RobsterSF
New Member
- Messages
- 15
Hi all,
As you will find int he introductory forum my name is Rob. I'm here to ask some advice from the experts….you! My little guy has an interesting back story. I found him behind my car which I rarely drove, in the freezing cold of December a few years back abandoned by his owners. I have no idea how long he was there. He was in a 10 gal tank, in green calci-sand liquefied due to water from rain (or something), a ton of crickets eating away at him, and super cold temperatures for gosh knows how long. Due to my love of animals and past reptile keeping (Iguanas, Snakes, Lizards, etc.) we quickly took him in as our one and only "Rescue Gecko". I'm calling him Bob as we named him prior to sexing. Bob might be a she. We brought bob in, removed all the sand, cleaned the tank, added there necessary under tank heat and crossed our fingers for the best. It took a very long time however Bob finally ate. We were overjoyed when it happened. Bob is super sweet so whoever had him before must have handled him frequently as Bob is very comfortable with Humans. His little toes are mostly missing likely to previous mishandling. That said Bob has been doing wonderful for the last three or so years until recently. A quick note about his setup. He was moved to a 20 Gal long shortly after coming into our home and loves his space. He has under tank heat on the left side where he spends most of his time. We found that he was having trouble finding a place to poop so we placed a small raised container of white calci sand in the far right corner which he quickly adopted as the bathroom likely due to his prior use of calci sand by prior owners. Yes I am very aware of impaction and sand however hear me out here before judging. The remainder of his tank floor is a slab of tile which provides a nice even heat that tapers off from left to right. Bob has several hides including a moist hide.
Recently Bob's eating slowed, and I chocked this up to the next shed. That occurred however now eating has been very slow. Not just after the initial shed however for some time now. I've had Bob three year’s so I am used to slow patterns in eating prior to or after shed however Bob always bounces back. Fast forward to today. He has eaten very little (like 1 or 2 meal worms in weeks then another 1 or two each week after. He requires handfeeding and will not eat from a bowl), his tails is scary tiny compared to normal hence low fat reserves, and Bob's belly is a bit harder than I would like.
Let’s go back to his poop box. Bob is fed on the flat tile so no ingestion of substrate happening there. The only substrate is the small 4" x 4" box in the corner that is his bathroom. It is raised so no chance his food is reaching that space for two reasons. A) he is fed worms directly in front of him on the tile and B) worms remain in his dish for any unattended feeding and they cannot escape the dish. If they did they cannot climb up into the poop box given the lip surrounding the box.
My worry here is it's time for a vet to have a look however want to be sure this is the correct course of action. I'm really not sure if Bob is impacted however if he is it would be either from food (meal worms and sometime smart worms) or if there is some reason he were to ingest the Calci Sand for some reason. We keep the litter clean so no chance he is eating his business and getting mouth full of sand. We ae going to remove in favor of paper towel given he know his place now.
Would welcome any suggestions. I want to be sure this little guy who has had a hard life and we want him to have many more happy years. We have the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley California available who I can call for a vet recommendation and a friend who swears by her reptile Vet specializing in Geckos.
Cheers
As you will find int he introductory forum my name is Rob. I'm here to ask some advice from the experts….you! My little guy has an interesting back story. I found him behind my car which I rarely drove, in the freezing cold of December a few years back abandoned by his owners. I have no idea how long he was there. He was in a 10 gal tank, in green calci-sand liquefied due to water from rain (or something), a ton of crickets eating away at him, and super cold temperatures for gosh knows how long. Due to my love of animals and past reptile keeping (Iguanas, Snakes, Lizards, etc.) we quickly took him in as our one and only "Rescue Gecko". I'm calling him Bob as we named him prior to sexing. Bob might be a she. We brought bob in, removed all the sand, cleaned the tank, added there necessary under tank heat and crossed our fingers for the best. It took a very long time however Bob finally ate. We were overjoyed when it happened. Bob is super sweet so whoever had him before must have handled him frequently as Bob is very comfortable with Humans. His little toes are mostly missing likely to previous mishandling. That said Bob has been doing wonderful for the last three or so years until recently. A quick note about his setup. He was moved to a 20 Gal long shortly after coming into our home and loves his space. He has under tank heat on the left side where he spends most of his time. We found that he was having trouble finding a place to poop so we placed a small raised container of white calci sand in the far right corner which he quickly adopted as the bathroom likely due to his prior use of calci sand by prior owners. Yes I am very aware of impaction and sand however hear me out here before judging. The remainder of his tank floor is a slab of tile which provides a nice even heat that tapers off from left to right. Bob has several hides including a moist hide.
Recently Bob's eating slowed, and I chocked this up to the next shed. That occurred however now eating has been very slow. Not just after the initial shed however for some time now. I've had Bob three year’s so I am used to slow patterns in eating prior to or after shed however Bob always bounces back. Fast forward to today. He has eaten very little (like 1 or 2 meal worms in weeks then another 1 or two each week after. He requires handfeeding and will not eat from a bowl), his tails is scary tiny compared to normal hence low fat reserves, and Bob's belly is a bit harder than I would like.
Let’s go back to his poop box. Bob is fed on the flat tile so no ingestion of substrate happening there. The only substrate is the small 4" x 4" box in the corner that is his bathroom. It is raised so no chance his food is reaching that space for two reasons. A) he is fed worms directly in front of him on the tile and B) worms remain in his dish for any unattended feeding and they cannot escape the dish. If they did they cannot climb up into the poop box given the lip surrounding the box.
My worry here is it's time for a vet to have a look however want to be sure this is the correct course of action. I'm really not sure if Bob is impacted however if he is it would be either from food (meal worms and sometime smart worms) or if there is some reason he were to ingest the Calci Sand for some reason. We keep the litter clean so no chance he is eating his business and getting mouth full of sand. We ae going to remove in favor of paper towel given he know his place now.
Would welcome any suggestions. I want to be sure this little guy who has had a hard life and we want him to have many more happy years. We have the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley California available who I can call for a vet recommendation and a friend who swears by her reptile Vet specializing in Geckos.
Cheers
