your help everyone. Unfortunately Nessy is looking worse today

he's been having his antibiotics but he's hardly moving now and he won't open his eyes at all it's horrible seeing him like that

robin · Sep 2, 2010

i am sorry to hear that. you are doing everything you can do for him.

tlbowling · Sep 2, 2010

I hope he gets better Rhian

Rhian · Sep 6, 2010

Hey everyone, Nessy is still not doing too good - the vet said we have to give him time (and antibiotics) but he just looks like he is in alot of pain to me

is this a problem that they usually can recover from? The infection looked pretty bad to me (although I am no expert) I just hate the thought that he is suffering. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable? He's hardly opening his eyes or anything

Rhian · Oct 11, 2010

Hi everyone, could anyone tell me how long a gecko can go without eating please?

Nessy is still not great but doing better than he was... The infection has just about cleared up, he's due his last injection this evening. The thing that's worrying me is that he hasn't eaten properly now for a while. He ate 6 mealies about 2 weeks ago but before that he was only eating 1 or 2 about once a week and he's not ate for 2 weeks now. He has lost weight - his tail is noticeably thinner but he was pretty chunky before.

I've tried him with mealies (in a bowl and out of my hand as he always liked eating out of my hand before!) have also tried crickets and tried tempting him with a waxworm but still not luck. I dabbed some slurry on his mouth a couple of days ago so that he could lick it off but he wasn't too impressed with me doing that (he went straight into his moist hide and wiped the food off his face) - can you think of anything else I could try? I'm worried about him losing anymore weight

fl_orchidslave · Oct 11, 2010

When I have used slurry, what has worked well is to put the gecko in a 6qt container with only a paper towel on the bottom. They can't help but to lick it off. Of course some gets rubbed on the sides but they can at least get some nourishment. I have given oral meds this way too, letting them get going a few times with slurry then adding the med drop to the feeding spoon. One little girl got comfortable enough to start licking from the tip of the baby spoon so I stuck a worm in the slurry. Once she got that live taste, she was good to go. Give me worms mama! It took two weeks and a lot of patience.

Rhian · Oct 23, 2010

Thanks for your reply

I've been feeding him like this for the last couple of weeks now and it seems to be doing the trick (he's got a bit more energy and he's been going to the toilet normally now too) I'm still concerned though as he is just not interested in eating himself and he still doesn't seem quite right (he's still sleeping more than he used to, his eyes are still shut alot of the time and even though he is eating slurry his tails about half the size if what it was) - do you think he needs to go back to the vets, or do you think he just needs time? I don't want to stress him out even more but it's been a really long time since he was healthy and I don't want him to suffer

Dog Shrink · Oct 23, 2010

It takes time for the body to bounce back after antibiotics and get it self right again, sometimes upwards of a month. If he still isn't doing better in a few more days you might want to consider another trip to the vet. Does anyone know if there is a probiotic suppliment you can give to leos to help this little fella restore his natural gut flora and help bounce back from the antibiotics? Are you dusting his feeders with a multi vit. at least once a week and is calcuim available to him 24/7?

Rhian · Oct 26, 2010

Thanks for your advice - am going to wait a couple more days and if he's still no better take him back to the vets. Yep we've been dusting with multi vit and he has calcium in his tank too. He's still not right at all

am worried what the vets going to say, will let you know what happens

Dog Shrink · Oct 26, 2010

What about water intake? have you noticed him drinking? Antibiotics can tend to drain the system of moisture so he could be a bit dehydrated. If he isn't using his bowl (mine kinda does but I notice him licking the droplets moreso when I mist his tank than actually drink) you may want to mist his tank am & pm to make sure he has water. Nothing heavy, something on rocks or the glass. Just a mist or 2.

Honestly if this were a dog I'd have the owners test for drug toxicity if they felt their dog wasn't rebounding properly. Maybe it was too high a dose of meds and the leo is showing some toxic side effects. Run down, lack of interest in food, pale and listless.. all signs. Esp. if the infection has cleared. BUT I tend to over think things sometimes.

You said stool and appatite are pretty normal now? If the leo you're talking about is the one in your avatar, he's really adorable

I love his BIG smile

and his lil white gloves.

Very worried - please help

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