Just got back with new gecko, it's head twitches

[TylerDurden]

Ok so I realized if she does need to go to the vet next week, she's never been handled by me except for the day I picked her up. She's still pretty timid around my hands.

I've started feeding using forceps, putting them above my hand, and I get her to step on my hand to get the food. I can get her to stand on my hand for a second or two, she often bites at my fingers (I just let her do it and don't move away), but long story short, I want to get her comfortable enough to get in my hands and be lift up out of the tank so the vet isn't as much of a shock. I'd imagine going to the vet AND being picked up out of the tank for the first time in the same day is more stress.

So I've tried the "leave your hand still on the floor" thing for a few days, tried associating my hand with food, etc...at what point do I want to attempt lifting her up? Every time I move my hand she runs off

On a side note: I've apparently conditioned her to know forceps = food. This was purely accidental but here's a video of her running over when I lift the forceps up. She doesn't do this with any other object, it only works with the forceps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhXYGZoi1MA

 

[reps4life]

Ok so I realized if she does need to go to the vet next week, she's never been handled by me except for the day I picked her up. She's still pretty timid around my hands.

I've started feeding using forceps, putting them above my hand, and I get her to step on my hand to get the food. I can get her to stand on my hand for a second or two, she often bites at my fingers (I just let her do it and don't move away), but long story short, I want to get her comfortable enough to get in my hands and be lift up out of the tank so the vet isn't as much of a shock. I'd imagine going to the vet AND being picked up out of the tank for the first time in the same day is more stress.

So I've tried the "leave your hand still on the floor" thing for a few days, tried associating my hand with food, etc...at what point do I want to attempt lifting her up? Every time I move my hand she runs off

On a side note: I've apparently conditioned her to know forceps = food. This was purely accidental but here's a video of her running over when I lift the forceps up. She doesn't do this with any other object, it only works with the forceps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhXYGZoi1MA

aww, so cute. They surely recognize those forceps. Are you grossed out with holding the worms in your hand? It will speed up the time with her getting comfortable with your hand.

 

[TylerDurden]

aww, so cute. They surely recognize those forceps. Are you grossed out with holding the worms in your hand? It will speed up the time with her getting comfortable with your hand.

not at all, I do put the worms in my hand sometimes but that usually results in her biting me a few before she goes for it lol

 

[artes]

TICKLE HER!

Just kidding. Just give her some more time. Or you could do what I do and just pick them up anyway, and plop them in my hand. They're fine after they get into your hand and realize you're not going to eat them.

Ok, that might be the truest, and worst advice I've ever given. /goes to scoop up and tickle Hector

 

[reps4life]

not at all, I do put the worms in my hand sometimes but that usually results in her biting me a few before she goes for it lol

are you placing you hand flat with palm up? that usually prevents the biting.

 

[TylerDurden]

yea always. She usually walks to the tip of my finger and bites them, and sometimes when I put the worm on my hand she eats it, then realizes shes standing on my hand, jumps off and then bites my fingers and walks away. She'll also bite at my palm before even looking for the worm lol after a few though she stops and they're getting less frequent but I'm still pretty sure she's still scared of them

 

[TylerDurden]

TICKLE HER!

Just kidding. Just give her some more time. Or you could do what I do and just pick them up anyway, and plop them in my hand. They're fine after they get into your hand and realize you're not going to eat them.

Ok, that might be the truest, and worst advice I've ever given. /goes to scoop up and tickle Hector

hahaha that's probably the simplest way to get her to attack my fingers some more

 

[artes]

/sings to the tune of Kill the Wabbit from What's Opera Doc
Tickle the baby! I'll tickle the baby! Arise worms! North worms come, south worms come, superworms, crickets... HEADTWITCH!

Ok, I need more coffee.

 

[TylerDurden]

The Mystery Is Solved

Well the lab results are in, she has a high parasite load of pinworm. Could be worse, I'm glad it's not coccidia or cryptosporidium

It explains a lot of the oddities that had me worried. Twitching was likely from severe dehydration, a high parasite load like this doesn't happen overnight, so she was likely having runny stool before I got her and the breeder didn't notice it or it wasn't as bad as the one I saw. She could have been on the road for a while as the breeder was attending several shows that month so it would explain it - higher stress over time would have inflated the load, and slowly led to dehydration.

When she got here and was no longer transported all over and had regular access to a moist hide, she quickly rehydrated herself, the yellow urates went away, but still got the runny stools

The last stool she made was actually fairly normal, a little bit of yellow in the urate but nothing like the 1st one. So it's also consistent with that - she'll likely continue to be mildly dehydrated until the parasites are in check since even a low load can cause some water loss through diarrhea (it explains why she still sleeps in wet hide all day and occasionally splashes through the water bowl, although the frequent drinking finally stopped)

So I'll just bring her into my herp vet for an exam, see what the best course of action is, maybe bring another stool sample to compare the parasite load. From the brief conversation I had though it seems the recommendation is to treat it no matter what to avoid a future flare up. A little nervous about that, deworming killed my baby bearded dragon a couple years ago, so I'm cautious about the treatment but untreated parasites could be dangerous to her and dangerous to us (pinworms are not usually in adults but children get them, they go around daycare centers sometimes and they're really disgusting)

thanks everyone for the assistance, if anyone has anything they want to share with me about their own deworming experience I'd appreciate it. The last medication we used was panacur, I'm pretty sure that's what we'll be using again since it's standard for deworming reptiles

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Yes, she should be treated. The danger with panacur or any medication, is giving when the animal is dehydrated and/or not eating. Since your gecko is eating and drinking, the treatment will only slow her down the first day or two, then she'll perk back up and be on the road to recovery. The second and third dosage will hardly phase her. The poops won't look normal at first either, so don't be alarmed while she's ridding her body of the parasites. Taking geckos to shows does indeed stress them, but healthy geckos recover quickly. I always offer mine water in the morning while arranging our table, either in a gatorade cap for display compartments or mist deli cup sides. Most will take some.

 

[artes]

Pinworms aren't as bad as it could have been, so yay I guess. And it is very good that she's eating and drinking - the meds won't be nearly as hard on her. Keep us updated, I want to know when she's worm free and healthy!

 

[gecko4245]

She just has a few more annoying friends, she will be ok

 

[TylerDurden]

thanks I've been fattening her up because I know panacur can decrease appetite for a good few weeks sometimes, each one is different. Right now she never refuses food! Unfortunately I bet that's because the parasites are getting most of the nutrients. I'm moving to daily feedings just from today to monday when I go to the vet so she'll have a few extra meals before treatment. Also gave the crickets tonight some oats dusted with a little bit of reptivite vitamins, and some calcium, so I got one night of that in at least, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea since it's still a bit ambiguous if the initial twitching was from an acute hypocalcemia or dehydration (or both)

Anyway again thanks for the help and support I appreciate it. Hopefully I have better luck this time

 

[reps4life]

thanks I've been fattening her up because I know panacur can decrease appetite for a good few weeks sometimes, each one is different. Right now she never refuses food! Unfortunately I bet that's because the parasites are getting most of the nutrients. I'm moving to daily feedings just from today to monday when I go to the vet so she'll have a few extra meals before treatment. Also gave the crickets tonight some oats dusted with a little bit of reptivite vitamins, and some calcium, so I got one night of that in at least, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea since it's still a bit ambiguous if the initial twitching was from an acute hypocalcemia or dehydration (or both)

Anyway again thanks for the help and support I appreciate it. Hopefully I have better luck this time

Just don't feed her the night before the appointment. She might regurgitate.

 

[artes]

Just don't feed her the night before the appointment. She might regurgitate.

I know I do during big doctor's appts.

 

[reps4life]

I know I do during big doctor's appts.

:main_laugh:

 

[TylerDurden]

good news all around!

First, vet saw her and says shes definitely healthy, and frequent tank cleaning has kept the pinworm under control. I also didn't know this but for leopard geckos, a low parasite load is actually pretty normal, and in fact most do have them and even after deworming will likely have some sort of baseline amount of pinworm. It acts as sort of a commensal (an organism that is symbiotic with the host) keeping the gut flora (natural gut organisms) in check so deworming a healthy gecko is not really a good idea. She's been eating like crazy and pooping normally so yaaay for that

Also, since I haven't handled her except to take her to the vet, I never had her out in direct light before now. Her eyes clearly have red in them, so it seems she's a snake-eyed raptor afterall!

 

[gecko4245]

good news all around!

First, vet saw her and says shes definitely healthy, and frequent tank cleaning has kept the pinworm under control. I also didn't know this but for leopard geckos, a low parasite load is actually pretty normal, and in fact most do have them and even after deworming will likely have some sort of baseline amount of pinworm. It acts as sort of a commensal (an organism that is symbiotic with the host) keeping the gut flora (natural gut organisms) in check so deworming a healthy gecko is not really a good idea. She's been eating like crazy and pooping normally so yaaay for that

Also, since I haven't handled her except to take her to the vet, I never had her out in direct light before now. Her eyes clearly have red in them, so it seems she's a snake-eyed raptor afterall!

:main_thumbsup: but I thought the count was high?

 

[TylerDurden]

it was but if shes going normal again it's probably back down. It could have been temporarily inflated from stress. If she goes abnormal again she'll probably get dewormed but for now as long as shes healthy the vet said it's just not worth doing

 

[artes]

Awesome! Three cheers for the baby!