Gecko found after months is incredibly skinny.

[ShamefulYeti]

Months ago, around Thanksgiving in 2010, I lost my Leopard Gecko during a blizzard. Now over 4 months later in April, I found her. This is great, however, she looks incredibly malnourished. The pet stores are all closed at the moment, and I'm scared as to whether or not she'll make it to morning. Can I do something in the meantime, like rehydrate her, or do anything to help her? Thanks in advance.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Poor thing! I'd get her in a nice warm bath immediately, for 30 min, changing out water as needed to keep it warm. It would be a good idea to do that daily for about a week to get her re-hydrated. She's been scavenging for food, whatever she could find that looked like a bug. Hopefully you can get her some proper food first thing in the AM. Good luck, she sure is a trooper

 

[ShamefulYeti]

Thanks for the reply, should I put her IN water, or something like a thoroughly wet paper towel?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Water (just barely touching her belly) in a plastic container makes for a nice gecko bath.

 

[ShamefulYeti]

Alright, I'll get right to it. Once again, thanks!

 

[Dog Shrink]

congrats on finding her... something to add is if she does start eating don't let her pig out. Feed small slow gradual meals so that she doesn't regurgitate an excessively large meal and also it will help avoid re-feeding syndrom.

 

[LZRDGRL]

If she has made it 6 months without food, she will survive another day, so don't worry about tonight! The water bath is a good idea. You can get her mealworms and crickets tomorrow. Great that you found her! Post some pics when she's settled in! Miracles happen :main_yes: I heard of someone who had lost a leo in a car and found it alive half a year later.

Chrissy

 

[PaladinGirl]

If she has made it 6 months without food, she will survive another day, so don't worry about tonight! The water bath is a good idea. You can get her mealworms and crickets tomorrow. Great that you found her! Post some pics when she's settled in! Miracles happen :main_yes: I heard of someone who had lost a leo in a car and found it alive half a year later.

Chrissy

Wow, that is amazing!! Just goes to show what tough little lizards they are!!

 

[AMoriarty]

Months ago, around Thanksgiving in 2010, I lost my Leopard Gecko during a blizzard. Now over 4 months later in April, I found her. This is great, however, she looks incredibly malnourished. The pet stores are all closed at the moment, and I'm scared as to whether or not she'll make it to morning. Can I do something in the meantime, like rehydrate her, or do anything to help her? Thanks in advance.

Holy moly, that's crazy!

My suggestion: do a "gecko bath" for her with warmish (but not hot) water. Put the water in a little tupperware or something with some paper towel on the bottom for traction, and then put your gecko in. At least she can get some hydration, maybe lick some water off the side of the tupperware.

Tomorrow I would go to the pet store and get some easy-to-digest food for her. Maybe also something like the "gecko soup" recipie that is a sticky in this forum may also help. Like the other commenters said, don't feed her too much too fast--if she's survived for 4 months on very little food she wil probably need to be slowly nursed back to health rather than presented with a gecko-buffet. Make sure also to keep providing her with water.

Good luck!

 

[LeopardShade]

Water, water, water. She is probably extremely dehydrated. Like many of the users said above, a lukewarm water bath every other day would help. Keep her water sources in her enclosure readily available. If she is not ready for mealworms and crickets, the Golden Gate Gecko "slushy" mixture (helps rehydrate and re-nourish sick geckos) would be great, as it contains many vital nutrients that sick or injured geckos need. But feed slowly, as mentioned above as well. Too much food will overwhelm her system, which has been used to going without food for a long period of time. Also, keep her warm. It will help her immune system so she can get better quicker.
Congratulations on finding her! These animals are quite amazing, they have such determination to survive.