Obsolutely, unfortunately I have spoken to some people who's vet does not.
Is it mouth rot??
- Thread starter DierdreDreamwalker626
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Obsolutely, unfortunately I have spoken to some people who's vet does not.
DierdreDreamwalker626
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That's what I was trying to say in my post. Being rude and trying to throw around accusations and trying to single you out and be rude is not doing anything but wasting our time to read an insignificant post. You did nothing more than give advice, and if anything that you said was actually read then they would have understood that.
DierdreDreamwalker626
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- good 'ol AL :/
DierdreDreamwalker626
New Member
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- 322
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- good 'ol AL :/
About your leo:
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: About a year and a half, about 40g. (The last time we weighed her was right before we took her to the vet.)
- How long have you owned your leo: about 6 months.
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Breeder
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: About every other day. We have begun to handle her less recently, just in case her "health issue" is caused by stress.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.: She has been acting a little wierd for about a week now. She's usually really mean. When you try to pick her up she usually snaps at you at least once or twice. Now she doesn't, but she's still moving around in her cage a lot, so I'm not sure if I would necesarily call her lethargic.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.: She hasn't been a very big eater since we got her, so her weight has always fluctuated a little. She has also had a hard time shedding a couple of times, and we sometimes have to help her get it all off her toes, tail and face.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Her fecal matter hasn't seemed to change as of yet. We've been checking it daily and removing it from the cage.
- When was the last time he/she went: Yesterday afternoon. I checked her cage a minute ago and it's poop free.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: We've had trouble with her eating habits since we got her. She wasn't really unhealthy when she got here, but she was kind of skinny and we could never get her to eat as much as any of our other leos, so we normally have to feed her seperately just to make sure she eats. Now there's black "spots" on either side of the back of her mouth, and she's almost stopped eating competely, though she is still drinking and pooping normally.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: She's is in a temporary 10 gallon aquarium by herself. She's is usually housed in a 20-30 gal enclosure with two tank mates.
- Type (ex. glass tank): Glass tank
- Type of substrate: Paper towels. (It was the cleanest thing we could think of for right now.)
- Hides, how many, what kind: She has two. (the other one is being cleaned so is missing from her cage in the picture below.) She has one stone hide on the warm side of her enclosure, and a wood one that we bought from the pet store on the cool side with moisture in it for shedding.)
B) Heating
- Heat source: Right now we are using a heat lamp. Our UTH quit on us a few days ago. :/
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): Hot side stays at about 90F and the cool stays between about 76-80F.
- Method of regulating heat source: We have a heather in the room she's in that cuts on and off to regulate the room temp and her leat light is hooked to a dimmer from petsmart.
- What are you using to measure your temps: The reptithermometers that you get at petsmart. We have the ones that lay on the bottom of the cage.
- Do you have any lights (describe): Just the heat light that she is under now. We leave the lights on in the room for part of the day since there's no windows in the room.
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): She used to be in the same enclosure with one male and one other female, but she has been by herself for some time now.
- Describe health, or previous problems: Other than having problems with her appetite and shedding, she has been fairly healthy. She's always been very active and full of spunk.
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet: We feed her live crickets, with mealworms as treats. We aquired some dubias a while back and have also tried introducing those to their diet as well.
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): We feed them all every other day, and about 10-15 crickets a piece. (What they don't eat after about 20-30 minutes is removed from the cage.) The mealworm are placed in a dish and left. (We check them periodically to make sure none escape or die, etc.)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): We dump the crickets in the cage and leave them for enough time to eat what they want before they are removed. We do hand feed ocassionally, and leave mealworms in a dish, though we haven't been doing that as much lately b/c she won't go near them. :/
B) Supplements (describe how often) We dust the crickets and worms alternating between a multivitamin and a calcium (without d3) supplement. She has a calcium dish in her cage.
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): Zoo med repti calcium (without D3) and Rep-cal multivitamin.
- What are you gut loading food with: Some cricket food and water, but mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, etc.
Here's her in her cage. She has another hide that's usually on the cool side, but it has been taken out to be cleaned. (It's cleaning day. lol)
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: About a year and a half, about 40g. (The last time we weighed her was right before we took her to the vet.)
- How long have you owned your leo: about 6 months.
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Breeder
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: About every other day. We have begun to handle her less recently, just in case her "health issue" is caused by stress.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.: She has been acting a little wierd for about a week now. She's usually really mean. When you try to pick her up she usually snaps at you at least once or twice. Now she doesn't, but she's still moving around in her cage a lot, so I'm not sure if I would necesarily call her lethargic.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.: She hasn't been a very big eater since we got her, so her weight has always fluctuated a little. She has also had a hard time shedding a couple of times, and we sometimes have to help her get it all off her toes, tail and face.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Her fecal matter hasn't seemed to change as of yet. We've been checking it daily and removing it from the cage.
- When was the last time he/she went: Yesterday afternoon. I checked her cage a minute ago and it's poop free.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: We've had trouble with her eating habits since we got her. She wasn't really unhealthy when she got here, but she was kind of skinny and we could never get her to eat as much as any of our other leos, so we normally have to feed her seperately just to make sure she eats. Now there's black "spots" on either side of the back of her mouth, and she's almost stopped eating competely, though she is still drinking and pooping normally.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: She's is in a temporary 10 gallon aquarium by herself. She's is usually housed in a 20-30 gal enclosure with two tank mates.
- Type (ex. glass tank): Glass tank
- Type of substrate: Paper towels. (It was the cleanest thing we could think of for right now.)
- Hides, how many, what kind: She has two. (the other one is being cleaned so is missing from her cage in the picture below.) She has one stone hide on the warm side of her enclosure, and a wood one that we bought from the pet store on the cool side with moisture in it for shedding.)
B) Heating
- Heat source: Right now we are using a heat lamp. Our UTH quit on us a few days ago. :/
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): Hot side stays at about 90F and the cool stays between about 76-80F.
- Method of regulating heat source: We have a heather in the room she's in that cuts on and off to regulate the room temp and her leat light is hooked to a dimmer from petsmart.
- What are you using to measure your temps: The reptithermometers that you get at petsmart. We have the ones that lay on the bottom of the cage.
- Do you have any lights (describe): Just the heat light that she is under now. We leave the lights on in the room for part of the day since there's no windows in the room.
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): She used to be in the same enclosure with one male and one other female, but she has been by herself for some time now.
- Describe health, or previous problems: Other than having problems with her appetite and shedding, she has been fairly healthy. She's always been very active and full of spunk.
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet: We feed her live crickets, with mealworms as treats. We aquired some dubias a while back and have also tried introducing those to their diet as well.
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): We feed them all every other day, and about 10-15 crickets a piece. (What they don't eat after about 20-30 minutes is removed from the cage.) The mealworm are placed in a dish and left. (We check them periodically to make sure none escape or die, etc.)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): We dump the crickets in the cage and leave them for enough time to eat what they want before they are removed. We do hand feed ocassionally, and leave mealworms in a dish, though we haven't been doing that as much lately b/c she won't go near them. :/
B) Supplements (describe how often) We dust the crickets and worms alternating between a multivitamin and a calcium (without d3) supplement. She has a calcium dish in her cage.
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): Zoo med repti calcium (without D3) and Rep-cal multivitamin.
- What are you gut loading food with: Some cricket food and water, but mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, etc.
Here's her in her cage. She has another hide that's usually on the cool side, but it has been taken out to be cleaned. (It's cleaning day. lol)
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DierdreDreamwalker626
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Are you working on the questionnaire or did you forget to fill it out?
I was working on it, and pressed enter a little too soon. (lol) It's done now. lol
:main_yes:
lillith
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Yes, and there's just suddenly a mysterious new vote for "I wouldn't even consider using it" on the slurry poll. Shuuuuure.
To the OP, I think a lot of the issues you're having are related to her being co-housed and having temps about 5 degrees too cold.
I would bring her back to the vet sooner than your follow-up, as you have planned. She may have been getting more bullied than you think by her housemates, and she probably has not been separated long enough for that stress to wear off. I'm thinking the handling is less of an issue, but it's good that you're taking that precaution, as well.
I would also wonder why a vet wouldn't use a tease-the-mouth open attempt first, and went for the tongue depressor right away. Usually if you brush the corner of their mouth with something, it will initiate a gaping/biting response. You might want to mention that instead of letting them carry your gecko off to some back room somewhere. I would also say no more letting the vet throw meds at your gecko without an appropriate culture being done.
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I did not see a humidity hide which is important. Calcium with D3 once a week. Buy a UTH asap so that she is able to hide and stay warm. The hot side should be in the low 90's. These things can easily effect her appetite. Did the vet do a fecal exam?
DierdreDreamwalker626
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She has a humid hide, but it's out for cleaning. About half of our geckos hides are missing in action right now. It's cleaning time!! (lol) I thought I said that in that survey, which is a million miles long btw. (lol) I tried to buy a UTH Friday (since I'm dumb enough to shop on black friday. lol) and they were completely out. He said they would have some more in Tuesday, so I'm planning on going back up there then to get one.
No he didn't. He squeezed her like he was trying to squeeze the crap out of her (literally. lol), but I never saw anything come out. If he did anything when he took her in the back, he never told me about it. :/
lillith
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That in itself is a little concerning. See if you can personally initiate a gaping/biting response and take pics with a flash...I would do it right before you feed her next time, not just randomly. Then we can see the pics, and you can bring them to the vet.
DierdreDreamwalker626
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The vet is extremely questionable, but he's the only one we have. The closest one to us other than him is like 2 hours away.
I will try that!! Thanks!!
DierdreDreamwalker626
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Ikr!! :/ We can usually get her to open her mouth if we rub the side of her face. Apparently that makes her want to eat you. (lol) We'll feed them later on today after we finish cleaning all the cages, so I'll try to get a couple good ones and have them on here tomorrow morning. (Or maybe late tonight.) .... I've got to call tomorrow and make her appt too.....
KelliH
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I'll just come out and ask you point blank: are you the person from PA that was banned? I notice you are using an proxy each time you log on, which hides your location and true ip address. Be honest!
fl_orchidslave
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Two hours away for a good vet is a much better option than a questionable one nearby. One reason people have poor responses to medical treatment is using a vet who is not qualified to treat reptiles, and more specifically, their species. If you have a vet you don't trust, there will always be a question in your mind if the treatment is correct. Money wasted.
A change in appetite is completely normal this time of year. Adults slow down. Look at some of the other recent threads.... As long as there are no other health issues, there's no reason to be overly concerned.
A change in appetite is completely normal this time of year. Adults slow down. Look at some of the other recent threads.... As long as there are no other health issues, there's no reason to be overly concerned.
DierdreDreamwalker626
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True. True.
The main reason I am worried is because she never really ate much to begin with and now she's barely eating at all. And then with those places coming up in her mouth. ........
Golden Gate Geckos
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Just a thought... if this gecko's primary diet is crickets and roaches, it isn't unheard of to have a leg part get stuck in the mouth or throat which can cause pain and abscess. Those insect legs are covered with tiny 'barbs' that only point one way, which drives it deeper into the tissues (similar to a foxtail). Hopefully the vet will be able to get a good look inside the mouth and rule this out.
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