bad eyes and tailess!

[kait]

Hi,
I bought a baby leopard gecko (Rex) at a reptile expo last month. He was totally healthy, but I could tell while feeding him in his feeding tub that his eye sight was not very good. And it just seems to be getting worse.

Also, 2 weeks ago, he climbed out of his cage, feel to the ground, walked under the threshold of my door to the hallway, met my cat, got scared, I found him, tried to pick him out but he was flipping out and making weird noises, I got his moist hide, which is a ziplock container with a hole cut in the side, and he climbed in. I put him back and started freaking out because I didnt know if he might of broke something, thats why he was freaking out, so I ran down stairs and called a herpotoligist that I volunteer for. He told me I could bring him in for him to look at later in the day. I went back to my room to check on Rex and he was fine (but mad at me ) and he had no tail. So I brought him in, and he said that it looked like no internal damage, nothing was broken, the tail will eventually grow back but not be as pretty, he put some carginegin on his tail stub, and told me to give him wax worms since he now didnt have a fat store. He was eating fine and his tail now is triangle and pointy, kind of looking like the tip of s pink crayon.

But, as for eyesight, its still getting worse, He tries to eat but misses every time he goes for his food. I will put him in his food container with some worms and come back an hour later, and maybe 1 pr 2 will be gone and he gave up looking for them. I know he WANTS to eat, he gets excited when he finds out he's in his eating container, but he cant catch anything! Here's the question list thing:

About your leo:
- Sex unknown but I call Rex a he
- Age & Weight 3 months
- How long have you owned your leo since october 6
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) a breeder at a reptile expo

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo daily
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. can barely see!
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. tail feel of
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) formed, dark brown, white urates
- When was the last time he/she went 2 days ago last time I saw, might of went in his cage yesterday though
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on His eyesight keeps getting worse.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size extra large critter keeper, its the length and width of a 10 gallon but not as high
- Type (ex. glass tank) plastic
- Type of substrate paper towels
- Hides, how many, what kind 3 hides, 1 plastic log thing on the hot side, 1 moist hide on the warm side with misted paper towel in it, and a paper towel roll thing on the cool side
B) Heating
- Heat source UTH
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) low 90's hot side, 80's cool side
- Method of regulating heat source ?
- What are you using to measure your temps digital thermoniter with a probe
- Do you have any lights (describe) no
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) just him
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet baby dubia roaches, wax worms, a few meal worms. about 5 feeders every other day.
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) see above
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) in a separate container
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Rep Cal calcium with vitamin D
- What are you gut loading food with oatmeal and bran meal stuff the worms come with



So is there any way I can feed a blind leo? He now has only eaten a few wax worms this week. I do not want him to starve to death!


Kait

 

[BrightReptiles]

You will have to feed him by hand with tweezers or tongs if he is indeed blind, but I wouldn't suggest wax worms. Other than fat there is not much else to them. I would use pheonix worms, silk worms, horn worms etc. After a few feedings put him back to his regular diet of mealworms, superworms, or crickets or whatever. Wax worms are a horrible choice for a staple diet.

 

[kait]

Can wax worms be used occaisonly? I was giving wax worms, as a treat, once a week. I would give him 3-5 a week. Other than that, it was dubia's and mealies. He was never able to catch crickets.

There are pheonix worms at the pet store, but they are really tiny and not wiggling. I didnt think he's ever notice them but I'll try them. I have tried holding the feeders in front of his mouth but I dont think he notices them..he doesnt do anything. I will get some tweezers though and try that. Thanks.

Also, can mealworms be used with dubias for a staple?

 

[BrightReptiles]

Mealworms and dubias are a great staple IMO. Waxworms are a good treat but shouldn't be given too often. My geckos each get one a week, and anyone over 70grams doesn't get them at all.

And the pheonix worms liven up when you get them out of the fridge and back to room temperature for a few minutes

 

[grboxa]

since your leo lost its tail, i would strongly recommend silkworms. There loaded with nutrition and really help make your gecko gain great weight without the high fat content like supers. phoenix worms are excellent aswell, but remember there generally a small feeder even at 'large' state, since you state theres vision problems that may be a problem. silkworms are a bit expensive, but very worth the cost and since there very filling you dont need to feed as much worms as you would mealworms. And just to add, be sure to put PLAIN calcium in the tank at all times if you dont already or just forgot to mention . How often are you dusting with that supplement?.

 

[kait]

I dust the feeders every other day (so every feeding, 3x a week) with regular calcium, and theres calcium w/ d3 in her tank.

I just washed off a pair of my regular tweezers and tried to use those to get him to eat. He still doesnt notice them though! I have a bearded dragon with cancer, and she has to be force fed with baby food, until I find something that works for feeding Rex can I give him some turkey or chicken baby food?

Is it common for leo's to have bad eyesight? And is there a reason why eye sight is getting worse? His eyes are not puffy or red or swollen or anything like that..

Oh btw, this is Rex. This was taken when he had a tail on the way home from the expo..such a cutie! I wasnt going there to get a leopard gecko..my attentions was a crested gecko..but then I saw this little cutie!

 

[grboxa]

please take the d3 out of the tank immadietly. replace it with PLAIN calcium. calcium/d3 in tank at all times can be very dangerous to your gecko. it is possible to overdose your gecko with supplements(hypervitaminosis). in terms of turkey/chicken baby food, I would advise not to just continue to try your best and if you can try out the silkworms. i think others will chime in and agree about the baby food...who knows whats in there. he is a very nice looking gecko:main_thumbsup:. wouldnt want anything happening to the little guy.

 

[kait]

Okay, thanks. He doesnt even seem to lick that calcium anyways..he spend 99% of his time in his moist hide. The only time I have seen him in his other hides was when I was cleaning out and changing the paper towel in the moist one. He loves it there.

Since I have never seen silks in petstores near me, I will look online and see if I can order any. But what do I do if he he doesnt eat out of the tweezers? I have tried twice today but he didnt seem to know they were there..

 

[andrew5859]

Just want to throw my 2 cents in here. As for bad eye sight/aim in leopard geckos the Enigma can show this the most. Its a neurological issue that the morph has. That was my first thought before I saw the picture and that ruled that out.
Leopard geckos are insectivores unlike bearded dragons, so baby food would be a bad idea. Superworms are a great feeder IMO. Dubia roaches are probably the best you could feed him nutrition wise along with supers or mealworms. Keep trying to tong feed him he'll get it eventually.
As for the actual "blindness" post some eye pictures. That would rule out something noticeably wrong. If not I say contact your herpetologist back and see if he can check him out.

 

[grboxa]

Okay, thanks. He doesnt even seem to lick that calcium anyways..he spend 99% of his time in his moist hide. The only time I have seen him in his other hides was when I was cleaning out and changing the paper towel in the moist one. He loves it there.

Since I have never seen silks in petstores near me, I will look online and see if I can order any. But what do I do if he he doesnt eat out of the tweezers? I have tried twice today but he didnt seem to know they were there..

I heard dubias are good aswell, A feeder perk for living in the U.S:main_thumbsup:. Theres a couple good sites for silkworms http://www.coastalsilkworms.com/ http://www.ladysilkworm.com/ are a couple. With silkworms I advise you not to feed with tweezers. Any force from the tweezers might kill these guys honestly they have a very soft body. Try hand feeding. In terms of superworms I think your gecko is way to small to be trying to tackle on a superworm whats the weight?. I just hope if you order silks theyll respond to them:main_thumbsup:

 

[lillith]

Just want to throw my 2 cents in here. As for bad eye sight/aim in leopard geckos the Enigma can show this the most. Its a neurological issue that the morph has. That was my first thought before I saw the picture and that ruled that out.
Leopard geckos are insectivores unlike bearded dragons, so baby food would be a bad idea. Superworms are a great feeder IMO. Dubia roaches are probably the best you could feed him nutrition wise along with supers or mealworms. Keep trying to tong feed him he'll get it eventually.
As for the actual "blindness" post some eye pictures. That would rule out something noticeably wrong. If not I say contact your herpetologist back and see if he can check him out.

Except the gecko shown in the photo is not an enigma.
Also, it's more of an aiming than a vision issue.
Let's not confuse the OP, hmm?

The rest of the advice in your post is very sound.
Mulberry Farms has silkworms.

Beside tweezers, you can hand hold bugs, and use the tail end of them to apply a tiny amount pf pressure on the side of a gecko's jaw (by the corner of their mouth). Most will snap at anything poking about their mouths. The trick to this is the gecko has to be calm enough to let you hold it to do this. Otherwise it is too stressful for the gecko. If he thrashes or flails at all, put him down gently and maybe try again some other time.

 

[kait]

Okay thanks. I didnt want to get anything to fancy, because I heard of health problems in the "prettier" leo's. So he was a normal, but I thought he was pretty.

When I first got him, he adjusted well to being handled and liked it. But ever since the incident when he got out, he hasnt been as good. The first time I held him after he dropped his tail he actually tried to bite me! I think now he doesnt really know who's picking him up now so he gets scared and tried to run away. I am going to have to handle him again.

The only problem is that in the last week he hasnt eaten much. Only a few wax worms. I now got meal worms for him but he hasnt ate them. Since he doesnt have a tail, I cant tell how skinny he's getting. His stomach doesnt look like its lost weight thuough. I have more dubia's being shipped to me and I will look into ordering some silk worms.

sine he's a little older now, how many dubia's and meal worms should he get a week, and if I can get the silks how many of those should I give him a week?

 

[kait]

It loos like I'll be ordering silks this weekend. My birthday is thursday and I am using some birthday money to get UVBs, dubia's, and now silk worms! But, I took Rex out today and he still wouldnt eat! I even cut one up so he would smell it, but he wouldnt eat any. All he did was lick one. I put 10 meal worms and 4 medium crickets in the feeding container, hoping that the more there was the more likely he would be able to catch something..but nothing! Is it possible that maybe hes starting to brumate, like beardie's? One of my beardies is starting to sloe down on feeding now, and sleeping more. Do leo's brumate? And I need to get some food into him VERY soon, but what can i do?!

 

[grboxa]

It loos like I'll be ordering silks this weekend. My birthday is thursday and I am using some birthday money to get UVBs, dubia's, and now silk worms! But, I took Rex out today and he still wouldnt eat! I even cut one up so he would smell it, but he wouldnt eat any. All he did was lick one. I put 10 meal worms and 4 medium crickets in the feeding container, hoping that the more there was the more likely he would be able to catch something..but nothing! Is it possible that maybe hes starting to brumate, like beardie's? One of my beardies is starting to sloe down on feeding now, and sleeping more. Do leo's brumate? And I need to get some food into him VERY soon, but what can i do?!

I feed 2 silks a day, and when I fed mealworms, 10 everyday .The good thing about silkworms is they can get pretty big and there very slow, when your gecko gets big enough, the larger silkworms will be much easier for them to catch..I call the silkworms I grab medium and there still big. I dont have experience with dubias as there illegal to own where I live:main_thumbsdown: The best thing you can do at this moment is just keep trying and experiment with what lillith said if you feel comfortable enough, it's worth a try I'm sure the encounter with the cat probably was a shock and could and probably is stressing for sure after the tail loss..that doesn't help. By the way I noticed you mentioned UVB and the fact you own a beardie. I'm not assuming but just to mention make sure you dont follow the same UVB practices for your leo as you would for your beardie, each need is different. I wanted to go this way aswell as I heard its very benefitial so i'll pass on some useful information that I was given:main_thumbsup: .

http://www.petinfoclub.com/Exotics/Know_your_pet/Lighting_for_nocturnal_lizards.aspx

http://www.arcadia-uk.info/file/download/en/Leopard Gecko A5 flyer.pdf

 

[kait]

So should I get a UVB for Rex? I was told they wouldnt need one, but if it will help I could get one.

But, he has not eaten in a week. He still poops everyday though, which is weird. I have kept my cat out of the room now, so Rex will not see him. The cat was only allowed in the room while I was in there, but now he's just not allowed at all. I put him in his container for an hour with 10 meal worms and 4 crickets, but he didnt catch anything. How long can they go with out eating? Ecspceially since he now doesnt have his fat stores..

 

[cook75]

Hi,
I bought a baby leopard gecko (Rex) at a reptile expo last month. He was totally healthy, but I could tell while feeding him in his feeding tub that his eye sight was not very good. And it just seems to be getting worse.

Also, 2 weeks ago, he climbed out of his cage, feel to the ground, walked under the threshold of my door to the hallway, met my cat, got scared, I found him, tried to pick him out but he was flipping out and making weird noises, I got his moist hide, which is a ziplock container with a hole cut in the side, and he climbed in. I put him back and started freaking out because I didnt know if he might of broke something, thats why he was freaking out, so I ran down stairs and called a herpotoligist that I volunteer for. He told me I could bring him in for him to look at later in the day. I went back to my room to check on Rex and he was fine (but mad at me ) and he had no tail. So I brought him in, and he said that it looked like no internal damage, nothing was broken, the tail will eventually grow back but not be as pretty, he put some carginegin on his tail stub, and told me to give him wax worms since he now didnt have a fat store. He was eating fine and his tail now is triangle and pointy, kind of looking like the tip of s pink crayon.

But, as for eyesight, its still getting worse, He tries to eat but misses every time he goes for his food. I will put him in his food container with some worms and come back an hour later, and maybe 1 pr 2 will be gone and he gave up looking for them. I know he WANTS to eat, he gets excited when he finds out he's in his eating container, but he cant catch anything! Here's the question list thing:

About your leo:
- Sex unknown but I call Rex a he
- Age & Weight 3 months
- How long have you owned your leo since october 6
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) a breeder at a reptile expo

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo daily
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. can barely see!
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. tail feel of
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) formed, dark brown, white urates
- When was the last time he/she went 2 days ago last time I saw, might of went in his cage yesterday though
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on His eyesight keeps getting worse.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size extra large critter keeper, its the length and width of a 10 gallon but not as high
- Type (ex. glass tank) plastic
- Type of substrate paper towels
- Hides, how many, what kind 3 hides, 1 plastic log thing on the hot side, 1 moist hide on the warm side with misted paper towel in it, and a paper towel roll thing on the cool side
B) Heating
- Heat source UTH
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) low 90's hot side, 80's cool side
- Method of regulating heat source ?
- What are you using to measure your temps digital thermoniter with a probe
- Do you have any lights (describe) no
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) just him
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet baby dubia roaches, wax worms, a few meal worms. about 5 feeders every other day.
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) see above
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) in a separate container
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Rep Cal calcium with vitamin D
- What are you gut loading food with oatmeal and bran meal stuff the worms come with



So is there any way I can feed a blind leo? He now has only eaten a few wax worms this week. I do not want him to starve to death!


Kait

I showed a friend of mine who is a vet your post and this is her recommendations.


1.Reduce handling.

2.Temp range should be 77-95 95 only on the ground. 80-85 air temp on the warm side.

3. Humidity is best kept at 40 to prevent dysecdysis and dehydration.

3. Must dust with Multivitamins once a week.

4. Keep plain calcium in the tank. Only dust Calcium with D once a week if you are feeding crickets which are a good source of VIT D, VITC, low fat, easier to digest, good water source. (proper gutload of course). Plain calcium 2x times a week.

5. Always supply feeders with water gels and/or watered down paper towel which must be changed daily to prevent mold.

6. Keep crickets very clean and buy from a reputable source.

7. Variety is important. Rotate items as frequently as possible.

8. Minimize the amounts of roaches fed.

Feed more crickets, phoenix worms and adding a few other feeders as variety. EX: silkworms, roaches

9. Physical Exam and fecal should be done annually.

10. Blood work after the age of 3 to check kidney, liver and calcium values.

Your Leo will live a much longer healthier life!

Also this is not a must but a HUGE PLUS, but must be used safely as an option!

http://www.arcadia-uk.info/file/download/en/Leopard Gecko A5 flyer.pdf

 

[andrew5859]

Except the gecko shown in the photo is not an enigma.
Also, it's more of an aiming than a vision issue.
Let's not confuse the OP, hmm?

Sorry, just trying to be informative!

UVB lighting is not necessary but it wont hurt him. I dont keep my leos on UVB bulbs. As long as they are getting their correct photo period of light they will be fine. Usually a leo will not brumate unless it is cooled down although some do it on their own accord.

 

[grboxa]

are you dusting with multivitamins?, lack of vitamin a can lead to vision problems.

 

[kait]

I have only used regular calcium and calcium with d3, I have reptivite that I use with the dragons , should I use that with him too? And if I cant get him to eat soon, can I give him that slury thing?

 

[grboxa]

I dont think you need to resort to the slurry yet, i'm not familiar with reptivite, but if its generalized for reptiles then I would assume its okay like the exo-terra multivitamin I use, just make sure its not a product specifically for beardies. You should def start dusting with a multivitamin its very important, and if deficient can lead to problems like for eg what I stated before with vitamin a and vision.