Giving up fast

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

I have a 2.5 year old female leopard gecko. In march of 2007 her and her sister were treated for pin worms. I just put the two girls back together in Nov. I just moved them into a 20 gallon long about a month ago and she has since stopped eating. She is down to 30 grams again. No runny stool, no impaction (kept on paper towel), and no egg bound. What else can I do. We have since put her in her own 10 gallon tank and she goes threw eating spells. She will eat for a few weeks really well and get up to 40 grams and give up again. Has she really just given up. I don't think its parasites. Her sister is just fine. 75 grams and never healthier. I just don't know what else to do but let her give up and put her down. Please help. She was my first gecko ever and I just can't stand to see her this way

 

[LadyGecko]

Ashleigh

How long has she been in her own tank for this time around?
The other Leo may be bullying her in ways that are not plainly apparent and that is why she is not eating when in with her

I would have her rechecked for parasites and go from there
Just becuase she came up clrean fter treatment last year-doesn't mean that she couldn't have picked something up since then-especially if you feed crix

There still may be hope and
I do not think that she should be housed with any other gecko

Hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck with her

just my -.02

Sandy

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Bacterial infections do not show up in routine fecal exams. The stool has to be grown in a petri dish in an incubator at a lab to determine if there is an infection, and what antibiotic the bacterium are sensitive to. Many geckos die needlessly from undiagnosed bacterial infections when there are no parasites observed in fecal tests.

 

[LadyGecko]

Bacterial infections do not show up in routine fecal exams. The stool has to be grown in a petri dish in an incubator at a lab to determine if there is an infection, and what antibiotic the bacterium are sensitive to. Many geckos die needlessly from undiagnosed bacterial infections when there are no parasites observed in fecal tests.

Very good point Marcia-thanks for bringing that up
That is another thing that should be checked before you give up on her

It sounds like that she means a lot to you so hopefully you can find the problem and get it treated

My fingers are crossed for her

Sandy

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

I put that thought threw my vet. But at this point, I just dont know. My main question is if she had something like that wouldn't her cage mate. She has been on her own for 2.5 weeks now.

My mom is about to move back in with me and my dad. So we are going to move the one gecko back to my house and see if maybe she can just sense the other gecko. I mean if males can sense the females then maybe she can sense her. When she will eat, shes eating a wax worm and 2 to 3 meal worms every other day. So we are trying and extra calcium. But I don't have a local vet I am really willing to deal with again. The last one I took her to almost ripped her tail off and he is one reason she is the gecko she is now.I use to be able to hold her and everything and now she is terrified I can't hold her. I really don't wanna see her give up but if she does as long as I have one of my orginal geckos I would be happy. I have gotten this far. almost 3 years and I have had them since they were days old and kept them on sand for the first 2 years. So she's made it threw alot I am hoping we can get threw this.

 

[Baoh]

Have you tried feeding her very small pinkies?

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

I have tried a few pin head crix a few times, but for the most part she has only been fed meal worms and supers when she was fat. she is eating a little to maintain her weight. She just has me worried because she is usually 50 grams and staying at about 35 right now.

 

[Baoh]

Consider trying newborn/very small pinky mice, then. I have had great success using this recently to induce rapid growth in juveniles as well as correct weight loss in underweight and anorexic adult females.

 

[acpart]

Will she eat if you hold her and gently push a mealworm against her mouth? I have had to feed a gecko this way for several years before she started hunting on her own and it worked well.

Aliza

 

[lytlesnake]

Try some waxworms perhaps. Geckos love 'em. One of my geckos got really thin earlier this year and I thought she was ill. Even though she didn't test positive for parasites, I gave her a liquid antibiotic as per the vet's recommendation. I also moved her from a rack/tub to her own tank in a quiet room. She soon started chowing down mealworms and is nice and plump now. Pinkies were the first thing she ate though. She ate a couple, then I switched her to mealworms. I had to leave the pinkie in her tub over night, she wouldn't eat them at first.

 

[Starwild]

I would start using the slurry recipe in addition to following up with your vet. The recipe is here on the forums, stickied. It will help her put on some weight while you investigate possible causes. Hope she'll start eating for you soon!