Possible RI, please help?

[Archimedes]

About your leo: Sobe
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: 12 yrs, Weight unknown at the moment.
- How long have you owned your leo: 10 yrs
- Where was he/she obtained: Friend

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: At least three times a week
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.
Not terribly, if anything she's more active.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
She had a shedding problem which effected her right eye, 6 months ago. Corrected now.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): Normal.
- When was the last time he/she went: 2 days ago
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on
Today I noticed slight nasal discharge. I gave her fresh water last night and she was more thirsty than usual. Also noticed a yawning/sneezing behavior last night.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size 15 Gal
- Type: Glass tank
- Type of substrate: Vita-Sand
- Hides, how many, what kind: One hide, Composite water dish/hide (only used as hide at the current time)
B) Heating
- Heat source: Overhead Lamp
- Cage temps Hot Side 84, Cold side 75
- Method of regulating heat source: Moderating lamp temp manually
- What are you using to measure your temps: Tank gauge
- Do you have any lights: Halogen bulb
C) Cage mates: None


Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet:
- Superworms, 7-10 per feeding, offered twice a week
- How are you feeding: Sometimes hand fed, sometimes left in dish for her to take as needed
B) Supplements: ReptiCal dustings on mealworms

Does this sound like the beginning of an RI? She's so old, I worry about her.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

It's hard to say, though it could be. I can see a bunch of things in your enclosure that would cause her to have a lowered immune system, which could have led to one. (12 isn't that old for a leopard gecko. They can easily live to upper teens or beyond.)

1) Does ReptiCal have vitamin A? If it doesn't, she probably has a vitamin A deficiency. I don't know about with geckos, but I know with some other reptiles, that can present as nasal discharge. I guess further explanation of the "yawning/sneezing" behaviour is needed, as those are two very different things. Could be the cause of the past shedding issues too. If ReptiCal doesn't have vitamin A, buy this instead and use it daily: http://www.petmountain.com/photos/p...nts/leopard-gecko-calcium-plus-supplement.jpg
2) Does she have a humid hide?
3) She needs two hides - one on the cool side, one on the warm side.
4) Bump up the warm side. Shoot for 88-93.
5) Buy digital thermometers and put the probes on the floor of the tank. Analog thermometers are crap and likely aren't giving you proper temps. They easily could be even colder than what you're seeing. An infrared temp gun would be a good idea too.
6) I would change out the Vita-Sand. It can be dusty, and especially if she appears sick, I would put in paper towels instead.

I would suggest a vet appointment though. RIs can kill if they are left untreated.

~Maggot

 

[Archimedes]

Thanks Maggot! She's been through worse conditions, for sure, but I'll look into a possible vitamin A deficiency and go from there.

The yawning-sneezing thing... Well, I've never seen her or our baby leo do it before. She opened her mouth and shook her head a few times, as if to clear something out. This was shortly after she'd been a little overenthusiastic at her water dish, so I didn't worry about it too much, but the nasal discharge this morning definitely planted a small seed of concern.

I'm going to work on upping her temps a bit, and next paycheck hopefully we'll be able to afford a temp gun. I've been looking to do away with those analog tank gauges for ages now, especially with it getting cooler.

I appreciate your input! She's a trooper, and I'm sure she'll pull through, but if we see signs of her condition worsening I'll make her a vet appointment right away. Since winter got here I've been an overanxious mother when it comes to my reptiles. Haha.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I dunno about the shaking head, but being enthusiastic about the water dish could mean she's dehydrated, especially if she doesn't have a humid hide and has an overhead light (which dries the air). Temp guns are a bit expensive (I don't have one yet either), so even if you can just buy even one digital thermometer (which is like $10) for the hot side, that would be much more helpful than the analog.

~Maggot

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I got a decent temperature gun on amazon for about $20. Make sure the temperatures you're measuring are ground temperatures and not air. If the air hits 90 degrees your floor temps may be too warm (you'd need to measure them to know for sure tho!).

My vet said that most of the geckos he sees are 8-10 years old. He said that most are hardy creatures that can stand less than ideal conditions for about a decade before their bodies start to show serious signs of stress. At 12 years old it would be important to make sure everything is perfect to ensure the longest and happiest life for your friend

I think if you see discharge a vet visit would be important. They can go downhill pretty quickly from an RI.

Best of luck and let us know how he improves!!

 

[NikkiC223]

Thanks Maggot! She's been through worse conditions, for sure, but I'll look into a possible vitamin A deficiency and go from there.

The yawning-sneezing thing... Well, I've never seen her or our baby leo do it before. She opened her mouth and shook her head a few times, as if to clear something out. This was shortly after she'd been a little overenthusiastic at her water dish, so I didn't worry about it too much, but the nasal discharge this morning definitely planted a small seed of concern.

I'm going to work on upping her temps a bit, and next paycheck hopefully we'll be able to afford a temp gun. I've been looking to do away with those analog tank gauges for ages now, especially with it getting cooler.

I appreciate your input! She's a trooper, and I'm sure she'll pull through, but if we see signs of her condition worsening I'll make her a vet appointment right away. Since winter got here I've been an overanxious mother when it comes to my reptiles. Haha.

I got the infrared temp gun on ebay for $7, brand new never used. They sell them in the pet stop for $30 so I got a good deal.

 

[katie_]

Shes not that old my friend has a female thats in her 28th year.