8-year old gecko can no longer swallow mealworms

[rosie]

Hi, I have an 8-year old leo who has been, for the most part, in perfect health his whole life. I've fed him regular-size mealworms every since I've had him. He's always had "bad aim" when lunging at his food, often missing multiple times before finally getting it, but he's always had a healthy appetite.

In the past 2 months, however, I've noticed that his "aim" has gotten much worse. Recently, he's stopped showing an interest in food. When I try to get him interested, e.g., by wiggling the mealworm around, after a few minutes he will successfully lunge at the worm. But, most disturbingly, at that point he seems like he can't "chew" the mealworm - instead, he tries for a few seconds and then it drops out of his mouth. It's almost as if he doesn't have enough jaw strength to bite and swallow it. I'm not sure what to do - if you have any advice, please help.

 

[Srt14292]

How much calcium is he getting? If hes jaw looks like rubbery, if he is walking funny he could have MBD which would explain the lack of jaw strength, and the lack of appitite may have started with him just going into brumation, either way I think a vet visit might be in order if this continues for too long. Or you see the classic BIG MBD signs.

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

+1
If he is missing a lot but maybe he might be going blind?

 

[rosie]

No signs of MBD - legs look normal, jaw looks normal, and walking normally. But I haven't given him calcium in years - not since he was young. I wasn't aware that you had to keep doing that even after they were adults, so I will start doing that now and see if he starts improving.

 

[Palor]

In addition to leaving calcium in his tank, try feeding him some Phoenixworms. They will help him recover from MBD

 

[Srt14292]

Phoenix or butterworms are high in calcium very good point Dan, this will give extra calcium, yes leave a bottle cap of calcium without d3 in the tank. Don't over do it with the phoenix/butters though they get very addictive like waxworms but worse/

 

[froggz]

I would also try to provide a varied diet for him, along with proper supplementation.

 

[GeckoTrouble]

Sounds like MBD to me.
I would definitely start supplementing with calcium. Give him pure Ca in a bowl in the viv and dust feeders daily.
A trip to the vet may be in order as well as they can provide a liquid calcium supplement to give it as a boost.
May also be a good thing to get a fecal sample done for parasites which may be exacerbating the issue.

I'm sure if you post your location that someone here will be able to recommend a good herp vet

 

[rosie]

Zip code is 94115. Thank you!