Caring for a friend's sick gecko

[WftRight]

A friend at work is going on a six week business trip, and I've agreed to take care of his leopard geckos while he's away. That's the good news. The bad news is that he believes one of his leopard geckos is dieing. To further complicate matters, I've never had a leopard gecko. I've had a crested gecko for about six months and snakes for about 18 months. I've read a bit about leos and their care on another forum.

I haven't seen this animal yet, but here's what I know from asking him about her.

1. He's considered putting her down a couple of times, but he keeps putting it off. He's considered taking her to the vet, but he feels that the vet would just tell him that there's nothing that can be done.

2. He's had her for seven years and bought her as an adult. He really doesn't know how old she is.

3. Both of her eyes are cloudy as if she has retained eye caps, but he's not aware of her having any other shedding issues.

4. He has two leopards and the other one isn't having any health problems. He keeps them both in a 20 gallon long aquarium.

5. He uses both a UTH and a light bulb for supplemental heat. He wasn't specific about temperatures, but my impression is that they are in the right range.

6. He feeds them meal worms and crickets. He dusts the crickets with calcium.

7. This girl won't eat crickets anymore. She might occasionally eat a mealworm if the mealworm is already cut into pieces.

8. He feeds her some kind of leopard gecko food. He thinks it might be Zoo Med, but he's not sure. The food comes as pellets, and he often has to open her mouth with tweezers and place it in her mouth.

9. Until a few months ago, he kept his leopards on sand. After reading about problems with sand on some forums, I mentioned that many people have been happy with tiles. He switched them to something, and I think he said the new substrate was tiles.​

I'm asking if anyone has any suggestions for how I can help this poor animal. He's prepared for the fact that she may die on me while he's away, but I'd like to see her get better. I'll tell you what I'm thinking of doing with her, but again, I'd like any guidance you can give.

First, I'm thinking of separating her from the other leo. If I keep them apart, I can know for certain whether she is defecating. Does anyone think her whole problem could be impaction from being on sand up until a few months ago? My friend says that her belly looks fine, so maybe the problem isn't impaction. Keeping her separate would also allow me to monitor whether she will eat when I'm not watching.

I'll probably buy a cheap plastic container like a RubberMaid or Sterilite. I'll set up the new cage on a thermostat and heat pad and control the basking temperature to about 90°F. I'll use paper towels as a substrate. I'll make some hides from cardboard boxes and other things that I can readily throw away. I'll do the old warm hide, cold hide, humid hide routine. I bought some of the T-Rex mix for leopard geckos, and I'm going to try feeding her that stuff. I'll give her a little dish of calcium and a little dish of water. If she must be hand-fed, the T-Rex mix should be easier than forcing open her mouth and giving her a pellet of something. I have some of that Four Paws Vita-Spray, and I may use a little of that on her.

What else should I try?

Again, I don't have her yet. I may be able to show pictures tomorrow night, but I'm just starting the thought processes tonight.

Thanks,


Bill

PS. Yes, I'm in over my head, but maybe he's making a simple mistake that can be corrected.

 

[gothra]

If she has been on sand for more than 7 years, I don't think its impaction. The cloudy eyes could be eye infection. I think what you plan on doing is fine, when you receive her, I suggest you take her, as well as a fresh stool sample to a vet for checking. Good luck!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

You are a very good friend, and seem to know a lot about these geckos!

I would house her separately if possible. Leopard Geckos do not have eye caps, so perhaps she has an infection or is just an old gal that is going blind. This may explain why she won't eat crickets and needs worms to be cut up so she can smell them... because she can't see!

Do the best you can in your friends absence, and urge him to take the gecko to the vet for her eye problem.

 

[WftRight]

Okay, I'll try to get pictures within a day or two. I have the geckos now, and I've found one problem already. He had only one hide in the cage. When they arrived, the healthy one was in the hide and the other one was standing in the middle of the cage looking unhappy.

I won't be able to cage her separately for a few days, but I've already added three other hides made from things that I had lying around the house. They aren't great hides, but I hope they'll help. I found her drinking about half an hour after I got them, so that's a good sign. I'm trying not to go in the room much, but I just checked them one last time before bed. Both of them are hidden somewhere, so she must have liked one of the hides well enough to get inside.

Thanks again,


Bill

 

[WftRight]

Okay, I have pictures and more information.

I plugged the UTH in last night but didn't mess with the light bar. I wanted to know what the UTH would do alone. As it turns out, the UTH is broken, so it produced no heat on its own. I'm now using the light bar which has a red light. The wattage seems high, but we'll see what temperatures it gives me.

The cage originally had only one hide and a water bowl. I've added three more hides, and I'm feeding them in little paper cups. I'll work on separating the sick female, but for now, I'll settle for adding hides.

Here's the cage as I have it now.

Here's the little girl that's sick.

Here's the bad eye.

The feed right now is Zoo Med Leopard Gecko Diet and mealworms. I'll add some crickets maybe tonight. I'm dusting all of the live food with the T-Rex leopard gecko dust. I still haven't been able to get the blind girl to take any food.


Bill

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

The sick gecko has an eye infection, and it appears to be caused by residual un-shed skin. She really needs to see a vet...

 

[WftRight]

Do you think that a good vet could fix the problem or is it more likely that there's nothing that can be done? How contagious do you think the infection might be?

 

[KiKi]

listen to marcia and take her to a vet,also i agree with marcia that it looks like old shed in her eye

 

[WftRight]

Again, the owner told me not to bother with the vet because he thought the vet would tell him that nothing could be done. I don't want to defy his wishes because it's his gecko. On the other hand, if his understanding of the situation was likely not accurate, then I'll feel justified in making a new evaluation. Give me half a reason to hope, and I'll be calling the vet tomorrow. Do you think I have half a reason to hope if I can get the gecko to a vet in the next few days?

Thanks,


Bill

 

[SpOuK-3-]

Well ... If you had an infection like this I hope that you will go to the hospital ... Look at the poor thing ... at least take him to the vet and see what he have to say ....

 

[Zbiz]

Um. that gecko needs a vet asap... You can still save it so plz try. Also i would give her some of Marcia's slurry to keep it feed.

 

[SpOuK-3-]

thats what I was thinking about .... Marcia's slurry ...

 

[brandy101010]

they can give you something to help the eye so yes there is a good reason to take her. she is also extremely skinny and needs some help with that too.

 

[WftRight]

Thanks, you've given me what I want to hear.

Where can I find Marcia's slurry? How can I feed it the slurry?

Someone suggested unflavored Pedialyte and I've heard of people using Ensure. Is that something to try or will the vet give me guidance on that as well?


Bill

 

[gothra]

Marcia's slurry recipe is on the sticky on top of this section.

 

[Sandra]

Again, the owner told me not to bother with the vet because he thought the vet would tell him that nothing could be done. I don't want to defy his wishes because it's his gecko. On the other hand, if his understanding of the situation was likely not accurate, then I'll feel justified in making a new evaluation. Give me half a reason to hope, and I'll be calling the vet tomorrow. Do you think I have half a reason to hope if I can get the gecko to a vet in the next few days?

The owner knows NOTHING if he let that girl go into that state, so I would ignore him and do what I think it's better for the gecko. I know how you must feel, it is a big burden to disobey a friend with something that is his. But hey, he didn't lend you a jacket or a videograme, it's a living thing what you have in your hands and is suffering a lot. When people disagree in how to take care of an animal you usually read things like "Well, it's yours, do what you want with him". It's my opinion that you can't do "what you want" with a living being only because you paid for it...

If she can be saved, the vet will give her a proper treatment and she will be healthy again in no time. If she can't be saved, the vet will put her down in the most humane way possible. Either way, she wins. Isn't that enough reason for you to take her to a vet? Just avoiding the truth won't make it disappear... You are just prolonging the pain of that animal.

 

[Jayyoung]

Do you think that a good vet could fix the problem or is it more likely that there's nothing that can be done? How contagious do you think the infection might be?

infection is very contagious it is more than likely other geckos will become infected if housed together or if handled after contact without proper hand washing. I don't know if the vet can fix (save it's vision) but can clear up the infection with ATB TX (AnTiBioic Treatment) so the Vet is the best option.
i hope everything works out for the best.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

The vet can prescribe some antibiotic opthalmic salve which is usually petroleum based and can actually help soften the un-shed skin on the eye to help remove it. Chances are that once the skin is off and the eyes clear up, she will be able to see her food and begin eating again.

If you aren't inclined to make up a batch of the slurry, you can dropper-feed her with some baby food squash (good carbohydrate) and baby food meat (protein).

You are a very good friend to care for these geckos, and please keep utilizing the vast experience here at GeckoForums.net to help you!

 

[WftRight]

A Non-update Update

Okay, I'm about to tell you absolutely nothing, but I'm warning you that I'm going to tell you nothing. Here goes nothing.

First, my vet didn't have any open appointments today or tomorrow, but because I was dealing with a sick animal and not just needing a checkup, they were willing to work with me. I was stuck in meetings all morning, but I left her at the vet's office around one o'clock.

I called at 4:30 to see whether they wanted me to pick her up tonight. They said to wait. That's all the data I have.

Lacking data won't keep me from speculating. I'm going to speculate that the vet at least looked in the cage between one o'clock and four-thirty. If she thought that it was a lost cause, she would have asked one of the assistants to call me and suggest putting the girl down. The fact that no one talked about that option when I called suggests that the vet has at least a little hope.

I'll try to look at the slurry recipe tonight, but I'm hoping that my vet will have feeding suggestions as well. If I'm going to have to feed a slurry, I'm hoping that someone will have a device that helps clumsy guys put food in a gecko's mouth. Someone on here suggested possible mouth rot. I think my buddy was trying to open the gecko's mouth to feed it, so he may have caused a little irritation. One encouraging thing that I witnessed last night was the gecko drinking on her own. Her tongue was a nice pink color. Does that say anything about the possibility of mouth rot?

The possibility of the gecko developing other health problems in her weakened state also helped me make this decision. My buddy is very easygoing. I just didn't want to go against what he said as a matter of principle. However, the possibility that this gecko being weak would lead to sickness and her more serious sickness spreading to his healthy gecko is a factor. While I'm observing quarantine procedures, the possibility of something going from his sick gecko to my crestie also pushed me over the edge.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I'll let you know when I know more.


Bill

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Yes, Bill... please keep us updated!