Concerned about my gecko's health?

[Embrace Calamity]

It did not get personal very much until the "I apologize if the environment isn't up to your "standards". Because he's made it just fine in this environment before." comment and then ignored ALL advice especially while seeking help for a desperately thin gecko and having a whole nonchalant demeanor of the whole situation. I'm sure if you search other threads in the health and medications forum you'll find many success stories of sick geckos nursed back to health by their owners and successful gecko rescues from ppl who no longer care for them.
If anything, hopefully threads like this will raise the awareness of such situations and help people see when qualified vet care and even basic husbandry is ignored, there can be the terrible outcomes. Every injury and illness regardless of how minor should be addressed immediately and not allowed to linger. Had my gecko been in that kind of shape, I'd try anything, even raindances in hopes to turn its health around. Or maybe many will see how many ppl quickly jumped in with suggestions on what to do.. Each of OPs posts never address any of the advice given leading me to believe theres no interest in hearing any of us out.

You don't fully get what's happened here. I talked to the guy who runs the reptile rescue that OP got the gecko from. A few years ago, this kid had another herp die due to poor husbandry. In order to help, the guy allowed the kid to volunteer at their rescue - taught him all about proper husbandry and the needs that reptiles have to thrive in captivity. Then, after being assured that the kid had plenty of knowledge and the setup was proper, he was given this leo. The very first thing the director said when seeing this thread was that the OP knew better. Again, after all of this, he was offered to go back to volunteering at the rescue to gain some more knowledge, and he declined. This isn't just a mistake. This is blatant, intentional abuse.

~Maggot

 

[Kurairush]

Actually, the salamander only picked up Crypto, because of some worms from outside that my mother fed him. Otherwise, the salamander did great before that happened and had a good set-up.

The gecko, well I thought that a humidity jar, water dish, heating pad and heat lamp were good enough for a set-up.

And the reason why I declined the offer to volunteer at the rescue is because I have got college to worry about, along with writing a novel.

 

[Kylerbassman]

These animals don't show signs of neglect like this in days, weeks, even month or two. If you see your animal having issues, not eating, not keeping on weight and so on, you need to treat them like any other pet and bring them to the vet. I don't want to come down any harder, but it's obvious there was a problem and further action should have been taken much sooner. Just because they are reptiles and fit in a little tank on your dresser doesn't mean you don't have to care for them. They are a big commitment which is why people really need to think a minute and make sure that they can fully provide for an animal. I feel bad all around on this situation here. I never wanted to down anyone personally, just wanted to get the point across of how crucial it was to seek medical attention and make changes so this poor Leo had a chance. It's one of those moments where you feel helpless and want nothing more than to see an animal survive. It may not make sense for some but if this where a starved, malnourished, left to die dog, you would all want this person going to prison especially if what the reptile rescue said was true.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Actually, the salamander only picked up Crypto, because of some worms from outside that my mother fed him. Otherwise, the salamander did great before that happened and had a good set-up.

The gecko, well I thought that a humidity jar, water dish, heating pad and heat lamp were good enough for a set-up.

And the reason why I declined the offer to volunteer at the rescue is because I have got college to worry about, along with writing a novel.

Right. Whatever you say. I'm done with you and all of this.

~Maggot

 

[Kurairush]

Nope, it's truth. I just think EC doesn't want to accept it.

When I got the gecko, in a way it was fill the hole in my heart that my salamander left.
With the salamander, we feed him all sorts of earthworms. I mean, there were worms that our neighbors would find near creeks and stuff that we would feed those to the salamander. We didn't know that it would later cause him to have Crypto.
In fact, being a kid during that time, I didn't even know what Cryptospordium was.

As for the gecko, I changed out his substrate every few months and cleaned his water dish when it got dirty. Any cricket corpses that were lying around in his cage, I would take out, along with his stool. I sprayed his cage everyday too. We didn't have too much of a personal relationship of in the aspect of a dog or cat, since he didn't like being handled. It was more like a relationship, "Feed, take care of and watch.". While I know that most leopard geckos can be friendly, he just wasn't very friendly. I guess I wouldn't either, if I was taken away from my girlfriend and stuff.(That's what the guy at the rescue said.)

I regret not giving him supplements due to a strong belief that dusted crickets don't live as long. I regret not getting him to the vet sooner. Since his death, I felt urges to go over to his cage, but anytime I've acted on those urges, I've felt sad that he's gone.

Frankly, I think EC is the only one here that still refuses to believe what I've said. Because, I'm digging through childhood and adolescent memories here.

 

[katie_]

If this were a dog the OP would be charged with animal neglect, as he should be.
I am also done.

 

[sausage]

I just want to say sorry for your loss, hes in a better place now. R.I.P little guy.

Yes he had a hard life via a lack of understanding/ knowledge but It’s clear that he wasn’t deliberately causing harm. I’ve read through the entire thread and yes it extremely upsetting that another animal has died this way but the gecko has passed on now and I think it’s time to give the kid a break. It is still hard and upsetting to lose a pet regardless of the situation.

I just hope that if there is a next time you do A LOT more research before buying a new gecko or any new animal. So that you can give it the best you can and that the same thing doesn’t happen again. As already stated everybody makes mistakes at the beginning, myself included. You just have to learn from them with help and advice from others (exactly what this forum is for).

People are starting to get very mean on here. I see things all the time on here that make me despair and full of sadness but all you can do is offer your advice / opinion but if it falls on deaf ears its best to just to sigh and move on. Not to bash and harass people, that will just make people not want to ask for advice in fear of being slaged off and could potentially lead to many more geckos suffering needlessly, this forum helps so many people correct problems they have and give geckos a better life. Let’s keep it that way