Inherited sick gecko from the pet store

[Penguin]

I was interested in buying a leopard gecko, I have never kept one before but am familiar with reptile care from having snakes. The pet store I frequent had gotten one in from someone and it seems to only have one eye, the one is always shut and doesn't seem to protrude as much. I have been in contact with them about buying him, and it turns out he is also dehydrated and not eating. Also he often keeps his other intact eye closed so I suspect it might be infected too. The one that is missing and always closed I saw him rub against the glass a couple of times, I think it is itching and the store manager said he removed some pus from it recently. So basically, this gecko is in bad shape. The manager said he didn't think he had the time to adequately care for him and doubted the other people in the store would either, so I got him free along with some mealworms, waxworms and crickets. They also gave me some sort of clear antibiotic gel to put on his eye.

He is in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with a cardboard box to hide in and a ceramic bowl for water. Because he is dehydrated I lined the bottom of the tank and his box with paper towels and am misting them with spring water to increase humidity, the water in his bowl is also spring water. I was able to force-feed him a mealworm today, he spit out a mealworm and a waxworm but I was able to drop a mealworm far enough back in his mouth that he swallowed it. I am also think about giving him water out of a syringe if he isn't drinking much... is this a good idea?

I have a heat lamp with a regular incandescent bulb but I am afraid this will decrease the humidity in the tank, is the humidity important like I am imagining it is, or will dehydration only be relieved with adequate drinking? I will be able to buy him an under-tank heater in a couple of days and I will probably put it under the glass beneath his box, since the substrate is paper towels I wouldn't want him burrowing under them and getting into direct contact with the hot glass.

I am also swabbing both eyes with the antibiotic gel, using q tips. I am afraid to try to open the closed one so I am just applying it to the eyelid but I am not sure if this will be sufficient.

Does anyone have any tips on what I can do to help this poor guy recuperate? Am I handling things okay so far? Is there anything I should change?

 

[katie_]

The overall tank should not be humid at all. Leos like it very dry. They should however, have a "humid hide". An area with moist substrate to help aid in shedding.

I would highly recommend you take this little guy to a herp vet. You may be doing more damage and making problems worse by treating this yourself.

 

[reptiles1st]

Sounds like he is in pretty bad shape, was not getting the care he needed from the pet store. He needs to see a vet, which is probably the main reason why he was given away. The cost to treat the little guy outweaighs the profits gained from the sale of him. Without taking him to a vet you can only treat the symptoms and not the cause. I wish you good luck with him.

 

[Angrychair]

well I won't go into a debate on whether you should do this or that. But if you have to force feed him and want to hydrate him at the same time, you can try to make this gecko slurry stuff.

http://repticzone.com/forums/Geckos-Leopard/messages/1758235.html

 

[Penguin]

I will have the money to take him to the vet in a few days. The bill will probably be quite a bit pricier than a healthy gecko would have cost, when I first was inquiring about him I thought he was missing an eye but otherwise healthy. The exam alone will be $55. I'm basically scraping by financially so I will have to kind of go without next month since most of my available income will be going to the vet visit, but I feel sorry for the guy. I'm sure he would have died had I not taken him. I also don't know that he has a missing eye, it looked like he might have had that eye partially open earlier.

I am switching the paper towels out for dry ones and have the heat lamp over his tank. I got him to eat 2 mealworms and 1 waxworm and am getting an eyedropper tomorrow to give him water. I got him to eat the mealworms by cutting the worm in two so that they're smaller and he couldn't spit them out as easily, the waxworm was a small one so he didn't have a problem with it. I pick him up and position him so his head is vertical and wait for him to open his mouth, I guess he thinks its threatening but he only ends up with food in his mouth. Haha

I guess my question now is, is this okay, and what can I do to keep him as healthy as I can before I am able to get him to the vet (some time in the next week)?

Edit: I will definitely try the gecko slurry. I think I have a smoothie blender here. I like that it will provide nutrients and fluids at the same time and will probably be easier to get him to consume. It's a little inconvenient having to wait for him to open his mouth to threaten me, and he may learn that he gets mealworms in his mouth that way and stop doing it. I will buy the ingredients tomorrow. Do you think I should continue feeding mealworms and waxworms the way I have been, too? I want him eating as much as possible. But what is Hill's A/D pet food? is it like dog food?

 

[Dimidiata]

Dont force feed the animal, DO NOT FORCE FEED THE ANIMAL.

 

[Penguin]

is there something wrong with waiting him to open his mouth and dropping a mealworm in?

 

[Dimidiata]

Potential choking, a complete disregard for food(making him actually turn further off the food) and him becoming lock jawed. yeah

 

[Penguin]

what is lock jawed?

 

[Dimidiata]

When he refuses to open his mouth because unwanted food gets dropped in it when he does . Happens a lot in force feedings of many animals.

 

[katie_]

Agreed. Never force feed a reptile.
Only a very experienced herp expert or vet should ever do this.

 

[Penguin]

got it, gecko slurry only. Anything else?

Also, do you think from what you know that there is a good chance he can recover with vet care? The only real physical problem I detect is his eye infection/s. The no-eating and drinking is his decision. Would an eye infection cause him to feel bad enough to stop eating and drinking, or do you think there may be something more (parasites etc)

 

[Dimidiata]

No eating and drinking can always be a sign of crypto i suppose, but it may just be that hes skinny/undernourished or has simple parasites. Either way, a vet should help.

 

[Penguin]

I don't think he has crypto. I am reading about the symptoms, I don't know about his stool as I have only just recently gotten him eating. I haven't seen him regurgitating his food, and he doesn't seem lethargic. He is pretty strong and active.

Could the lack of eating or drinking be because of stress from the infected eye?

Also, I made him the gecko slurry and applied it to his mouth with an eyedropper. he was lapping it up, I gave him about 3 ml. How much should I give him in a day? I had to leave out the supplements (milk thistle and calcium) and the pedialyte because I spent the last of my money on the canned dog food. However the ensure I bought is the kind that had the highest amount of calcium in it, and also has amino acids. I looked for the natural balance dog food that is suggested as an alternative to the hill's but the but the pet store didn't carry that specific kind, so I bought some high quality grain-free dog food that had the highest protein content I could find.

I called the vet today, they said I could go ahead and bring him in asap and write a check and they won't cash it until the first, when I get some income. They wanted the name of the eye gel the pet store gave me, it is vetericyn opthalmic gel.

I will be calling the vet tomorrow to see about setting up an appointment.

Edit: I just looked in his tank and it looks like he regurgitated at least some of the slurry. If he has crypto is this curable by a vet?