Are we on the right track? Feeding.

[default lizard keeper]

My husband and my 12 year old picked out a leopard gecko on June 30[SUP]th,[/SUP] so we’ve had him 3 weeks. I didn’t think it looked healthy from the start. We’ve had a terrible time getting him to eat. I think he’s on the right track, but I was hoping for any further suggestions. I don’t have a very good picture, but suffice to say he is too skinny. There is some fat in his tail, but it’s not much bigger than a pencil. Please skip any lectures about unwise things we may have done when we first got him.

Current status is that he’s gained 4 grams this week. We put crickets in about 9pm and take out what he doesn’t eat the next morning. He seems to be a little shy about hunting, although he pops his head out on the days he wants to eat. He’s eating 4-5 large crickets and about 5 small ones every other day. He’s pooping almost every day. It looks a little soft when it comes out, but it’s not watery or oddly colored and the feces are getting bigger. He shows no signs of being impacted belly is not distended or discolored and feces seem normal.

Sex/age unknown. It’s supposedly a juvenile.
He’s 6 inches and weighed 12 grams a week ago. He’s up to 16 grams now.
He came from a specialty reptile/bird pet store.
10 gallon glass tank, UTH on a digital thermostat (as of Sunday). He has a half “rock” hide on the warm side.
Warm 90F (probe in hide), cool 75-80 depending on the temperature of our house.
Reptile carpet for substrate. He was on some bark product from the pet store the first week.
Temperature is monitored by the thermostat on the warm side and a digital thermometer/hygrometer on the cool.

I bought a red reptile light because we were having trouble getting it warm enough with the bark. Since we switched to carpet and got the thermostat we haven’t needed it.

I took the cool side hide out because he never used it and it seemed to just provide a place for crickets to hide. I’m watching for any signs of a shed and will put a moist hide in when that happens.

He pretty much hangs out in his hide. He usually comes out in the evening a little.

I don’t think he ate anything the first week. We put crickets in but the bark made it hard to tell what got eaten. He had no interest in mealworms. He ate about 2 waxworms at the beginning of the second week. He did poop after he ate those. When I pulled out the bark. we gave him a warm (90F) soak and spent 2 days putting Reptile jump start on his lips with a syringe. He didn’t take much, but he did lick some of it off.

I got him out of the tank by putting a tall sided Tupperware bowl in front of him twice. Once for the bath and substrate change and once to clean his tank because it smelled. I think we missed a dead cricket. I got the weight when he was in the Tupperware. He’s only been handled to get the jump start on his lip.

We gutload the crickets with the Flukers Orange stuff and dust with Reptashy. Some of the Reptashy ends up in the cricket tank and they’re probably eating it too.

To be perfectly frank, I’m trying to avoid a vet visit. Our vet clinic (we have dogs and cats) does have a lizard vet, but I’m afraid it would stress him, and he’s already become rather expensive. He’s eating, pooping and gaining weight. Are we on the right track with him? He really only seems to want to eat every other day but we will keep making food available.

 

[DiAmoroso]

It sounds like you're doing well, but maybe a little too much. Leave the gecko alone for a while, and consider leaving a bowl of mealworms for it 24/7. If you notice a fast decline in health, then you may have an issue to address, but until then take care of the gecko as you normally would. Handle it as little as possible until it becomes a stronger feeder.

Let the gecko acclimate at its own pace, if it's healthy and parasite free, it'll come around. Can you post a couple of pictures so we can see how skinny it may be? Just because a gecko doesn't have a super fat tail doesn't mean it's skinny. In fact in my opinion, there are a lot of geckos out there that are too fat.

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[default lizard keeper]

We had to clean the tank yesterday (it stank) but otherwise we've only opened the tank to put crickets in or take them out. We change the water and pick up the poop at the same time. I'll see if I can get a better picture tonight.

His legs are totally normal. The picture makes them look wierd.

Thank you!

 

[default lizard keeper]

He/she looks more normal in this picture. Please note the substrate and the log have been removed

 

[DiAmoroso]

Definitely skinny, and she doesn't look completely healthy either. That being said, it doesn't look like it's too late to turn her around. Be patient with her, and keep trying the mealworms and wax worms. Crickets may be too difficult to catch, as she is probably weak and might not have the energy to deal with them. Keep up the good work and patience, and she will likely be ok. Unfortunately this is what happens when you buy animals from most perfect stores, so I'd definitely recommend buying from a good breeder if you purchase another gecko in the future. They may be more expensive for the initial purchase, but you save money and heart break in the long run. That applies to all animals, not just geckos.

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[Ruvik]

I happen to rescue geckos from pet stores often in the same condition as your little one then fine them better homes. These animals are wonderful and can come back from being that small in no time. What I normally do to help with getting energy in my little one so that they are able to start hunting more actively sooner. Is that the first week I made a slushy. Which if you look up leopard gecko slurry you can find many many different types. Not only did I use a slurry, I use Repti+boost. It's for dehydrated and malnourished reptiles. And against what people say, I have to handle the new rescues on day one. Normally I have to sit there dap a little of the slurry/repti+boost on their nose and have them lick it up. It takes a while to do so, but in the long run it helps them out so much. The Repti+boost gave them enough strength for them to start hunting within a weeks time of me getting them. I also tong feed all of my animals. Another thing is I would be very very careful with repti-carpet. While it may be a better substrate choice, you can risk your little one trying to catch a cricket then biting the carpet instead which would then cause them to get their little teeth caught in the carpet. then they struggle to get it out. If anything I would switch to paper towel til you are able to look into other options.

Over all I think your little one would come back from this. And in the future when you wish to being her/him to the vet for a check up jst to make sure everything is okay.
http://www.pet co.com/product/117291/Fluker's-Repta+Boost-Insectavore-and-Carnivore-High-Amp-Boost.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-Reptile-_-Fluker%27s-_-kenshoo_clickid_&mr:trackingCode=788A9FD4-FC27-E111-B18D-001B21A69EB0&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=plaonline&mr:ad=55967180893&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=81295318213&cm_mmc=CSEMGooglePLA-_-zShopping:%20Reptile-_-Reptile%20|%20Vitamins%20&%20Supplements-_-2d2ffe27-3b22-4deb-9a63-4317634ad0a0&kpid=1442066&gclid=CK2fnu2v9sYCFY6EaQodpiMAMQ

That is a link to the Repti+boost.

And here is a before and after shot of one of my rescues:

Before when first brought home at 7 grams.


After Care for a month now at 27 grams:



PS. I handle this gecko right when I got her home, but only to feed her the slurry and booster and she never stopped eating for me. Even know she is a very curious little leo and I find her more well behaved than the other two I didn't handle for two weeks at the start. It took me five months to be able to kiss the ones I left alone for two weeks on the head softly. With Dot my little rescue that I am keeping, it took her one month of care to allow me to kiss her on the head softly. What i really love about my rescue is that she watches everything closely. When I set her on the kitchen table, she will sit there and just watch what I am doing. You can tell because he head moves and follows my movements. My other two just crawl around and do what they wanna do. I think you will enjoy bring this leo back to health and great job for doing so.

P.S.S There is a space between the link where it says pet co. Copy it then paste and backspace the space to travel on the link

 

[default lizard keeper]

He is looking better. I haven't wanted to disturb him but I will try to get a picture. He's eaten 3 days in a row now and more each time. He seems to have energy for hunting. I think he's on the mend. If he's not gaining weight, I'll take him to the vet, but I really wanted to try everything else first.

Yeah, a breeder would have been a good idea. I didn't buy the d@mn lizard. Even the ones at the local ++++++++ are fat and seem healthy. It came into my house, which makes me responsible for it. He's just proving to be higher maintance than my dog with a chronic disease.

DH and the kid did actually do some research. They just apparently missed the chapter on picking out a healthy lizard.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[default lizard keeper]

Back with an update and another question. Pretty sure its a she. She is eating better - 3-5 big crickets a night. Unless she's eatiing she stays in her hide. We usually feed her around 9 and about 5 minutes till sticks her head out of the hide. She comes out and usually nails one cricket right away. Then she goes back in her hide, comes out a few minutes later and hunts down another 2-3. Then the gecko show is over for the night. We leave 3 or 4 crickets in over night. She may or may not eat more but she always leaves one. We pull the remaining ones out in the am. She hunts the crickets like a boss and she's alert and active when she chooses to come out.

She was missing quite a bit. When we put her on paper towels when the reptile carpet was drying she had much better aim, so we're using paper towels.

Now, this looks like eggs to me and I haven't identified the white mass. I haven't wanted to stress her so I haven't looked to see if it's gone yet.

 

[default lizard keeper]

Obviously we haven't had her with a male, but we've only had her a bit more than a month. She's out on about 5 grams in the last 2 weeks.