Leopard Gecko Can't Swallow

[Nell]

Hi everyone, new to the forums, looking for a bit of advice.

I keep three leopard gecko's 1 male that's three years old and a brother & sister that two years old.

originally the brother and sister were in together, but as they reach a couple of months in age, the brother became more aggresive and regretably my female lost her tail!

I seperated them the same day, and since the female has become my most placid, loveable lizard that anyone can handle.. and has grown a lovely heart shape tail in replacement!

Then, about a year ago i introduced the sister gecko to my 3 yr old male with the intention to breed, but after a very positive start, the male started to harrass the female to the point where she was looking rather stressed again. i seperated them on the third instance of witnessing her 'fighting' to get away, and thought it would be the end of my troubles.

2-3 weeks later i notice the female is in a serious condition. she has thinned ridiculously, her tail is thing, jaw looks drooping and tongue is slightly petruding from the mouth at all times.

after consulting the internet, i have followed directions of feeding the lizard on a concoction of clean baby food (yes human baby food -additive free etc), mixed with large amount of calcium and small amounts of multivitamin. i fed her using a syringe of the mixture twice a day for 10 days now.

Thankfully, she has bulked right up now to a reasonable weight of 38 grams. Her tale is nice plump again and i was generally happy with the improvements.
however, her tongue is still petruding from her mouth at all times (only a millimetre -but its visible which it wasnt before her decline) and after several attempts to feed her - she cant swallow any crickets/locusts/meal worms/wax worms -ive tried the lot in different sizes. She can quite happily hunt and snap at the insects.. but then after holding the insect in her mouth for a second or two (while manouvering it about in her grasp) she drops it /it slips out, and she picks it up again once or twice more before giving up.

can anyone shed any light on what might be wrong or what i can do to remedy this? the vet is useless and costs a fortune for advice that isnt even half as good as i can find on here or is so obvious he needn't of bothered. thanks in advance for any help and i eagerly await replies.

-Nell

 

[JordanAng420]

Hi Nell,
I'm so sorry you had a bad experiance with your previous veterinarian. A lot of them are oblivious & don't understand that for their client to be happy, the client must understand the reasoning behind what they're doing. Well anyways, on to your gecko.

Right now everybody is separate, right? That's a good start. Are your feeder insects gut-loaded and dusted at every feeding? Does she have a calcium dish in her tank?

Before I tell you what I think, in no way do I mean this as a diagnosis. I'm just giving you a couple ideas...Metabolic Bone Disease, also known as Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism is a good possibility. A "rubbery" jaw, lack of appetite and flimsy bones that appear to bend. This thread~~~> http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=39216 shows it in the gecko very clearly.

I was also thinking Stomatitis, a.k.a mouth rot by your description...some symtoms of this include: tongue paralysis, inability to swallow, discoloration, gingivitis, and a lot of other stuff I won't launch into. What I will tell you is, both situations require the assistance and medications through a veterinarian. I can help you try to find a good one in your area if you'd like.

Do you have good pictures of the mouth (preferably one with mouth closed, and one open) & the geckos legs/body? This would really help a lot.
~Maia, CVT, VTS

 

[Nell]

thanks very much for the informative reply. As soon as i read the symptoms, i knew it was MBD, and the picture confirmed it for sure. I think the fact she went 3 weeks without eating anything has to be behind this as she was fine beforehand.

Hopefully i've caught it early enough and get it treated. Thanks very much for the advice -ill post back once there is progress to report

-Nell

 

[JordanAng420]

I am glad I could help you. As far as her prognosis goes, I hope we caught it early enough to be able to treat her with good results. There are several things you can do at home to help with the treatment as well. Start by making sure your husbandry is adequate, the floor and ambient temperatures are accurate, and your insects are gut-loaded and dusted. Make sure you provide a moist hide, preferably with a temp in the low 80s.... a hide on the hot siide and a hide on the cool side...and a dish of calcium.

There are a few different supplements & medications that assist in the treatment as well. Calcium glubonate, Calcitonin, vitamin D3 injections and assisted tube-feeding if necessary...and it sounds like it might be.

This is the point where I have to stop, and leave it up to an experianced veterinarian who sees exotics on a REGULAR basis. Like I said, I can give you some names and maybe you'll find one you like.

Even after successfull treatment, physically she might not return to normal. She'll go back to eating, drinking and being a leopard gecko but the deformities will probabbly stay.

You can use a petrolium based lip-balm on the mouth-sometimes this can help with prevention of gingivitis. Again, if you need help finding a doctor, I will help you. She really needs to be under the direction of a good herp vet, though.

 

[acpart]

Just to check, are you giving her vitamin D3 as well as calcium?

Aliza

 

[Nell]

Hi thanks again for the replies!

acpart -No, i haven't given her d3 before.

JordanAng420 -thanks for all your advice. As for a getting a good Vet.. well im in the UK so im guessing your reach doesnt stretch as far as here? I will do my own investigating -but thanks anyway!

 

[acpart]

Hi thanks again for the replies!

acpart -No, i haven't given her d3 before.

JordanAng420 -thanks for all your advice. As for a getting a good Vet.. well im in the UK so im guessing your reach doesnt stretch as far as here? I will do my own investigating -but thanks anyway!

Check your calcium to see if it has D3 in it. If not, you need to give her small amounts of D3 so that she can metabolize the calcium (or else expose her to sunlight regularly). That may be part of the problem. Most people dust feeders with the D3 calcium anywhere from each feeding to every month. She may need a bit more at first if she hasn't been getting any.

Aliza