Frustrated with leo getting skinny. Lots of PICS

[hotnickles96]

So I have had my first gecko for about 2 months now. When I first got her she had a nice sized tail. Not huge by any means, but it had a nice girth to it. I went on a short business trip for 2 days and when I came back my gf had purchased another leo to surprise me with and put it in the tank. So I was pissed but didn't want her to know. So I waited about a week and wanted to see how they did with each other. I didn't see any aggression or anything but I was still worried because there was no quarantine period. I went out and purchased another 10 gallon and supplies and took my first leo out and put her in her new enclosure. I am still worried because she is not gaining any weight. Her tail is much skinnier than before. They are both eating and pooping.

I have taken some pics for everyone to review and would love some feed back. I will give you some specs on my setups.

20 gallon long tank :
Slate substrate, and a little paper towel.
3 hides.
temps are 93-80 using uth, 30-40 gallon version.

10 gallon tank.
Some slate, shelf liner and paper towel.
2 hides currently
uth for 10-20 gallon, temps are 94-80.

I am using a temp gun.

Any other questions please ask.

Here are some pics.

My 2nd leo...

1st leo tank.

 

[ElapidSVT]

why are you using such large heat pads?
they should cover no more than about 1/3 of the bottom of the enclosure.

i see you're feeding superworms, that can be a great way to get weight on an animal quickly. how many are you feeding them daily?

how much does the gecko weigh? figure 1 superworm per 10g of gecko weight. a 30g leo should have 3 superworms a day or so.

 

[hotnickles96]

Both heating pads do only cover 1/3rd of the floor space.

The 20 gallon long has the equivalent floor space of a 30 gallon so, thats why I am using the 30-40 gallon uth.

I have no clue how much they weigh. I don't have a scale.

 

[ElapidSVT]

how many superworms do they eat each day?
is there a light on the cage?

 

[hotnickles96]

The normal leo eats only about 1 every other day,
What I believe to be the tremper albino, eats about 3 every other day.

No there are no lights for the cages.

 

[ElapidSVT]

the normal is gonna need about 3 superworms a day for the next couple months to get that weight back on. i'd keep a close eye on the tremper too, it looks a little thin too.
you might try one of the apetite stimulants to help increase the volume of food they are eating or switch to dubia roaches and give them one adult male daily.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

The new gecko could have introduced parasites to your tank. I would suggest a fecal test. Good that you got another setup and separated them, but if one has parasites, they both need to be treated.

 

[hotnickles96]

I was feeding the normal 2-3 crickets every day, but for some reason she would always regurgitate 1 or 2 of them. So thats why I slowed it down and changed to supers just to make sure she would keep them down.
Whats the appetite stimulants?

 

[hotnickles96]

Do you know what a fecal test costs... just an average price?

 

[ElapidSVT]

i've kept thousands of herps over the years, never had one done, i'd expect to pay $15 or so.
apetite stimulants typically contain vitamin b

 

[hotnickles96]

Still not sure what you mean by an appetite stimulant.

I am going to leave three super worms in each of there dishes over night and see what happens. Hopefully they both eat and keep them down. If there is no improvement within the next two weeks I will take a fecal sample of each to a vet and see what they say. I will be doing some research to find the best vet in my location.

Any other advice from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks ElapidSVT & FL_orchidslave.

 

[sausage]

sorry to hear your having bad luck. heres an appetite stimulant link:

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=62111

You could also try making a slurry to feed them as its quicker to digest and providing you dont over do it they shouldnt bring it back up.
I defo think it would be a good idea to have a parasite check though as if this is the case then sadly no amount of feeding will fatten them up

 

[Wowoklol]

I'd think about leaving a bowl of mealworms in there for them to graze. Let them eat as much as they want. I have a couple hawgs here who go through around 10 small dubia nymphs a day give or take.

 

[hotnickles96]

An update for everyone. I took my normal gecko to the vet this afternoon. I couldn't get a fecal because she couldn't poop. The vet prescribed me to mix the mineral oil with some baby food sweet potato and peas and feed it via syringe. She also said to do some warm soaks in the meantime to try and loosen up her GI tract to get her to poop in case she had some impaction or something. So I did as she said. My normal gecko, now named Leigha since I had to come up with a name for her on the spot at the vets office, has still not pooped.

On the other hand, I figured I would try the same prescription on my tremper since her tail is also loosing girth. After feeding her I let her be for about 2 hours. I then went to put her in a warm soak. She freaked out lol, but she also pee'd in the bath without excreting solid fecal matter. The amazing thing is I can actually see WORMS in the water. Very tiny white worms.

I will be saving the water and bringing it in tomorrow so the vet can figure out what kind of parasite it is. I'm willing to bet that they both have the same thing.

Can't wait to go spend more money on these little punks tomorrow lol.
I love them o'well.

Let me know if anyone has had a similar experience or finds this informative.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Great progress. When they're losing weight and eating fairly well, parasites will rob them of nutrient (some will even gobble up their blood) they need to maintain weight and grow.

 

[hotnickles96]

Another update.

I ended up taking the container full of water and tiny worms from my 2nd gecko and a small fecal sample from Leigha. I was prescribed 4 doses of Panacur for both my leos. I administered 1 dose to each of them on 5.28.11.

Today I haven't seen much improvement. They both are pooping pretty regularly which is about the only good thing. The vet told me to try to feed them wax worms for awhile to get there weight up. I have been leaving 6 wax worms in each of there bowls. Usually maybe 1 or 2 are gone from each every two days.

I gave both of them another warm water soak today and fed them a little sweet potato baby food by rubbing it on there mouths and letting them lick it off.
I am still concerned that I am not seeing any changes. Maybe I am just antsy and want to see them fatten up so I don't have to worry so much.
I will be administering the other two doses of panacur on 6.11.11 The vet said two weeks after the first dose.

How long do you think it will take before I see results and know that the treatment is working?

I don't want to be just waiting for them to be better and waiting for the next dose of meds if I can do something Now to help them.

Thanks for any info.

 

[lillith]

It sounds like you're doing everything right.

Did your vet say feed waxies only, or in addition to the supers? I would use in addition to.

If you're still seeing no improvement 1-2 weeks after the last dose, I'd call the vet back and ask about what to do. At that point it might be good to have slurry, too. So if you want to get the supplies onhand before, you could work on that now. You could call the vet to ask them about getting the A/D cat food, and you can touch base with them while you're at it. It couldn't hurt to call and be reassured, ya know?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

It's going to take some time before you can see they're gaining any weight. After the second dose of panacur, you may see an improvement in their appetite. They're eating on their own and that's a very good thing, so just be patient with them.

 

[Pinky81]

I would invest $15 into a gram scale from wally world or target to actually get weights on them so you can keep track at home. Its way too inaccurate to use tail gurth as a measure! Your simple gram scale will keep you sane!!! best investment as a leo keep IMO

 

[hotnickles96]

Thanks for your responses everyone. I really appreciate it.

- the vet said to use wax worms, but I am using a mixture of both wax worms and supers in their bowls so they can choose.

- I took your advice Pinky81 and purchased a scale at wally world.

- Got home and was nervous about weighing them, and for good reason.
Leigha the one who looks the skinniest weighs 19 grams. Which is 3 grams less then when I took her to the vet.

My albino tremper which is smaller and just shed yesterday only weighs 15 grams!!
This is very upsetting and discouraging to me. I have been doing everything I can and still things seem bleak.