Abnormal breathing. Sick leo

[equinelove93]

Im very worried about my 3 year old female. For the past month she was staying on the cold end of the viv..not really eating but not losing weight or appearing ill. All the tank temps were perfect 90 on the warm with the UTH, 85 in the middle and 80-77 on the cold end.

Today i noticed something very concerning. My gecko is very lethargic. She has been awake all day with her neck stretched upwards. Breathing slightly faster than usual but every minute it looks like she takes a big breath or gulp of air. I had picked her up to check her out a little closer. Normally shes very curious when handled and never makes a noise. But when i pickes her up she made a small sound thats difficult to decribe. Almost the same sound that hatchings make with the squeel but very low pitched and hoarse.

My vet who deals with herps is closed today and tomorrow. The next nearest is about 2hrs away. Im so worried. She was my very first leo and i love her so much.

I've been reading that it could be a URI. So i raised her temps very very slightly hoping it will help her immune system. Right now she has 3 hides and 1 humid. Shes on paper towel substrate. She hadn't eaten anything diffrent. And the humidy levels usually stay at 30% unless i see her in shed. She always has a water dish a a capful of pure calcium powder.

Is there anything i can do? Does this sound like a URI? Or could something like parasites, or anything else cause this?

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[Neon Aurora]

It sounds like an RI to me, but a vet would be able to check for anything else it could be (for example, an obstruction or a growth that is pressing on her airway). A vet appointment as soon as you can would probably be a good idea. You may be able to wait until your vet is open in 2 days, but if she seems to be going downhill over the day tomorrow, you might consider driving to the farther one.

Raising the temps is a good idea. I would also remove unnecessary furnishings from the enclosure and use paper towels for your substrate (not sure what you're using now) in order to keep things really clean. Daily cleanings isn't a bad idea right now. Usually URIs are caused by opportunistic bacteria that are always present in the reptile that are able to launch a successful attack due to X reason (low temps, malnutrition, excessively moist conditions, etc). Since your husbandry sounds okay, it's possible the URI came from something else, such as a fungus or virus that may have been transferred into the enclosure by your hands. I just think it would probably be a good idea to keep things as clean as possible to remove any possible sources of the infection in the enclosure.

If it were my gecko, I would probably keep a close eye on her over the next day and call first thing in the morning when the vet opens to see if they could squeeze me in. If she seemed to be in decline, however, I would be prepared to drive to the clinic 2 hours away.

 

[equinelove93]

Thanks for the advice. Fortunately after bumping up her temps she was looking alot better in the morning. Now shes back to eating and behaving normally. She just had her shed yesterday and is looking great. Im still going to keep a close watch on her if she shows anymore symptoms

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