gecko hasn't eaten for 6 months

[MelissaDiane]

Here is a picture of my female gecko who hasn't eaten for 6 months except for Jump Start. Here is what her belly looks like. I will try & post what she looks like walking around on that same day. Anyone have any ideas? The Vet did a thorough exam back at the end of December. Even an Xray. She appeared healthy but she just stopped eating.

She is in a 20 gallon tank.
Belly heat is around 91 during the day and about 88 at night.
She is on paper towels.
She has a moist hide, water dish, calcium & vit (rep-cal) w/o Phos.. She has at 3 hides.

She was up to 74 G but is down to 49 G now.


URL=http://s522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/melissadiane7/?action=view&current=3.jpg]

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[MelissaDiane]

I hope this works.

 

[MelissaDiane]

She has refused her jump start now for about 4 days. I am not getting anything in to her. I sent pictures to my vet but no response yet. Hopefully tomorrow. Any advice? She is in a cage by herself.

 

[MelissaDiane]

Here's another picture.

IMG]http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w348/melissadiane7/4-1.jpg[/IMG]

 

[MelissaDiane]

Hopefully this works. I am just learning how to put pictures on here. i am using photo bucket.

 

[JordanAng420]

I had to go to your photobucket page to actually see the picture & enlarge it, it's too small to be able to get a good look...

I don't like how her belly looks at all. Liver and gallbladder can usually be seen to a certain degree on some leopard geckos, but that's an excessive amount of darkness. Now for my questions:

How long have you had her, and has she EVER eaten for you?
Has she always been on paper towels?
Have you tried other food items with her?
Has her stool ever been tested for parasites?
What are you using for a heat source?
What material are you using in the moist hide?
Does this vet have a lot of experiance with reptiles?
Did the belly look the same when the radiographs were performed in December?
Is there ANY way she could possibly be impacted?

In any case, she needs to be seen again. Something's going on in that belly for sure, what it is I have no idea without a mini sonogram or a well processed xray...If she were mine, and money wasn't an issue, i'd have her seen, have her stool tested for parasites, have her dewormed ANYWAY, and i'd shoot some xrays of her with a dental xray machine.

 

[mainelygeckos]

Oh that poor thing. Her belly is very dark and I agree with Maia have her dewormed and xrayed again. So sorry you and she are going through this. Any more info you can give those here that are more experts then I am please do give it. So sad I hope she makes it

 

[MelissaDiane]

I got Daisy back on 8/19/08 & she weighed in at 23g. She was shipped in from a person off of this forum. I am looking over her weights now. On 1/2/09 she weighed in at 65g. She has been losing weight ever since. Last week she came in at 49g.

Yes, she has always been on paper towels.

Crickets, mealworms, superworms & an ocasional wax worm.

Yes, she has been tested for parasites & she is clean.

Heat source is under tank heater & I have a Zoo Med heat regulator. Her temps are around 91 or 92 for day time & around 88 at night.

Moist hide is coco fiber.

My vet is on a reptile website (I can't remember now which one but that is how we found him).

Her belly didn't look anything like this in December.

The X-ray in December showed no eggs & no impaction & everything looked good. All she has eaten since then is Jump Start. She usually poops just a little bit every other day & seems to be normal poop (despite her not doing well).

I sent the vet photos & the receptionist is to have him call me tomorrow when he is back in. She had a hard time opening the photos so he hasn't seen them yet. I sent them 2 days ago & tonight I called in to the vet.

This is not my first gecko to be sick but their symptoms where different. I lost Sobe only 3 months after I bought her at a pet store (in July 2008). Spent a ton of money at that vets office & nothing was found (even her necropsy was okay except for a white liver & small kidneys).

Then I lost another one after he was shipped in. He came in Nov 2008 & passed away on 1/2/09. Again, no real reason.

Now Daisy is like this.

I have another female who is not eating as well. I got her on 10/18/08 from a breeder at the Hamburg, PA reptile expo. on 3/18/09 she was up to 74g & now is at 65g. Again, who knows why.

After that, I have a male & another female (in separate cages) that are thriving at the moment. I have had rotten luck with Gecko's from the very beginning.

I am doing very well with the Bearded Dragon I purchased an an expo in January. She is doing very well.

It's sad just watching a pet fade away & have no idea why. It breaks my heart. Each one is special & unique.

 

[JordanAng420]

Wow, well i'm impressed, you really have done a wonderful job! One thing that really jumps out at me is the coco fiber. I know a lot of people have used it with no problems for years and years which may very well be true, but I have a client who breeds pacman frogs as well as other amphibians who was using coco fiber in a very small section in the corner of a few of his adult tanks...a few days later everyone that he used it with had dropped dead...upon necropsy we found that every frog was impacted with the coco fiber...apparently they had been eating mouthfulls of the stuff & the breeder had no idea...

Anyways, I hope that impaction isn't the case...however it's a possibility right now. I AM glad you've had the stool tested! That kinda rules parasites out, but not definatively... I'm guessing your cages for the geckos are all set up pretty much the same? I'm curious to find out what your vet has to say, but I can't seem to get that coco fiber and the word impaction out of my head for some reason....keep us updated!

 

[MelissaDiane]

I spoke to the Vet today. He suggested opening her mouth & getting some Jump Start into her. I just don't see the point of doing that as sometimes that stresses her out worse. The vet said it's possible her liver is swollen but he's not sure. Basically he's at a loss too. He doesn't know either. He did say he treated a Gecko for a year (one that wouldn't eat) & then around 6 months it started to eat but then went back to not eating again & ultimately died within that year.

At this point, I am just going to do what I have been doing & when she gets to the larthargic state I will have her put down. As long as she is still up & moving around she is still fighting & doesn't appear to be in pain.

He did tell me to keep her heat up since she is sick. We have tried other meds for awhile that would stimulate her eating but that didn't work either.

 

[acpart]

If you hold her and "annoy" her a bit in the mouth area with a cricket, will she bite at it and then eat it? I ask this because I have a female fat tail gecko (who I've posted about before) that not only has an even worse looking belly, but her belly has been getting more swollen. I took her to the vet in Feb. and he felt there was nothing he could do for her. I have been feeding her this way since then. She usually can be cajoled into taking 4-5 crickets every other day (I tap the cricket's head and front legs on the side of her mouth) and she is not only maintaining her weight, but has laid 3 fertile eggs. I don't know if this will help at all since it's been so long since she's taken solid food. The important thing is that I never force her mouth open so it's less stressful.

I hope she gets better for you.

Aliza

 

[EchoPet]

I would try Marcia's slurry recipe (in a sticky at the top of this board) instead of the Jump Start. Jump Start is good as a temporary fix, but I highly doubt it's really that great of a complete nutritional diet like it claims to be for long term, especially on its own. A look at the ingredients shows that it's a lot of sugar basically (corn syrup, cane molasses) and a lot of fat (28% min) with not a lot of protein (0.68% min).

So give the slurry a try instead. And another vet visit would be a good idea as well. Good luck with her, I hope she pulls through this, and your others as well.

 

[Pepper]

My gecko stopped eating for 2 months, a few weeks ago.

I upped his temps to almost 99 on his hot spot, and covered his tank with tin foil to keep the heat in...I also put new stuff in his house, new hide, new climbing branch. He lost all his color and was very pale, and his organs that were visible appeared dark green.

I ordered some Turk roaches(were for my baby beardie)

After a few days of the heat being up, he ate a cricket, but stopped eating crickets, and would not touch worms of any kind. He absolutely devours the turk's though. And has finally been eating. His color has gotten a little brighter, but not as it used to be.

I need to get a scale though, to see if he is gaining weight.

 

[MelissaDiane]

Janna, I have tried the slurry receipe with Daisy & with other geckos. It does sustain them & is good but rather than go through the making process I just started using Jump Start. However, I don't feel Jump Start has all the electrolytes & good things in it that the slurry does but at least it's something. She doesn't eat it anymore at this point. I will try annoying her with the cricket around her mouth tonight & see what she does. It can't hurt.

Sara, my vet did tell me to up the temps since she is sick but 99? Maybe in Alaska that would be good it certainly would be good for me if I lived in Alaska but here in PA I am not so sure about it. I can't even imagine living in Alaska. I don't do well with the cold.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. At least I know I am not alone in this & it does give me some new ideas.

 

[MelissaDiane]

If you hold her and "annoy" her a bit in the mouth area with a cricket, will she bite at it and then eat it? I ask this because I have a female fat tail gecko (who I've posted about before) that not only has an even worse looking belly, but her belly has been getting more swollen. I took her to the vet in Feb. and he felt there was nothing he could do for her. I have been feeding her this way since then. She usually can be cajoled into taking 4-5 crickets every other day (I tap the cricket's head and front legs on the side of her mouth) and she is not only maintaining her weight, but has laid 3 fertile eggs. I don't know if this will help at all since it's been so long since she's taken solid food. The important thing is that I never force her mouth open so it's less stressful.

I hope she gets better for you.

Aliza

Aliza,

I will give this a try tonight. I can't believe she actually layed eggs after being like that. I would think she would get better after laying eggs.

I actually had a vet put a tube down one of my gecko's throat & force feed her that way. Honestly, I think that made her worse. It has to stress them out. I just figure if she refuses food (even jump start) than I am not going to force it on her. She obviously doesn't feel good enough to eat at this point.

Thanks again for sharing your experience with me. Hopefully something works for both of us.

 

[Joe G]

I think sometimes changing environments help. I have a gecko who just started eating again the last time she ate was almost 3 months ago. I monitered her weight weekly and she only lost a total of 10 grams. I had her in a 10 gallon tank and she had alot of energy but would never eat anything I put in there. Last week my ap rack finally came in I put her in and within three days started gobbling up superworms. Maybe something to try. Thanks, Joe

 

[MelissaDiane]

Daisy was in a 10 gallon tank but about two or 3 months ago we switched her over to a 20 gallon tank. Still no luck. I totally agree about the Jump Start too. I did notice that it is mostly sugar (high calorie). I believe its purpose is to help them maintain their weight & stimulate their appetite. It has helped with the weight but no luck in eating. Marcia's slurry is good because it does have a lot of beneficial things in it. I still have some up in my freezer from last gecko but I am sure it's no good anymore. I did order some Reptaid a few days ago so I will give that a try. I don't have anything to loose that's for sure. If it works that would be great but if it doesn't.....well nothing else is working. I was using the slurry in the beginning with Daisy for about two months. It just seems nothing works so far. It's a little discouraging when the vet tells you, "she's healthy" or appears healthy & he can't find anything wrong with her.

She is alert & moves around quite well so she's got that going for her. I have started her on some chicken baby food & I just bought some butternut squash & sweet potatoe baby food too that I will try.

thanks again to everyone with your suggestions. It is encouraging to hear of others who have had success in getting their gecko to eat again after a few months of not eating. That encourages me