Frustrated with the vet

[Morpious]

So I took my gecko to the vet this afternoon because for the past month or so she had been very lethargic, she hasn’t eaten (this is normal for her in the winter time though) and when she walks her paws shake which has me worried. Well he poked and prodded her, managing to tear off a nail :shocked: , and told me to force feed her mealworms and calcium and then repeatedly insisted that I get her a UV light to help calcium absorption. I told him that everything I have read said that they don’t need UV light but he insisted that we know so little about these creatures that it could be necessary and we don’t know whether or not it will help.
I am worried that the shaking of the paws is a precursor to MBD and I told him that but I think that the vet didn’t know anything about leopard geckos so he didn’t really address this. My gecko is about 5 years old and her limbs look fine and she can still climb but unsteadily. The temps in her cage stay at about 90 on the warm side, with a UTH, and 75- 80 on the cool side. I just want to get the advice of people who know the species. Do you think that its MBD and what should I do to help her? I have Fluker's calcium which I keep in her cage and zoo-med vitamins what else do I need?

 

[Mel&Keith]

I'm sorry to hear about your vet and his apparent lack of expertise in Leopard geckos, that has to be frustrating! A lot of us on here use RepCal Calcium and Vitamins, maybe a switch in supplements might help.

 

[Ccrashca069]

Well off the bat you need to find a better vet.
To try to get her too eat, try feeding her crickets or wax worms. If you can find Phoenix worms try those as well. I hope she isn't getting MBD. The Phoenix worms are loaded with calcium.

 

[Morpious]

I just ordered Phoenix worms so they are on their way:main_thumbsup: . I had RepCal Calcium and Vitamins when this started but realized that it expired in 2005 and since there was not much else I could do at the time I ordered the flukers and zoo-med, i chose them because it came in smaller quantities. My home town is near Cincinnati where they have a great Herpetological Society through which I could find good vets and get a discount. Unfortunately I am going to school in Cleveland where I could only find two vets which would take 'Exotic animals' and after my experience at the first vet I am wary of the other one. Hopefully the calcium will fix the problem other wise I will have to take a trip home.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I hope the calcium does help her out. MBD is very evil stuff. I had to put a leopard to sleep after her MBD got really bad.

 

[Morpious]

Thanks would you recommend liquid Calcium and if so what brand?