Pretty sure her leg is broken, but I have a few questions ...

[Ado]

My son and I bought a this cutie about two weeks ago. And we got her home we noticed she walked funny a day or two later. I feel like It's my fault and I feel terrible about it as I didn't notice the limb in the store (and the pet store is a very awesome, clean, privatly owned pet store). I pamper her everyday rest and relaxation (and sometimes I set up a little play area on the living room floor where she can move a bit and eat wax worms ).

I have read in these forums that she will heal herself. She's about 6 to 8 inches long and seems very healthy. I feed her gut loaded crickets and wax worms dusted with calcium every other day. She just had her first shed and I noticed today the leg seems a little duller and smaller than the others and there's also some left over skin on the toes of the bad leg.

She shed two days ago and I'm going to let it go one more day before I mess with it. I have put pete moss that I've misted in her favorite home to help soften it up but it's not helping.

My questions are:

1) What's the best way to get the skin off her toes without hurting her?

2) Will the leg look OK when it heels? Right now she moves it back and forth when she walks and she tends to walk on the top of her foot. I'll post a picture.

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

 

[katie_]

Set up a tubberware container with warm moist paper towels. It will act like a "sauna" and help loosen the skin on her toes. You can gently roll over her toes with q-tips.

The picture didnt work. I highly doubt the leg is broken. Some geckos suffering from MBD (metobolic bone disease) will sometimes have crooked legs. Hopefully you can figure out how to post a picture, and we can see how bad it is.

A vet visit may be in your near future.

 

[Ado]

Got it. It's the front one there

 

[WilliamTheLeopardGecko]

+1

 

[ColoradoConstrictors]

looks broken to me, is it limping like she doesnt want to put pressure on it. or just like she was dumb.

 

[ColoradoConstrictors]

how do you make signatures like that? and sorry for your loss of your little leo..

 

[Ado]

Yea it's kinda limping or favoring the leg when she walks, not putting too much weight on it. But also walking with her foot folded over like that.

 

[WilliamTheLeopardGecko]

Me? Oh you go to user profile, click on edit your signature, type in what you want, and then if you want color or size or anything, you highlight the text you want to change and click on what you want (such as color, size) hope I helped!
Thank you. He died yesterday. He was a victim of parasites, and now I'm super worried that'll happen to the other leo I'm going to get, so if you have any tips go to my thread "starting over".
Sorry Ado, nothing in this post about your gecko.

 

[Ado]

OK hijacker, beat it!! I need some gecko advice!!

 

[SC Geckos]

It looks like MBD to me. Alot of times you will see issues in multiple legs like swollen joints, rubbery legs, or she will not be able to lift her belly off the ground when she walks.
Dusting all of her feeders with calcium like you are doing is going to help. Dust them with a vitamin powder as well. I would also recommend leaving a small bowl of calcium/vitamin powder mix in her enclosure. Most geckos will lick it out of the bowl if they feel they need more than the dust provided on the feeders. By doing this (if it is) MBD, her bones will start to strengthen up again. That front leg will probably be deformed for the rest of her life, but she can still be a healthy gecko.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I would agree with MBD. If her leg is broken and she keeps using it there could be nerve damage that mimics the foot rolling common to MBD but that shouldn't affect her whole body. the whole way she's holding herself looks a little off. Her neck is being held at a strange angle and her back legs are too wide spread. It could be from her favoring her front leg but I don't think so.

If you recently purchased the leo you can try bringing it back to the petstore. If that's not an option I would recommend finding a vet and getting her treated. Either way, broken leg or MBD, she'll need some special care.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Set up a tubberware container with warm moist paper towels. It will act like a "sauna" and help loosen the skin on her toes. You can gently roll over her toes with q-tips.

The picture didnt work. I highly doubt the leg is broken. Some geckos suffering from MBD (metobolic bone disease) will sometimes have crooked legs. Hopefully you can figure out how to post a picture, and we can see how bad it is.

A vet visit may be in your near future.

If the sauna idea doesn't work, you can buy stuff to help get the extra shed off. And it looks like MBD to me. A trip to the vet would be a good idea. (Imo, that's the first place you should have gone when you suspected its leg was broken.) They can help you determine how much calcium and such to give it to help it recover, plus they can make sure there's nothing else wrong with it.

~Maggot

 

[sausage]

+1 for brads comment I looked at that picture and it says MBD to me too. her face and back legs are tell tail signs of mbd. he legs shouldn't come from the hips at that angle while walking. to me it looks like she has week joints.
I would recommend seeing a vet for a proper diagnosis, that way you have a better chance of saving her and treating the MBD.
shes a nice looking gecko though.

 

[M_surinamensis]

You cannot responsibly diagnose something using a photo. You can form an impression of some possibilities, to prompt directed analysis, but you cannot arrive at a definitive conclusion to the exclusion of other possibilities.

Beyond that, metabolic bone disease is a symptom.* Underlying causes for it can be more or less common but it is not, itself, a description of the actual reason for the problem. It is a symptom that can create additional problems but depending on the underlying condition, the necessary treatment can be different. This, especially, is something that cannot be responsibly discussed in specific details related to an individual animal when the only evidence given is a single photo and the subjective description of a person who is, by definition, not actually sure what is wrong.

There is an important difference between the following phrases:

"Soft or rubbery bones can be an indication of MBD, you should see a vet and check your (husbandry parameters)."

"That's MBD. Give it calcium."

Compounded by the inherent qualification of the person issuing the statement to actually have an awareness of the myriad of ways that a symptom like MBD can visibly manifest and rule out other symptoms/causes that have a similar appearance.

Responding to health questions on a website with absolutes, with definite diagnosis, with specific advice for treatment or care is grossly irresponsible.




Now... what's up with the red substrate? What is that, exactly?






*more accurately, a broad group of symptoms related to bone density, structure and composition

 

[sausage]

the red "substrate" is her floor. as stated in the original post she kets the gecko run around in a pen in the living room.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

The unfortunate thing for you, whatsyourface, is that no one definitively said it's MBD.

I looked at that picture and it says MBD to me too

And it looks like MBD to me.

I would agree with MBD.

It looks like MBD to me.
...
By doing this (if it is) MBD...

No one said "It's MBD. Give it calcium." All we said was that to us it appeared to be MBD. Although people did suggest to dust the feeders and leave a small cap of calcium/vitamins available to it in its cage, but that's good advice for any leo, not just one with MBD. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure everyone suggested a vet visit, who could tell the OP for sure what it is. So that entire post was pointless. Sorry you wasted your time.

~Maggot

 

[M_surinamensis]

The unfortunate thing for you, whatsyourface, is that no one definitively said it's MBD.

... those were all definitive statements of diagnosis.

The ongoing problem with your posts is that you fail to recognize the context in which you are making them. People asking health and medication questions are going to represent a distinct set of qualities; they will be unable to answer the questions for themselves and they will be operating under the mistaken impression that people on a message board will be able to do so with accuracy and certainty. Or they wouldn't be asking to begin with. That puts a great deal of responsibility on anyone who chooses to answer to either deny those qualifications or live up to them. The assumption, by the thread starters, will be that they will be getting accurate, definitive responses from people that are capable and qualified.

Something that you, for example, are self evidently not. The people asking the questions don't know that though, they haven't themselves got the experience or knowledge to filter out the bad responses, the regurgitated google search results or the casual statements. When they ask a question and someone responds with "looks like MBD" then they are going to assume the person making that statement is in a position to know. There's a degree of trust involved and a great deal of potential for well intentioned but ultimately ignorant harm to be done if that trust is abused or that responsibility ignored.

You have no clue what's happened or happening to that gecko. It might be MBD or it might be a break, it might be hyperparathyroidism, it might be a genetic disorder prohibiting appropriate metabolism of calcium, it might be a supplementation issue, an environmental issue, exposure to a toxin or even some infectious organisms. Some of which, incidentally, can be made worse by throwing vitamins and calcium dust at them. You not only don't know enough to identify these things, you're oblivious to the fact that they are even possibilities. You are an inexperienced, under-educated hobbyist that has read a couple websites and is so profoundly oblivious to the sheer volume of information that you don't know that you can't see any difference between yourself and the people who actually have some degree of expertise.

You are harming animals with your inability to muzzle yourself. You are encouraging others to engage in short-sighted or risky behaviors. Stop it. What you need to do is learn when it would be helpful for you to contribute what you know and when to shut the hell up because you don't actually know anything of value.



Kelli, this is the kind of stuff that keeps causing me to suggest that you lock up this subforum. Idiots who read the first two chapters of Tremper's manual and almost remember some of it are in here giving medical advice.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

... those were all definitive statements of diagnosis.

Since when is 'it looks like MBD to me' and 'you should see a vet' a definitive diagnosis? And please read again:
"No one said "It's MBD. Give it calcium." All we said was that to us it appeared to be MBD. Although people did suggest to dust the feeders and leave a small cap of calcium/vitamins available to it in its cage, but that's good advice for any leo, not just one with MBD. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure everyone suggested a vet visit, who could tell the OP for sure what it is."

In fact, the words "That's MBD" don't even appear on this page until your post. I agree that a definitive diagnosis can't be given via the internet by anyone, especially people without veterinary training, hence my suggestion that OP see a vet (as has been to everyone, I believe, asking about some health issue). I don't get why people even post and ask these questions, frankly. I'd love to tell them they're idiots for asking us and to stuff it and see a vet immediately, but then I'd get people complaining because I'm not nice enough.

~Maggot

 

[katie_]

I think we can all agree that the OP needs to see a herp vet.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I think we can all agree that the OP needs to see a herp vet.

Definitely agreed. Case closed.

~Maggot