Taesolieroy
Freelance Artist
- Messages
- 103
- Location
- Atlanta, Georgia
In all my time keeping geckos this is the most unusual thing to have occurred...
First it was my 'oldest' gecko Natesa, and now Dani's sporting one too.
Right behind her left front leg I see this odd... swelling.. I can't describe it as anything other than a blister like we would get if we chaffed an area too long on a rough surface like a rake handle or had an allergic reaction to something we've handled/eaten.
Natesa has it on both sides of her, but it's most noticeable on the left. It's very soft and when I poke it seems to just be fluid and not 'full' as in it gives under a light pressure. Seeing it as a blister I'm resisting a strong urge to carefully lance and drain it, and have been trying to see if it subsides. Dani, the littlest one, just has it on her left side - not as impressive as Natesa's, but the same thing.
I spoke with a co-worker who deals in dart frogs (and other mini exotic poison species) and he's a little baffled too and suggested posting on kingsnake forum, but I told him I'd try here. He asked if it was hard - no, which made him more puzzled.
He suggested laying off the calcium a bit as I lightly dust on their feeding, which is every 2-3 days of 8-10 medium mealies each dusted in a mix of the Calcium (D3) and multivitamin powder to make sure they're getting their nutrients. I'll start a once-weekly dusting plan to see if that helps any.
My first suspicion is the cause was the mealworms since I moved them off of crickets for cost efficiency. I had recently moved them from rice cereal bedding to oatmeal bedding and a carrot (for the time being) diet. I have a bit of a hunch that it's something in the oatmeal and/or carrots that the two geckos are having a reaction to - which might be a bit odd, but something I can work around.
As far as any side-effects of this odd swelling, they're all just fine, eating healthy with good fat tails (though Yaheri doesn't seem to want a big fat tail - she has a big fat belly! Healthy sized though, she eats until she's satisfied and I take her out and give what she doesn't eat to the next gecko - she's much heavier than Natesa is now and has an easier time eating mealies versus crickets. That part makes me think she might have some enigma in her, but she may just be a little ditzy). Movement also doesn't seem hindered and they're plenty active, which makes this all the more puzzling.
Chances are it'll clear on its own and may just be their reaction to the changing of the seasons much like how folks are having their allergies kick up again in this part of the year. I wanted to see if anyone else has seen or dealt with this before.
.... I keep staring at them and go "must... not ... poke.."...>_< I've only done that to estimate if they were hard or soft.
Photos below don't show the blisters themselves, as they kind of disappear when they start moving around, but it circles the area it appears and you can sort of see it on Natesa (the spotted one). Dani's seems to have faded completely for the time being however.
About your leos:
- Sex: both female
- Age & Weight: Natesa is roughly 7 months with a weight of - 49g , Dani is 5 months with a weight of - 32 g
- How long have you owned your leo: Natesa since April, Dani since May
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): pet store - same store as well (only store of this chain that has healthy geckos too aside from their shockingly underweight/underage sizes).
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: Just about every day, always every feeding.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now: behaviors are normal for them, Dani is currently snoozing and so is Natesa, but they'll wake when they notice me prep for their meal soon, where I'll take the other needed data for this form.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Normal mix of black and white section, no runny fecal matter.
- When was the last time he/she went: Dani has gone two days ago, as well as Natesa (approx 1 day after feeding)
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: Strange fluid blisters behind the arms on the left side - see above for the full situation.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: Natesa's is a 20 gal long, Dani's is a 29 gal
- Type (ex. glass tank) : acrylic tank
- Type of substrate : Repticarpet
- Hides, how many, what kind: Natesa - 4 - two wet hides over warm spots (caves from aquarium days), and two dry logs on cooler sections.
B) Heating
- Heat source: Uth 5 gal size
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): Natesa: 92.9 hot, 85 cool, Dani: 90 hot, 83 cool
- Method of regulating heat source : pads are loose-sitting under the tanks for adjusting, also there is natural room ventillation with space between tank and pad.
- What are you using to measure your temps: digital probe thermometers
- Do you have any lights (describe): Room ambient ceiling light and bedside lamp (when reading before sleep). There are towels over the tanks to dilute the light intensity - NO TANK LIGHTS
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): Natesa - 1, another female (Yaheri), Dani is alone.
- Describe health, or previous problems: Healthy, growing, no known problems aside from a tail kink in Natesa (not MBD, possibly genetic or damage prior to purchase)
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): Dusted medium mealworms every 2-3 days roughly 8-12 per gecko (half a dixie cup)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): Move the geckos into a feeding tank, dump a few mealies in at a time, then use tweezers to keep track of mealies while gecko feeds or to make it wriggle more for Yaheri when she doesn't pick up on it.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): Flukers Calcium (Vit D3), and Rep-cal Herptivite multivitamins (powders) dusted each feeding in tweezer-pinch quantities per feeding.
- What are you gut loading food with: Mealies with oatmeal and carrots
First it was my 'oldest' gecko Natesa, and now Dani's sporting one too.
Right behind her left front leg I see this odd... swelling.. I can't describe it as anything other than a blister like we would get if we chaffed an area too long on a rough surface like a rake handle or had an allergic reaction to something we've handled/eaten.
Natesa has it on both sides of her, but it's most noticeable on the left. It's very soft and when I poke it seems to just be fluid and not 'full' as in it gives under a light pressure. Seeing it as a blister I'm resisting a strong urge to carefully lance and drain it, and have been trying to see if it subsides. Dani, the littlest one, just has it on her left side - not as impressive as Natesa's, but the same thing.
I spoke with a co-worker who deals in dart frogs (and other mini exotic poison species) and he's a little baffled too and suggested posting on kingsnake forum, but I told him I'd try here. He asked if it was hard - no, which made him more puzzled.
He suggested laying off the calcium a bit as I lightly dust on their feeding, which is every 2-3 days of 8-10 medium mealies each dusted in a mix of the Calcium (D3) and multivitamin powder to make sure they're getting their nutrients. I'll start a once-weekly dusting plan to see if that helps any.
My first suspicion is the cause was the mealworms since I moved them off of crickets for cost efficiency. I had recently moved them from rice cereal bedding to oatmeal bedding and a carrot (for the time being) diet. I have a bit of a hunch that it's something in the oatmeal and/or carrots that the two geckos are having a reaction to - which might be a bit odd, but something I can work around.
As far as any side-effects of this odd swelling, they're all just fine, eating healthy with good fat tails (though Yaheri doesn't seem to want a big fat tail - she has a big fat belly! Healthy sized though, she eats until she's satisfied and I take her out and give what she doesn't eat to the next gecko - she's much heavier than Natesa is now and has an easier time eating mealies versus crickets. That part makes me think she might have some enigma in her, but she may just be a little ditzy). Movement also doesn't seem hindered and they're plenty active, which makes this all the more puzzling.
Chances are it'll clear on its own and may just be their reaction to the changing of the seasons much like how folks are having their allergies kick up again in this part of the year. I wanted to see if anyone else has seen or dealt with this before.
.... I keep staring at them and go "must... not ... poke.."...>_< I've only done that to estimate if they were hard or soft.
Photos below don't show the blisters themselves, as they kind of disappear when they start moving around, but it circles the area it appears and you can sort of see it on Natesa (the spotted one). Dani's seems to have faded completely for the time being however.
About your leos:
- Sex: both female
- Age & Weight: Natesa is roughly 7 months with a weight of - 49g , Dani is 5 months with a weight of - 32 g
- How long have you owned your leo: Natesa since April, Dani since May
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): pet store - same store as well (only store of this chain that has healthy geckos too aside from their shockingly underweight/underage sizes).
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: Just about every day, always every feeding.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now: behaviors are normal for them, Dani is currently snoozing and so is Natesa, but they'll wake when they notice me prep for their meal soon, where I'll take the other needed data for this form.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Normal mix of black and white section, no runny fecal matter.
- When was the last time he/she went: Dani has gone two days ago, as well as Natesa (approx 1 day after feeding)
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: Strange fluid blisters behind the arms on the left side - see above for the full situation.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: Natesa's is a 20 gal long, Dani's is a 29 gal
- Type (ex. glass tank) : acrylic tank
- Type of substrate : Repticarpet
- Hides, how many, what kind: Natesa - 4 - two wet hides over warm spots (caves from aquarium days), and two dry logs on cooler sections.
B) Heating
- Heat source: Uth 5 gal size
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): Natesa: 92.9 hot, 85 cool, Dani: 90 hot, 83 cool
- Method of regulating heat source : pads are loose-sitting under the tanks for adjusting, also there is natural room ventillation with space between tank and pad.
- What are you using to measure your temps: digital probe thermometers
- Do you have any lights (describe): Room ambient ceiling light and bedside lamp (when reading before sleep). There are towels over the tanks to dilute the light intensity - NO TANK LIGHTS
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): Natesa - 1, another female (Yaheri), Dani is alone.
- Describe health, or previous problems: Healthy, growing, no known problems aside from a tail kink in Natesa (not MBD, possibly genetic or damage prior to purchase)
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): Dusted medium mealworms every 2-3 days roughly 8-12 per gecko (half a dixie cup)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): Move the geckos into a feeding tank, dump a few mealies in at a time, then use tweezers to keep track of mealies while gecko feeds or to make it wriggle more for Yaheri when she doesn't pick up on it.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): Flukers Calcium (Vit D3), and Rep-cal Herptivite multivitamins (powders) dusted each feeding in tweezer-pinch quantities per feeding.
- What are you gut loading food with: Mealies with oatmeal and carrots
it just means they are nice and plump 
