A lot is wrong with her...

[Inari Rose]

My female leopard gecko was 48 grams when i left for texas, when I got back she had lost 8 grams, her eyes will not open properly, she has sores on her shoulders where they rub her, she has blood near one ear, her mouth will not close right and has been bleeding, she does walk around a lot, much more than the other 2 geckos she was being kept with. I don't think she has been eating either, and when she walks around she seems very confused, stopping to stare up or just look around. I have only seen her do it once sense I got back but she shook, like kind of spazzed a little bit. It was nothing major, just like a shiver, short, but it shook all of her.

The 2 other leos the was living with are very healthy, they are fine and eating and acting normally, they do not share any of her symptoms. Based on that, I do not think it was the care she received that caused her to be sick.

This is not the first time she has shed while in my care, though this is the first time she has had any trouble with it as far as I know.

This is what she looked like before:

 

[acpart]

I have had a number of geckos who were either stressed or ill and had shed problems until the original problem cleared up. I wonder whether the other 2 were bullying her. This could cause her to lose weight if they wouldn't let her eat and to become stressed, sometimes to the point where the parasite load gets out of control. Based on how you wrote it, I'm assuming that you've separated her. Keep her warm and quiet, if she won't eat, see if you can hand feed her and consider a trip to the vet.

Aliza

 

[sausage]

I would totslly agree! iv seen this so many times befor she is being bullied by the others. seperate her at once if you havnt already.
you also need to bath her in some warm water snd remove all the retained shed from het head, legs and toes. i can see she has lost some already and wouldnt want her to lose more.

 

[Inari Rose]

Thank you! I am still worried that her mouth may be affecting her eating... I do have her separated from the others. I have given her a bath and got some of the dry shin off. I will keep letting her soak in warm water and working on the skin. I don't know if she is eating, I put some more mealworms in her container but I cannot tell how many she has eaten. She still just sits there staring upwards or laying down sleeping. Is there any soft food I could give her to kep her weight up and make sure she gets something to eat? I will be stopping by 1 or 2 pet stores tomorrow and showing them pictures of her but I wont take her to a vet till saturday (or sooner of she gets worse). I want to give her a couple days to see if she improves at all.

Here are the pictures I took after her bath. Some of her toes look black and I noticed another cut on her back hip/leg.

 

[mörten]

Ohh my!! There is a huge difference in what she looks like healthy and what she looks like now She has really been bullied poor thing :bigcry:

I am so glad you are taking her to the vet so soon! You could try feeding her mealwoms with a pincer and let the mealworm tickle her lips. You can also try the Gecko Slurry which you can find the recipe for in this same section. I really hope she gets better now that youre home again! Dont leave her with the other leos if you are going away again (I know you wont, but still I have to write it down)

Good luck at the vet! Best wishes to your girl!

 

[sausage]

poor little thing, i really hope she picks up soon. now shes by her self she should slowly go back to normal once she feels safe enough.
she still has a reasonable amount of fat storage left in her tail so she should be oaky for a few days not eating till she settles down but as already said try feeding her a slurry. if you cant get all the ingreedients just mush up some bugs and add some calcium and vits. syringe feed it to her by putting droplets on her lips to lick off.
I hink she would be a lot more comfortable if you remove the shed from her head and eyes.
is she due for another shed soon?
use a cotton ball or a cotton bud with warm water to gently rub off the skin.

 

[Inari Rose]

She has been making some steady improvements
I have not needed to use gecko slurry because she has been eating some. I got the old skin off of both her eyes today! Once the skin was off I put her back in her container to relax for a bit and she just stood there shaking for a bit. I moved around to see if she was paying attention and she did. She watched me, turning her head and moving her eyes to where ever I was standing! She is still really pale and is now going through a second shed. That will be her second in less than 10 days but it seems to be helping a lot. She has had constant access to a dry hide, wet hide, and a bowl of water to drink from and sit in, all of which she has used these past couple days.

Here are some update pictures:

The sores on her legs seem to be healing

Look at those bright, shiny eyes!!! Love my girl!

 

[KTyne]

What are you supplementing with? And are you gut-loading her feeders? I am thinking that maybe her shedding issues and sores are from a Vitamin deficiency.
Very glad to hear that she is recovering though!

 

[Inari Rose]

I give her feeders apples and wheat bran and she has access to a a small container (milk cap) with rep-cal calcium with vitamin D in it. The others are healthy and just fine without any extra suppliments so it never crossed my mind.

Does she need something more? What should I get for her and where can I get it?

 

[KTyne]

She needs ALL of her feeders dusted with Calcium with D3 and also a Multivitamin. You could also use Repashy Calcium Plus and then it's a Calcium an Multivitamin in one.
They also should only have plain calcium without D3 in their tanks because they can also overdose on D3 easily.
Most pet stores will sell decent supplements.

 

[SC Geckos]

How are you heating this gecko? It appears to me from the images that this animal has been burnt from a heat lamp. Also the mouth problem could be mouth rot, a calcium deficiency, or an infection of some sort. I would recommend getting this animal checked by a vet to identify and treat the mouth issue before it gets any worse.

 

[Inari Rose]

@ KTyne: Thank you! I will get to a pet store soon (soon being tomorrow or the day after. NO later than that) and get supplements.

@ SC Geckos: I am using a heat lamp that is not inside the tank. It sets about 4-5 inches above the container that is about 12" tall. So that lamp itself sets about 16" from her.



Update: She is still working on her second shed. She has got some color back on her legs and her tail in much brighter than it was. She is eating more and is much more alert and not disoriented. Her mouth still has some small red and some black spots. Her eyes can open fully now, one looks fine though the other has some black, sticky liquid that she has been licking at and sometimes makes her eye stick shut a little.

Overall, she has made huge improvement from a few days ago but is not healthy by any means yet.

 

[sausage]

agreed, it needs to have an active D3 in it, also make sure there is vit A in the new powder you buy. recent research shows a link between vit A deficiency and shedding issues.
Also she really must have an UTH NOT a lamp! they dont absorb heat in that manner so the light is useless.
she looks like she is making slow progress though, keep up the good work

 

[Inari Rose]

@ Sausage: Thank you I will!

 

[jaredricha]

I would take your lizard to the vet. There could be something we are not seeing.

 

[Inari Rose]

@ jaredricha: I am thinking about it. I will be out of state in 3 days and wont be back for 2 weeks. If she gets worse we will take her to a vet but I want to give her some time to see if she keeps improving.

I went out and got a heating pad and turned off the heat lamp. Hopefully that helps. I know (am currently experiencing) how bad a burn can be... The store I went to did not have any supplements so I will have to get some tomorrow when I go to the city.

 

[sausage]

well done one heat mat, fingers crossed you get what you need in town.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I had some shedding issues with a couple of my hatchlings earlier this year and learned than shedding is controlled by the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus needs vitamin A to function properly. For shedding issues to come up suddenly, either the deficiency got so bad to cause her to be unable to shed (seems the more likely scenario), or something has gone awry with the gland itself (like a tumor or old age). I would assume she has a deficiency and as long as she continues to eat and you can help her shed, getting her on a multivitamin should correct it. She may need more expert help and a vet may be able to prescribe something that works more quickly, like a vitamin injection, that may help her get better faster than supplementing her food alone. Personally I would get her to a vet now to make sure supplementation alone will help as if her shedding issues get much worse they may hurt her more or possibly kill her.

I also found that Repashy makes a pure vitamin A supplement which may help, but I would hesitate to use it without a vet overseeing dosage as it is easier to overdose many reptiles on Vitamin A than many other vitamins.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Inari Rose]

Thank you! And I will
She is doing better though I have noticed some shed not coming off of my other 2. Not NEAR as bad as the female, just a couple spots here and there, but any stuck is a problem. I am dusting their food with supplements now so hopefully there will be more improvement

 

[Inari Rose]

I got liquid multivitamins today. ++++++++ only had 1 item with vitamin A in it -_-
But! My girl took it really well didnt fight much at all and didnt spit it out. It can go on their food or directly into their mouth once or twice a week. Up to 4 times a week (2 drops per 50g of body weight) if they are sick or sexually active.

One of my other geckos had a nice successful shed today (he started this morning and has almost all of it off now. Is that too fast? He seems fine. A nice healthy 41g, bright colors and a fat tail.

Jessi (the female) is doing better I don't know how often I will get on here the next couple weeks, I will be traveling and will leave a capable (though not even as much experience as me) person to take care of them.