Poor little LEO

[ryche316]

I have had 3 leopard Gecko's and can't figure why they passed away. My first one I had 5 years, my second one was only 2 years old and my last one passed away this week and I had only 2 months. All 3 of them just stopped eating and got real skinny and stayed on the cold side of the tank until the just passed away. I kept the tank at 82 degrees f. I had an under tank heater, an above tank ceramic heater. I gave them meal worms, wax worms, and crickets, and supplements with reptical. I did not have anything on the floor of the tank, no carpet, no sand. I left it as a plain glass 10 gallon tank. I don't think I was doing anything wrong, but maybe I am. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[grboxa]

:angry::angry:why didnt you take them to a vet? theres a chance if they were housed together they all could of suffered from parasites and slowly died.....first of all 82f meaning the warm hide?...and I cant grasp around the fact that you had a UTH and ceramic without a substrate......:main_huh:...also how much of reptical did you dust there feeders with

 

[ryche316]

none of them were housed together. I had the 3 of them at different times. Each of them I kept by themselves. The vets by me don't handle Gecko's they said they only handle larger exotics like dragons and eguanas

 

[grboxa]

bro thats not an excuse, just because theres none by you, dosent mean you cant make a trip for your gecko...comon. If you wont take your gecko to a vet dont get one...period. Chances are they could of suffered from a parasite you said they stopped eating and became skinny...did they have runny bowel movements prior to that?...and i STILL cant grasp the fact you gave them no substrate...warm side should be 88--95..........:wall:

 

[ryche316]

I have no problem taking a trip if I can find a good reliable vet. I've had a lot of shady experiences with vets.

 

[grboxa]

So I dont understand why you didnt, its a fecal smear which could determine parasites which then medicine will be provided....I dont want to come on so strong, but this is confusing. You obviously have read caresheets to determine you need a UTH, yet you gave them no substrate and kept the tank at 82f...which by you not correcting me still means the warm hide was 82 degrees which is not suitable for a gecko to properly digest there food....

 

[ryche316]

that's the weird part, their bowel movement were normal. no runs, liquid or diahera

 

[grboxa]

Theres so many reasons why they could of died...without visting a vet you wouldnt know the problem. You said they just all of a sudden stopped eating, dropped weight, remained in the cool hide and slowly just passed(signs of parastites)....over supplementing could of helped aswell. Regards to your husbandry did you leave plain calcium in the tank?....and didnt answer how often you used the reptical.

My only advice to you is to change your husbandry....put slate tile as a substrate it costs next to nothing....have a temperature gradient meaning your warm side is 90-95 and your cool side 75-80....mealworms crickets were fine but try and add something new here and there if you can...waxworms I hope you were moderate about them because they contain alot of fat. Leave PLAIN calcium in the tank, and dust with d3 1-2 a week./ vitamins once a week....and dont get another gecko until you find a suitable vet.

 

[ryche316]

I have reptical in power form and would sprinkle it on the food. I would place only 2 or 3 meal worms so I can monitor if she ate

 

[satyr666]

They may not have been eating due to the cold temps. Leo's need belly heat in order to digest their food properly, the temps in your warm hide should have been somewhere between 90-95 like grboxa stated.

 

[grboxa]

^+1 That would make HUGE sense. No surprise they had no apetite at a constant 82f...without an environment suitable for digestion.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I'm sorry to hear you have lost your geckos. Did you use the same tank, furniture, or water/food bowl for all three the geckos? If so, how were they disinfected prior to introducing the new gecko(s) to the habitat?

 

[ryche316]

HMM. See that's what I had the tank at and the last vet I saw said it was too hot and it should be between 80f and 85f. Thanks for the input. What I plan to do is get a new tank and find a vet that's honest before getting another Leo.

 

[grboxa]

you should give that vet a tough bronx treatment...all jokes aside i am sorry you did lose your geckos, just SO many errors. Make the adjustments and your on the right step, make sure your UTH is controlled by a thermostat and monitored by a probe/temp gun. And like marcia said make sure you take proper measures to disinfect the furniture you used previously on new geckos...theres plenty ways to disinfect. Marcia is determining if you transfered parasites incase you didnt disinfect since the first passing of your gecko. I just want to add about supplementing...make sure its only PLAIN calcium in your tank. And if you dust with reptical or w/e be moderate about the dusting...1-3 a week is fine with a vitamin dust once a week. There is such a thing as over supplementing...plus what do you mean by 'sprinkle'...putting the crickets in a keeper tube,container,plastic bag with some powder and shaking it up is the best way to coat crickets..since mealworms dont really coat well..you can try slightly dabbing the mealworms with some water prior to dusting

 

[ryche316]

Yes I used the same tank and furniture. I had purchased a reptile disinfectant spray from Petsmart and that's what I used to disinfect the tank and furniture. Afterwards I washed everything down with hot water.

 

[grboxa]

Im hopping and assuming thats fine , I'm not familiar with those products, I only disinfect with parts water to vinegar...but that is not affective for parasites. read this thread http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=81142 alot of good info and can explain why you may of still transferred parasites still using that product . Other then that man, like I said if you make the adjustments your on the right way, and find a new vet!:main_thumbsup:

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Yes I used the same tank and furniture. I had purchased a reptile disinfectant spray from Petsmart and that's what I used to disinfect the tank and furniture. Afterwards I washed everything down with hot water.

This will not eradicate most parasitic infections, especially coccidia and cryptosporidium. These parasites can stay alive on surfaces for months, and are extremely contagious. The ONLY disinfection method that will kill crypto is 10% ammonia, which is the pure household cleaner straight out of the bottle and you will need very good ventilation to do this safely. Your best option is to discard everything and start over with a new tank, furniture, decor, and bowls after thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting them with 10% bleach solution.

If you need help finding a qualified reptile vet, there is a link to the ARAV list on the 'info' page of my website. Also, avoid getting a new gecko from a pet store... find a good breeder. There are plenty of excellent breeders here on GF!

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Sorry to hear you lost your geckos. You are here asking questions so that tells me you really truly care, and want to learn more before getting more geckos. So that's a good thing.

Everybody already are giving you great suggestions and advices, so I'll just say ask more questions especially husbandry questions here on the forum. Vets aren't really always the best people to ask about leopard gecko specific questions. They are great for doing fecal exam and perhaps giving your geckos treatments. But when it comes to husbandry and how to better care for your geckos, you won't find better advice elsewhere. This forum is full of experienced breeders and hobbyists that have been through what you've gone through, and more. So if you are in any doubt about what you need to do, how to disinfect, proper husbandry, proper feeding/dusting procedures, etc.. ask questions here

Good luck!

 

[ryche316]

Sorry to hear you lost your geckos. You are here asking questions so that tells me you really truly care, and want to learn more before getting more geckos. So that's a good thing.

Everybody already are giving you great suggestions and advices, so I'll just say ask more questions especially husbandry questions here on the forum. Vets aren't really always the best people to ask about leopard gecko specific questions. They are great for doing fecal exam and perhaps giving your geckos treatments. But when it comes to husbandry and how to better care for your geckos, you won't find better advice elsewhere. This forum is full of experienced breeders and hobbyists that have been through what you've gone through, and more. So if you are in any doubt about what you need to do, how to disinfect, proper husbandry, proper feeding/dusting procedures, etc.. ask questions here

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the responses. I am reading everything everyone is suggesting and taking a little from everyone's input. I do agree about the vet, that's the issue I am having. They seem to be in it for the money and are quick to throw you out the door. I've had pets all my life from dogs to birds to fish and now reptiles and my personal experience has been that most vets are really nice at first and once they have you as a regular customer the quality tends to go down. I really do care for my pets and yes that's why I am here to obtain info from experienced reptile owners. Thank you :main_thumbsup:

 

[ryche316]

Im hopping and assuming thats fine , I'm not familiar with those products, I only disinfect with parts water to vinegar...but that is not affective for parasites. read this thread http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=81142 alot of good info and can explain why you may of still transferred parasites still using that product . Other then that man, like I said if you make the adjustments your on the right way, and find a new vet!:main_thumbsup:

Thanks so much, what a great post ! I've been searching for something like that for a while and kept getting conflicting information. Thank You again :main_thumbsup: