GECKOS DYING, PLEASE HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[russe306]

Im having a serious problem that I have been fighting for a while. I have gone to my reptile vet already multiple times, not getting anywhere.

It all started around december. At that time i had twelve healthy leopard geckos. I started noticing that most of the babies stopped growing and some of my adults started loosing weight (very slowly i must add).

Adults:
-Izzie: bought as baby on 6/17/08. emergency spay: 8/10/11; 43grams the next day. 10/8/11; got back to normal weight range for her: 55g. Then in november 14th she was retaining fluid all over her body. 12/19/11 she was 63grams and one big bubble of fluid. Vet said we couldnt do anything about it. march 18th: lost alot of weight in tail but stomach was full with fluid. back down to 55grams. 3/20; confirmed parasites and was treated with panacure for three days.
on 3/25/12 she died.

-Hank: male:bought as adult on 9/9/10. On 9/14/11 : 86 grams. normal weight and healthy. 10/8: 83 grams. 11/14: 81 grams. 12/19: 76 grams 3/29/12: 72 grams. not eating but not acting sick. No interest in food.

-athena: bought her from great breeder on 9/14/11: 61 grams. great health.
10/2 57grams. 11/14: 59grams, 12/19: 54 grams. 2/9: 43 grams, 3/18: 41 grams, 4/1/12: 37 grams. Negative fecal test but Treated with panacure, doxicycline and metronitazol. Spends most of her time in humidity hide. no interest in food.

-Zeus: he was a rescue. rescued june 22/11 at 29 grams full adult male. july 20th he was 56 grams. 9/14/11 he was up to 73 grams. 11/14/11 70 grams.
12/18 62grams, 2/9: 73grams. 2/16: found dead in humidity hide. Vet said probally from organ failure.


-Hera: got from great breeder on 9/10/11 51 grams. 10/2/11 46grams, on 11/14: 43grams. 12/19/11 38 grams. 2/9 37 grams. 3/1/12 found dead in humidity hide. emergency necropsy: results= fatty liver disease. since october i was giving her a vet product called carnivor care to get her to gain weight.

Babies:
-Little logan: hatched 9/4/11. reached 22 grams on 12/19. on 12/29 he was 19 grams. 1/30 died in humidity hide.

-Blaze: hatched: 6/13/11. 6/27 reached 10 grams. july 23 reached 19 grams. 10/24 reached 41 grams. 11/24 reached 52 grams. 12/22 reached 58 grams. 2/9 down to 50 grams. 3/18 48grams and confirmed parasites: treated with panacure, and doxicycline. 4/1 down to 42 grams. wont eat anything; supplementing with carnivor care. spends a lot of time going between the humidity hide and the heat lamp.

-Aphrodite: received 9/10 35grams. 10/24 37 grams. 12/19 41 grams and ovulating; wasnt separated from other babies soon enough. 3/18 43 grams and had one good egg. luckly she stopped laying eggs. parasites confirmed: treated with panacure, doxicycine. 4/1/12 42 grams. Did eat a little a few days. acting normal.

-maya:hatched 8/18. lost tail on 9/1. 10/2 10 grams. 11/14 19 grams. 12/19 29 grams. 2/9 30grams= highest weight. 3/29/12 29 grams. treated for possible parasites; doxicycline and panacure. tail thining and wont eat.

-mack snow female:hatched 8/16. 10/8 11grams. 12/19 30 grams. 2/9 35 grams. 3/29 34 grams. treated for possible parasites. panacure and doxicycline.

-ares: hatched 5/1/11. 9/14 27 grams. 10/8 32 grams. 11/26 29 grams. 12/21: 28 grams. 2/19: 23 grams. 3/22: 28 grams. treated for possible parasites panacure and doxicycline. 4/1: 28 grams. very skinny tail and no interest in food. supplementing with carnivor care.

-super snow male: hatched 9/4. 12/29: 27 grams. 2/26: 24 grams. 3/22: 27 grams. possible parasites: treated with doxicycline and panacure. 4/1 24 grams. skinny tail and wont eat. have been supplementing with carnivore care.

I handle all my leopard geckos on a daily basis with using hand sanitizer between. Izzie and hank were/was health and in good weight until around december of last year.

I had fecals ran once i started seeing abnormal feces.

Housing:

Izzie and hank were housed together for a year. then when Izzie was spayed i moved her into a 29 gallon tank with her two daughters. Hank was housed with athena to be a breeding pair for 2012. once athena started loosing weight she was housed in a 15 gallon alone. Hank is alone in a 15 gallon. Zeus and hera were housed together until zeus started loosing weight. zeus died shortly after moving hera in the 29 gallon tank with the three girls. Hera died in the 29 gallon then izzie died not too long later.

All the tanks have a under tank heater on 24/7 and a heat lamp on as needed. I keep the tanks at high: 100 or so. low: 80-85 F.
All tanks are glass with screen lids. I use paper towel as substrate and either vermiculite or perlite in humidity hides.

Typical diet: crickets, mealworms, super worms and the occational wax worm. Since they have not been eating i have been using caravore care i got from my vet. Calcium powder and repti vitamins are always in a dish in each tank. always fresh spring water in each tank.


I gut load crickets with rabbit food, carrots, collard greens, mustard greens, and peanuts.

I noticed that i started having parasite problems around the same time that i ordered many crickets from a cricket breeder down south.


PLEASE POST SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, ETC.

Here is a picture of the parasites found and of izzie before she died.


thank you

 

[GeckoCrossing]

High end of tank should be around 88-93, not around 100. Cool end should be 75-80. Moist hide substrate should be paper towels. Paper towel substrate is fine.

It seems to me like you're spreading the parasites from one to another to another by moving them around so often and pairing them up in tanks.
My advice would be to put them all in their own tanks with minimalist set ups... paper towel substrate, paper towel moist hide substrate, one hot and one cool hide, calcium dish and water dish. Spot clean daily and deep clean every week. Treat as your vet advises. Wash your hands WELL before moving on to each gecko. If you can, get some chlorhexidine 2% (one capful in one gallon of water), use it to clean out your tanks every week. Completely dry the tank after using it before putting geckos back in.

As for the gut load for the crickets... use ground up kitten food (more protein, less fat, more calcium) mixed with goldfish fish flakes (vegetable matter protein in it), and fresh greens (collard, turnip, mustard). They'll get hydration from the greens, but I use the water crystals in a shallow dish for them also.

 

[Notmyfault]

High end of tank should be around 88-93, not around 100. Cool end should be 75-80. Moist hide substrate should be paper towels. Paper towel substrate is fine.

It seems to me like you're spreading the parasites from one to another to another by moving them around so often and pairing them up in tanks.
My advice would be to put them all in their own tanks with minimalist set ups... paper towel substrate, paper towel moist hide substrate, one hot and one cool hide, calcium dish and water dish. Spot clean daily and deep clean every week. Treat as your vet advises. Wash your hands WELL before moving on to each gecko. If you can, get some chlorhexidine 2% (one capful in one gallon of water), use it to clean out your tanks every week. Completely dry the tank after using it before putting geckos back in.

As for the gut load for the crickets... use ground up kitten food (more protein, less fat, more calcium) mixed with goldfish fish flakes (vegetable matter protein in it), and fresh greens (collard, turnip, mustard). They'll get hydration from the greens, but I use the water crystals in a shallow dish for them also.

I definitely agree with the above post. When dealing parasites you want to be as sterile as possible when handling your geckos. You really need to keep them separated till have them treated and the situation is resolved. By keeping together and moving them so often you are just transferring disease from gecko to gecko. Hopefully the parasites haven't transferred to your healthy ones.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[russe306]

Since the first sign of an issue i did not move anyone. I always quarantine new ones for many many months. when i paired up my geckos for breeding they were in great condition. I have been using proper procedures to prevent the spreading: washing hands between tanks, using hand sanitizers etc. I spot clean tanks every day and I bleach the tanks.

thank you for your help.

 

[katie_]

I agree with the above statements, but I would change the kitten food to dog food. Kitten food IS high fat.

 

[russe306]

what is a good crude protein and crude fat level? Almost two years ago i was told that rabbit food is the best to use. My rabbit food that i use is 12% protein and 2.5 percent fat, another rabbit food i use is 16% protein and 2.5 percent fat. I used to use koi fish food but i was told that is way too high. What is a good percentage?

I looked up a cat food and a dog food: natural balance cat: 34% protein and 18% fat.
dog food : natural balance is 21% protein and 12% fat.

The fish food i used to use was 33 percent protein and 2.5 percent fat.