HELP!! Gecko in distress

[sworntotheblack]

My mom recomended i use tea tree oil to treat my leopard geckos minor skin problems though i was hesitant i though no big deal. Well the geckos started freaking out immediatly, possibly from smell or the oil itself i dont know, they both pooped and i immediately removed them. My male, went underwater in his panic stricken state and now is literally all but lifeless, barely breathing, i though he was dead for a few moments. I don't know what to do, my mom keeps saying to rinse them off but i can tell hes cold, i have him on warm side of cage, i rinsed him off completely several times. Hes never been this weak, I am afraid he may die is there any advice. My mom put several large drops into the water it was over whelming even for me, then after they started freaking out she added even more..

 

[Adinar]

My mom recomended i use tea tree oil to treat my leopard geckos minor skin problems though i was hesitant i though no big deal. Well the geckos started freaking out immediatly, possibly from smell or the oil itself i dont know, they both pooped and i immediately removed them. My male, went underwater in his panic stricken state and now is literally all but lifeless, barely breathing, i though he was dead for a few moments. I don't know what to do, my mom keeps saying to rinse them off but i can tell hes cold, i have him on warm side of cage, i rinsed him off completely several times. Hes never been this weak, I am afraid he may die is there any advice. My mom put several large drops into the water it was over whelming even for me, then after they started freaking out she added even more..

That does not sound good. After the animal freaked out she shouldn't have added more. (I'll leave it go at that.) I would suggest getting him to the vet ASAP.

I pulled this directly off Wikipedia about the oil
According to the American Cancer Society: "Tea tree oil is toxic when swallowed. It has been reported to cause drowsiness, confusion, hallucinations, coma, unsteadiness, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach upset, blood cell abnormalities, and severe rashes. It should be kept away from pets and children."
^ And this is in humans.

 

[sworntotheblack]

Yah, i don't even wanna get into it, i tried explaining to her that a dog is 100X the size of a 18gram gecko. Anyways there moving a little bit, they look like a person would on ether. Honestly they look like there high as kites. I don't know what to do,i can smell the tea tree oil from there cage when im near it, i have called the emergency line for my vet and left a message. Im at a loss idea's i would have rather them had the little skin issue then this. Either way i just want to see them make it through the night now. I'll be pretty devastated if i lose either of them especially since my female had all the skin issues earlier this year that i got her back to full health.. *sigh*

 

[Adinar]

Yah, i don't even wanna get into it, i tried explaining to her that a dog is 100X the size of a 18gram gecko. Anyways there moving a little bit, they look like a person would on ether. Honestly they look like there high as kites. I don't know what to do,i can smell the tea tree oil from there cage when im near it, i have called the emergency line for my vet and left a message. Im at a loss idea's i would have rather them had the little skin issue then this. Either way i just want to see them make it through the night now. I'll be pretty devastated if i lose either of them especially since my female had all the skin issues earlier this year that i got her back to full health.. *sigh*

Keep us posted. Good luck.

 

[sworntotheblack]

UPDATE

Well there still not back to 100%, my male and female have both vomited as a result of the tea-tree oil. However the hallucination and lack of motor skills have seemed to have vastly improved. My male made it through the night. At about 3 am, he was crawling around and moving his head and breathing a lot better. I finally fell asleep at about 4 leaned up against the side of my cage just keeping an eye on them. I awoke to my mom saying "see i told you he wouldn't die". Regardless she knows that i am kinda ticked off at her for the incident but its my fault as well for going forward with it with out doing some research first as i normally do. Regardless vet called me back said to make sure there well ventilated put a bigger dish of water in tank so they can rinse them selves off on there own terms, completely clean out the cage *which i just finshed before starting my post* I am trying not to stress them out by rinsing them again at least till the have gotten a bit better and less stressedout. I Don't want to have one of em drop there tail due to the extreme stress anxiety of going back for a rinse. The males been in and out of the water dish and the females still sleeping a lot however she seems to be doing better than him. He was still a bit cold so i have both sides of the cage a bit warmer than normal for daytime/night time. Got it up about 3-5 degrees extra on each side seeing that they keep going in and out of there water. Hopefully everything from here on out is an improvement and nothing takes a downward turn... I thank you for your support last night, i was beside myself and was just so freaked out i didn't even know where to start, partially because i was panic stricken as i watched my male basically go into a coma...

 

[Adinar]

Well there still not back to 100%, my male and female have both vomited as a result of the tea-tree oil. However the hallucination and lack of motor skills have seemed to have vastly improved. My male made it through the night. At about 3 am, he was crawling around and moving his head and breathing a lot better. I finally fell asleep at about 4 leaned up against the side of my cage just keeping an eye on them. I awoke to my mom saying "see i told you he wouldn't die". Regardless she knows that i am kinda ticked off at her for the incident but its my fault as well for going forward with it with out doing some research first as i normally do. Regardless vet called me back said to make sure there well ventilated put a bigger dish of water in tank so they can rinse them selves off on there own terms, completely clean out the cage *which i just finshed before starting my post* I am trying not to stress them out by rinsing them again at least till the have gotten a bit better and less stressedout. I Don't want to have one of em drop there tail due to the extreme stress anxiety of going back for a rinse. The males been in and out of the water dish and the females still sleeping a lot however she seems to be doing better than him. He was still a bit cold so i have both sides of the cage a bit warmer than normal for daytime/night time. Got it up about 3-5 degrees extra on each side seeing that they keep going in and out of there water. Hopefully everything from here on out is an improvement and nothing takes a downward turn... I thank you for your support last night, i was beside myself and was just so freaked out i didn't even know where to start, partially because i was panic stricken as i watched my male basically go into a coma...

Totally understandable. I couldn't help but think about your situation today at work and was hoping you had posted an update. Glad to hear they're doing better. :main_thumbsup:

 

[sworntotheblack]

Well my females taking a turn for the worse, shes about in the position my male was in last night hardly breathing and she is like hiccuping/gasping for air, im beside myself again with what to do im just trying not to do anything to make it worse im just worried sick about her. If they get through the night i m going to the vet i have run out of options...

 

[sworntotheblack]

There will be no trip to the vet, they both took a bad turn and passed on early this morning, my male unfortunately waited until i had picked him up to take his last gasp of air before letting go making it just all that much harder for me to keep my head up. Thanks for checking in on me and your words of encouragement. I'll check back on the site in a few days..

 

[Adinar]

There will be no trip to the vet, they both took a bad turn and passed on early this morning, my male unfortunately waited until i had picked him up to take his last gasp of air before letting go making it just all that much harder for me to keep my head up. Thanks for checking in on me and your words of encouragement. I'll check back on the site in a few days..

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Unfortunetally it's a hard lesson to be learned (on both parties). But at least you can look at it this way, you know they're not suffering anymore.

 

[geckoluv2187]

I work for a herp vet and the best thing to treat minor skin problems (or even major skin problems) is silver sulfadiazine. I believe it can be purchase online without a prescription, or also purchased at any veterinarian.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermazene-Silver-Sulfadiazine-Cream-grams/dp/B0008KLQNM