African Fat Tail Sick?

Hello,

Ok we have a new AFT that my 11 year old wanted to get/rescue desperately. We have had "Boo" for exactly one week. Now during that time she has not eating anything and her poop is white/green. We tried to feed her crickets, dubia roaches and no luck, even tried to hand feed her.

She has been in her humid hide most of the time and she would wonder around at night, but not for long. We have her on Eco-Earth (same stuff she has been on for the past 6 months) and some ceramic tile.

The UTH is under the tile and the humid hide is on the tile with Eco-Earth inside. Another hide on the cool side. The tile floor is about 93 *F and the humid hide is 85*F and the cool side is 78*F.

Yesterday she shed, I must admit it was kinda cool to watch. She had some difficulty getting it all off, so we soaked her in warm water and helped her remove the rest from her toes and under her tail.

Well, this evening when I picked her up to check for more shed it seemed like she was shivering. Her head and feet were shaking very rapidly, but not moving much at all. When we put her back in her VIV she seemed to be yawning. I was changing her water and my son freaked out and said, she just spit something out. Well, to my surprise it was the shed she had eaten.

I know they are docile and easy going, but she seems kinda lethargic. After removing the shed ball I noticed a silver looking bug inside the enclosure...not sure what it is, but I will post some pictures. I will post some pictures in a bit.

Well, I just read that if the stool is green then there is possibly a parasite issue. So, we will be making a trip to the vet.

Good, that's what I recommended to you in response to this post on another forum.

Aliza

Thanks acpart

Parasites are definitely a concern especially with imports/pet store babies. I would obviously suggest a fecal and I would also suggest putting a warm side moist hide in with her. Fat Tails can take a long time to adjust. Assuming she does have parasites even with the meds it could take her quite awhile to eat. If she is passing stools she was eating wherever you got her so more than likely it's stress causing her not to eat. I've had fat tails I've received not eat for 2 months before. Just make sure to keep the temps up, limit the stress level and keep it well hydrated. Good luck

AFTs often eat crickets which can carry loads of pinworms. I'd recommend an annual fecal/deworming for most if you feed crickets often or in general. I had a male recently come to me that was a super picky eater. Wormed him and now he's probably my hungriest AFT!! Waiting at the bowl at feeding time and snarfing down anything I offer. Gained 10g in three weeks too!

Thanks for all the info. geckobabies...We do have a moist hide on the warm side, it is right at 85 *F inside and on the tile on the warm side it is around 94 *F, I did a no no and did not weigh her when we brought her home... but, she has lost some weight.

DrCarrotTail....I don't like to feed crickets for that reason. I have a colony of Dubia and feed our Leo and he loves em....I bought some crickets to see if we could get her to eat but she did not want them...tried to feed by hand and no luck. Now, when you say you wormed him, did you do it yourself or the VET?


So, when I got off work the whole family loaded up and too "Boo" to the VET and they will keep her for the next day or so, they will be doing a fecal test and checking some other things. She was still shivering today and when we mist the VIV she usually licks the glass....but, not today. Poor girl is not feeling good at all...the husband (my 11 year old son) was brought to tears to see her in such a weak and vulnerable state. I hope its just a case of pinworms or something curable. Not only for "Boo's" sake, but my boy to.



Not sure what this is, but it was in her VIV and yes it does have a wire mesh screen on top. Baby Cricket??

Looks like a partially digested cricket to me. Best of luck with your gecko. I hope it makes it let us know.

Well it was alive when I caught it. We put 2 crickets in there for about 5 hours then removed them....and we found this the next day....it that enough time for a cricket to lay eggs and for them to hatch??

It is really small too about the size of a ball point pin tip.

No experience with breeding crickets or a time frame but common sense tell me no.

That bug looks like a silverfish to me. They're a common pest of paper products like books and newspapers. They're pretty common in and around houses so it might have just gotten into your leos or crickets tank? They have very soft bodies and max size is probably 1/2 to 3/4 inch long. I wouldn't worry about them getting in much unless there are a ton of them.

I have my vet do a group fecal on my animals annually but I worm them myself. I was a vet tech for several years and have lots of experience outside of that job with many different kinds of animals so I'm pretty comfortable giving meds and determining dosages. The medication used to deworm is also pretty safe so a bit too much won't cause too much harm. It's always a good idea, however, to know what you're dealing with before using any kind of medication and there are types of parasites the dewormer will not control so having a fecal done first is the best bet. Many vets will look at one without an office visit, especially if they know you, but some will not. Most will not prescribe medication without seeing the overall health of the animal in question.

Good call Lisa on the silverfish.. googled it and it does look like that. I've seen similar things in bug orders before but never knew what they were called. From the one photo the body looked partially digested which is why I thought it might be part of the cricket but it looks like it's just the way those insects are built.

I have the unfair advantage of having stared at too many bugs for several years....Masters degree in entomology to the rescue! haha.

See now you are just showing off... using words I don't even understand LOL!