Problems with the kids

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ruthie_bee

Guest
Hi guys. I recently bought three six month old geckos; two albinos from the same hatch (Flick and Bean) and one leo (Snatch). All were about the same size when I bought them, though Bean's tail was a little discoloured.

Since then, Flick and Snatch have developed nicely. they both look healthy and have started to bulk out in the tail. Bean is painfully thin: you can see her hip joints and spine. The pet shop (the girl who runs it is a breeder and has kept geckos for decades) suggested that this might be due to Bean not eating because of bullying and too high a competition for food - this seemed sensible because Flick is a bit of a bully. In addition, Bean shed recently and I think that parts of the shed skin (especially round the tail) were two layers thick, like she hadn't got it all off before.

I have isolated her in a separate mini tank within the main vivarium, and have been feeding her on a diet of wax worms. She seems a little more alert and responsive than before, especially after she shed. I have been making sure she has the calcium supplement on everything she eats, and cleaning her tank out last, just in case she has any kind of infection. She hasn't visibly put on any more weight, but she's only been separated 6 days.

Stool looks normal (compared to the other two geckos), but yesterday she passed one of the waxys that seemed pretty much whole. I know she passed it rather than regurgitated it because I spied her doing it. I'm not sure if this is because I have been overfeeding her?

  • I have a couple of questions that you might be able to help with:
  • How many waxys should I be giving her a day?
  • Is there anything else I can give her to help her bulk out?
  • Is it normal to pass food that looks almost undigested, or is this a straight to the vets moment?

Thanks for your help!
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
I should also add; Bean was hand fed for the last couple of days since she wasn't taking food on her own. Today I have found that she has taken a worm by herself without any noticeable problems. I will keep posting here if anything changes.

Here's a picture of the poor little thing :(

Please give advice!

3517729689_000f225f10.jpg

(she no longer has the 'socks' as she has shed completely now)
 
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sleepyjones

New Member
Messages
144
First things first, you should get them off the sand :)

You also shouldn't feed solely waxworms, geckos like them, and can become "addicted" to them, but they offer little nutritional value.
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
Gotchya. I am looking at getting hold of tiles as a base after reading this forum! I had no idea sand could be so dangerous. I will be moving Bean onto newspaper tonight because I can do that straight away. It's not pretty, but it's not sand.

What would you suggest as a combination for food? I wasn't sure about crickets while she was so thin in case they ended up biting her, and I've read some real horror stories about mealworms eating their way out of geckos. I suppose I could snip off the head first and give her them by hand. Is there anything else I can do for her? I read somewhere on this forum that I can give them small amounts of baby food by putting it on the end of her nose (taking care not to block the nostrils) and letting her lick it off. Is this a good idea?
 
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sleepyjones

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144
I don't know where the story about meal worms eating their way out of a Gecko's stomach comes from, but it's just an old wives tale. It's not true.
If you watch a gecko when it eats a meal worm it'll bite it a few times, and even shake it a bit sometimes before it swallows. Even if a whole meal worm got into a geckos stomach without being chewed the digestive juices in the stomach wouldn't take long to kill it, not to mention that meal worms need to breathe, they'd suffocate in seconds, try putting a meal worm into water and see how long it lasts, certainly nowhere near long enough to eat it's way out of a geckos stomach. I can only assume that this story started somewhere when a mealworm ate it's way INTO a dead or dying geckos stomach.

You could use crickets, meal worms, locusts etc.
Meal worms will be the easiest to feed, it doesn't take much for the gecko to hunt it down. Crickets shouldn't be left alone with a gecko over a long period of time as the crickets will nibble on the geckos toes and stuff. If you wanted to use crickets or locusts, I'd suggest getting some tweezers and pulling off a couple of the legs. This way it'll have still the movement which should attract your gecko, but will not be able to escape.

In regard to the baby food method you talked about, I think your thinking of Golden Gate's Slurry mix, info on this can be found here : http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=19356
 
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M&I Gecko

Guest
I'd feed super worms also. They have a slightly less fat content than the waxworms. They would bulk her up really fast.
 
mainelygeckos

mainelygeckos

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Maine
is that shed also on her back feet? If so you may wanna soak her in a small amount of warm water and help her remove that with a qtip and maybe tweezers. the slurry is good especially if she is NOT eating on her own..if she is then yes by all means give her some mealies and crix or even supers as premier gecko suggested as long as the gecko is old/big enough as supers are huge! Crickets are less likely to bite on the geckos if there is a piece of dry cat food or dog food available within the tank but still you would not want to leave the crickets in too long anyway maybe 1 hour max? just watch her and see if she eats them..if not remove them so that the biting does not occur..good luck I hope all goes well..I also have a very skinny leo that was severly malnourished b4 I got her and the slurry has made her gain a few grams but she is not eating on her own yet as she is still too weak..I wish you the best for Bean :)
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
*lol* I should probably not have hidden that comment away at the bottom! Thanks for your help guys :)
 
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ariana

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i have one that is not gaining weight, nowhere near as bad as your Bean, but still not good.
you can get this repta aid that helps them gain some weight and you can order it online, get the insectivore kind, at ********.com
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
Can you pm or email me the website address? It doesn't show up on the forum.
 
Alusdra

Alusdra

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475
Location
Washington, DC
Your gecko is very sick. You should take her to a reptile vet- she might have worms or other medical problems that are causing her to be so very thin, if she is eating like you say.
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
There's one round the corner from me that deals with reptiles - I'll pop her in and see what he says.

Thanks Ariana; I got it now ;)
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
Hi all,

Just an update in case you were interested; the vet has said that she's healthy, just very very thin. I am keeping her separate from the others until she looks a bit more robust, but that might take a while.

Thanks for all your help and assistance (and I'm sure Bean would thank you too if she knew).

xRuth
 
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ruthie_bee

Guest
Since Bean has not put on ANY weight since the last time I contacted a vet, I took her back in today. He has diagnosed her as having a congenital defect which prevents her from developing normally. In addition to this (or perhaps because of it, I was pretty upset so I don't fully remember), she has something called a 'shunt', where the blood vessels don't form properly and constrict blood flow, eventually causing them to burst. Amazingly, this is unlikely to cause her any physical discomfort, although it has a serious effect on her mentally, and this is likely to get worse, resulting in her becoming akin to an end stage alcoholic; unable to distinguish between reality and likely hallucinations,. She will never learn to eat properly on her own and will never be able to gain proper nutrition from her food or interact with other geckos.
As a result of this, the vet has recommended putting her to sleep.

I wanted to thank everyone who gave me help and advice on this forum; I really appreciate your efforts on my and Bean's behalf.
 
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