Sad Story

[PaintHorse]

First of all let me introduce my self. my name is sarah, i live in missouri own 2 leo's, an american paint horse, and 5 dogs. now to the story...

So i went to my local Petco and talked to a lady for almost an hour about leo's and the care the require. i then went home and spent 2 days on the internet getting all the information i could (i hate impluse buyers), decided they were something i would love to ad to my gang.

i then went on the internet (craigslist never fails)--and found a really nice set-up with everything but the heating pad for $40, diden't know this included the gecko. i got there and he brings out the tank and everything, with the poor guy in it. he said he was about a year old the size was about right, but i have never seen one this skinny that was alive. it was the saddest thing. i asked what he ate and he goes oh hes a real easy keeper all i do is toss some corn flakes in there every few days.:main_huh: i immediatly took him home put 4 crickets and a few mealies in his cage and the heat pad under it. he diden't eat for 3 days and was hardly moving. i had tried everything, hand feeding ect. i was grabbing for straws but figured hey what can i loose.

i went to petco and bought a baby thinking maybe he could be a buddy and teach the older one how to hunt. within 20mins he had eaten 6 mealies and attempted several crickets, but that will take practice. i am so happy.

if you guys have anymore first timers advise for me it would be very mch welcomed.

 

[BettaDragon]

I'm sitting here in school reading this with just a pure look of, "OH MY FRIGGEN GAWD!" on my face. Seriously, what moron thinks than a gecko eats CORN FLAKES?! Uhg, just when I thought the human population couldn't get any stupider.

Ok, now that that's out, time for advice. Be careful with the baby in there. Make sure there's no aggression between them because older geckos will attack younger ones but it seems like this guy barely knows how to attack anything so you might be ok. Try feeding him crickets with a tweezer. What I normally do when one is stubbornly being too lazy to hunt for theirself is grab the cricket by a couple legs with tweezers and hold it on the ground in front of them. For this one, since he's so skinny, I highly suggest getting waxworms for him. They're almost pure fat. Be careful as they can be highly addictive so feed those in moderation. Make sure his food is all highly gutloaded and full of nutrients and dusted because I'm sure this guy needs his vitamins.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm still in shock that someone could be that stupid and think a gecko eats friggen corn flakes. Send that guy back to preschool. If he refuses, as I say many times when it comes to stupid people...rusty spoon organ removal.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I agree that keeping the baby with this poor gecko is not a good idea. The baby could be eaten by the adult, and more importantly it could have a disease that could be passed on to the little one. Please house them individually.

You may want to try my slurry with the sick gecko, and get it to a vet:
http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=978

Good luck...

 

[Alchemy]

I'm sitting here in school reading this with just a pure look of, "OH MY FRIGGEN GAWD!" on my face...

My thoughts exactly!!!

I can't believe it's still alive on a diet like that, much less even able to move around. I'd definitely go with the slurry to put some weight on him and get some much needed vitamins into the poor guy. When he does start eating a little better try some waxworms. They're fatty little buggers and may help him gain faster than regular mealworms or crickets.

At least now he's in a home where someone can help him recover! Good luck with him!

 

[Bodon]

Corn flakes??? CORN FLAKES?? For the love of.....corn flakes? They thought it ate corn flakes, didn't they realize that it wasn't even eating them when they put them in there? im sorry....im sorry....i just got a little upset when i read that and i, CORN FLAKES???? CORN FLAKES! You have to be kidding me, corn flakes...id like to take that person and lock them up in a cage and then throw in shoes everyday and tell people thats what he eats, corn flakes....

 

[Double LY]

Like everyone else has said, putting the two leos together is not a good idea. Not only can bullying occur, but either one may be unhealthy and end up spreading it to the other. I see you live in Missouri, I live in Kansas City and would be happy to give you another tank, heating pad and lid if you need one.

 

[AndNothingHvrt]

Everyone's advice is perfect.

People are terrible. I come in contact with people like that everyday. That's why I feel it's so important that every animal goes home with all the information I can give them...for some people that worker at the big chain is the ONLY source of care and advice they EVER get. I don't talk down to people...but I assume they know NOTHING about the pet they are buying until they prove otherwise or I have educated them.

 

[Bodon]

CORN FLAKES!?!?!?!

 

[PaintHorse]

thank you all very much for you advise and support! so far the older one (chino) has really come around, hes no where out of the woods but he much more active and actually had his eyes all the way open. you should him stock his worms--he gets this little twinkle in his eye and looks up all proud like "look what i did!!"

i definatly do recognize the danger of keeping these 2 together and so far i have been watching them all night as i am nocturnal. Chino has yet to show any agression to the baby (Latte). in fact they seem quite close sleeping by eachother following each other around and such. i also snaped a few pics that i will post.

the sand subsrate has since been replaced with tile.

 

[Bodon]

Its great that they are getting along but a danger is still there with your older gecko because if one of them has some sort of parasite or disease it could pass it on to the other one. You're supposed to keep new reptiles alone for several weeks to make sure they are healthy. Just a precaution. I am also working on bringing one back so good luck!

 

[PaintHorse]

ok here are a few pics of my new geckos. i am not sure of the coloration, so if you could possibly let me know i would love that. the baby (Latte) i was told was a ghost, but am yet to find anything called a ghost on the internet. the older one (Chino) i have no clue what he could be. thank you all!

here is the URL to their photobucket.

 

[PaintHorse]

 

[lytlesnake]

That gecko has a skinny tail, but it looks surprisingly good considering that it was fed corn flakes. I think it will pull through. I would get it some hides so it can relax. You can get them at the pet store, or you can just use a tupperware or butter tub, etc... I like to use pet store hides for the dry hide and tupperware for the moist hide.

The hides I make use the Rubbermaid "Durable" tupperware containers, the solid ones with the red or white lids. I use a hole saw blade on a cordless drill to cut perfect holes in the lid, then trim the edges of the cut on both sides with a razor blade so it's nice and clean. Put some new zealand moss in there, soak the moss for a minute, then wring it out so it's moist but not overly wet. The hide should be at least 3/4 full of moss, that way the gecko can stomp it down and make a nice nest in there.

 

[Bodon]

Ghost?? The smaller one is a patternless.

 

[Michelle]

Smaller is a patternless and the bigger is an albino.

 

[PaintHorse]

yeah i was thinking the older one was a albino or lavender, i wasen't sure. and the little one i had no clue, so when the little one gets full grown will it just be yellow?

as far as hides, i have 3 in there just took them out so i could get a pic. i have 2 dry one on the cold and one on the hot, as well as a moist one.

thank you guys so much for helping me!

the big one is looking so much better now that he is eating! i also figured out as odd as it sounds he likes his belly scratched. haha

 

[ALGeckos]

I agree that keeping the baby with this poor gecko is not a good idea. The baby could be eaten by the adult, and more importantly it could have a disease that could be passed on to the little one. Please house them individually.

You may want to try my slurry with the sick gecko, and get it to a vet:
http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=978

Good luck...

I was going to suggest the same thing. Not only can the above 2 points mentioned above occur, but there can be aggression between the two, especially if both are male. The sick gecko will definitely need to see a vet because stress from starvation and improper housing/husbandry from the previous owner most likely caused more damage than what you can see with your eyes. Also, even though it looks like they may be getting along, diseases can spread and you can lose both of your newly acquired babies - so the risk may not be worth it.

If you plan on housing them together, make sure you house them separately for now until (A) the sick gecko returns to its normal weight and health, (B) they are not both males... so you'll have to wait until the baby is old enough to sex, and (C) they do not have any diseases, so vet for the sick gecko now, then vet again before trying to house them together in the future. Again, this is just a future plan... stick to separate housing for now.

Good luck bringing this one back to health- I am SO glad it found a better home... because come on.. CORN FLAKES?! Leos can really find that in the wild!! You should have seen my face when I read that... completely and utterly shocked :shocked2:

///

I also just looked at the pictures. I'm also going with patternless on the small one and the bigger one looks albino to me. You may want to try paper towels for substrate unless the husbandry is close to perfect because it can cause impaction. But this is also a debatable subject, so... it's up to you. I've always read about impaction due to geckos licking the sand (since they regulate their own calcium... but the calci-sand grains are too big for ingestion) and due to trying to catch a cricket, but getting a mouthful of sand. Just my thoughts!! Again, good luck. We're all here for you in case you need ANYTHING!

 

[PaintHorse]

yes i am currently looking for a reptile vet in my area, luckaly on here someone had already mentioned they are from K.C so i have a pm out to them.

i have been on other forums where all anyone does is argue, and they get nothing done. so i very much appreciate everyone's help with this! i am looking into getting a seperate tank, but for now i will have to use the plastic container methos for now until i can get another cage.

once again thank you all for you support!

 

[StinaKSU]

They said that gecko is a year old??.....no way.

 

[PaintHorse]

my thoughts exactly, this man i bought him from is yet to impress me of being anything but absoluty moronic.