New to me leo VERY! Skinny!

[Butterfly_babe4200]

I just bought a female hypo tang from a guy that said she was skinny from just laying eggs. He said all his females get like this and it is fine. I dont think she is fine! She is skin and bones. I have her in a seperate tank with an UTH, shallow water bowl, and calcium bowl. Only paper towel. She ate 2 super worms the night she arrived but have not eaten in 5 days now. I have tried more worms and crickets. She smells bad to me not the cage her. I dont have the money to run a $10 gecko to the vet they cost alot here in Miami (it would take my whole pay check) I have other mouthes to feed. I realy would like to try some home remidies first. Please advise.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

Check to make sure the uth is providing enough heat for her. Even if she is not eating, keep food present in her cage at all times (worms ina dish is best so the crickets dont bug/bite her).

Also I would try assist feeding at that point. Hold her in your hands so that you have access to her head and mouth. Pop the head off of a worm (super or meali) and then press it against her mouth until she opens her mouth or decides she wants to eat it. That is certainly not a common occurrence for females to look like after laying.

 

[gothra]

Oh she is in very bad shape. Keep her in warmer places (not just belly heat, but also ambient temp) and make sure she is well hydrated. Is she active at all? I see that you have crickets in her tank, perhaps you can pull off some legs and cut the antenna; that'll make catching those crickets easier for her. If she doesn't resume eating, I would definately try Marcia's slurry.

If possible, you should also take a fresh fecal sample for parasite test. Good luck in nursing her back to health.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Take her back to who you bought her from and get a refund. She is more than likely past the point of saving. Kudos to you if you try and succeed but I dont see that happening.

 

[gothra]

Take her back to who you bought her from and get a refund. She is more than likely past the point of saving. Kudos to you if you try and succeed but I dont see that happening.

I think so too, just didn't want to say it out. Doesn't mean it is absolutely impossible to save, but its going to be difficult.

 

[Butterfly_babe4200]

Thank you I will try that now. Any other ideas? Oh and take her back... really to the guy that let her get this way! No way I want to break in and ghet the others he said he has that are the same.

 

[Butterfly_babe4200]

I have Panacur should I even try that? If yes how much?

 

[UnicornSpirit]

omg!!!! What a jerk- whoever sold it to you.

That's so sad.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

omg!!!! What a jerk- whoever sold it to you.

That's so sad.

+1

She needs more than food.... the poor little thing

I wouldn't get another thing from him!

 

[UnicornSpirit]

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Meds.html

That site has everything you need!

Oh..... and I was thinking.... maybe you should report this guy to your local ASPCA??
http://www.aspca.org/

Especially, if he says there are more like that. Just because they're reptiles doesn't mean it isn't animal cruelty.

Take care and good luck!

 

[Butterfly_babe4200]

Here in miami I dont think the ASPCA would even care. They have so much on their plate. I wish I could afford to go get them all from him and fix them before he kills them.

 

[Butterfly_babe4200]

Ok I did what I could with what I have here at the house. I smashed some superworms and baby food and water made a chunky paste and spooned some into her mouth. She refused some but I think some got in. Please advise if you have any other ideas thanks

 

[jemjdragon]

I would just keep trying to feed her what you made and if you can, make some slurry.
Reptiles usually hate to be force fed, so what most people do is put a bit of food on the gecko's nose (dont cover her nostrils) and the gecko will usually lick it off. =]

Keep about half a babyfood jar full of slurry in the fridge and freeze the rest in an icecube tray so it doesnt go bad. When the babyfood jar is empty or the slurry in the jar goes bad, rinse out the jar and defrost a cube of slurry in it. =]

 

[L-G-C]

Oh goodness. The gecko I bred this year stayed over 50grams throught the breeding. That is not normal. Good luck, I hope she pulls through. I have a couple of babies I rescued that were in about the same shape and they are pulling through for me right now. Just keep doing what your doing and goodluck.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

That's great that she took a little of the food Is she pooping at all? It would be good if you could keep her in a lidded plastic tub with airholes and lightly mist the warm end daily. That will help keep her hydrated as she will lick water droplets from the sides. Also less body stress when she sheds. Good luck with her

 

[RampantReptiles]

Im sorry for being so negative I guess I am just frustrated because I am dealing with a thin geck with a parasite problem at the moment and its a stressful. My gecko is no where near as thin as yours and I am still worried.

Did you see what condition she was in before you bought her? Was it dirty... a lot of feces everywhere?

Has she pooped? Does it look normal or does it look runny, smell bad, or not brown in color. Is there a lot of undigested stuff? Has she regurgitated at all? These are all possible questions that could point you to a parasite or bacterial infection.

You can try dosing the panacur once every 2 weeks, more than likely the problem is parasites and panacur is a general anti-parasite medication.

As someone else mentioned force feeding is very stressful for reptiles and really not a good idea. I put food on the upper lip when feeding a liquid.

My vet gave me this powder stuff called "Carnivore Care" by Oxbow which you mix with water to make a paste. It works pretty well and its a lot less messy than grinding up worms and such. What your doing now is fine just giving an alternative that you could either order online or possibly get through a pet store(I doubt chain stores would have this).

Also if you see her getting dehydrated you could mix in some pedialyte with her water or the mixture you are using. She does not look dehydrated in the picture but I know the gecko I have is very dehydrated so its possible at some point this may happen to you as well.

You can tell a gecko is dehydrated if you see that their skin is very tight and has wrinkles, especially around the stomach area.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Also you need to be keeping her enclosure super super clean.

Change out her substrate, clean her cage accessories, food dish, water dish, etc. This needs to be done daily. Do not leave uneaten crickets in there for more than a few hours. I would even go to the point of killing uneaten crickets rather than saving them for another feeding.

Wash your hands anytime you touch anything of hers, the gecko, or things in her enclosure.

My vet advised me to use a 10:1 solution of water to bleach for cleaning. Use a spray bottle and spray everything down with this solution. Let it dry. Then rinse everything with water until bleach smell is gone. Then reassemble cage and put her back in it.
What helps if this is possible is to have more than one cage available and multiples of cage accessories so that you are not constantly cleaning.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Im sorry for being so negative I guess I am just frustrated because I am dealing with a thin geck with a parasite problem at the moment and its a stressful.

Just want to mention the gecko in question is not one of mine but one I bought online. The seller has been kind enough to refund his purchase price and so I am not making a big deal out of the situation.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I'm a sucker for sick little lizards and always have some in rehab also. One is severe- skinny, bad eye infection, parasites. Slurry, saline, antibiotic eye ointment, panacur- yes it's frustrating. A female raptor about a year old. She's a sweet little thing and very slowly improving. The others eat on their own but 2 need parasite treatment, I've only had them a few days and they're on reptaid now since they both regurged their first meal. Starving they were! And of course thin. The other 3 girls are out of rehab and doing well. It upsets me that people let their animals get to that point. Adoption is always an option if an animal can no longer be cared for. Selling it is not the ethical thing to do IMO.

If you use panacur, it takes 3 treatments 2 weeks apart to kill all the eggs. If you can get some pedialyte, that would be better than just water to mix in her food. It's not natural for a gecko to eat off a spoon, be patient with her, and she will take some a little at a time You might take a look at the gecko slurry recipe sticky and add some things to your mix as you can Good luck with your new baby

 

[Adinar]

Wow, I can't believe he would sell her in that condition and not think twice about it!

I hate to say it, but that's how my Loki looked before we had her put to sleep... culprit was crypto.

Not saying she has it, but looks exactally what Loki looked like before she passed.