Saved collapsed looking geckos from pet store

[darluh]

Hello! I was hired at a pet store 2 months ago and was comfortable enough this week to confront my manager about the unacceptable health of the leopard geckos there. They kept 7 geckos in a 5 gallon tank, 3 of which look extremely malnourished, anorexic and skinny, two of those three have regenerated tails. The larger healthier geckos have tails and I'm assuming that they were bullying the smaller geckos and that is the reason for their dilapidated state. They were all eating crickets and I'm not convinced that they were ever dusted with calcium or vitamins :| They were also sprayed instead of having a water dish.

I have made it a mission to correct this stores treatment of their reptiles starting with the worst off, these guys.

I have the three sickly geckos at home now in a larger tank, all together, and I'm hoping that I can rehabilitate them. They are extremely underweight so I was wondering if there was anything with a higher protein content that I could feed to help get their weight back up. Is it too soon for waxworms? I have given them a calcium dish and they all 3 have eaten from it within the first hour I've had them at my home. I had separated them during feeding at my work and they all managed to eat crickets, so I'm pretty sure they WANT to eat, we will see tonight when I feed everyone.

I am the proud owner of two chubby healthy silly awesome leopard geckos that my boyfriend and I have had for about 2.5 years now, so I know all about temperature, substrate and the general care of these guys.

I am just curious if anyone has any suggestions about rehabilitating these guys. Any input is appreciated, I just want them to get better!!! THANKS!!

 

[SC Geckos]

I would suggest taking it slow with them as far as putting on weight. You could offer a dish of mealworms which have a bit more fat content than crickets. I would also mix in some vitamin powder with the calcium in the dish in addition to dusting the feeders. That way if the geckos feel they need more than whats on the feeders they have it available. Personally I would seperate them. They tend to do much better on there own versus in groups. Also this way if you use a dish of mealworms, you can count the feeders to make sure they all are eating. Another good thing to have on hand would be a scale to keep records of there weights.
Good luck.

 

[Art Geckos]

Sweet! Good for you to confront your boss about that and get some medical aid to those little dudes... The good news is, leopard geckos are extremely resilient! They are pretty much the biological equivalent of the terminator so I have full confidence they will bounce back fully- just by isolating them from the bully..

also using a multivitamin powder like vionate, in conjunction with the calcium you currently use would help... try waxworms and mealworms ) and make sure you provide bellyheat for proper digestion (if you dont already do )

GOOD WORK ;D

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Good on you for doing this! So many people won't say anything. I wish there were more people like you. You deserve cupcakes.

I'm sure these guys will bounce back if they're just given the proper care (which you seem to know all about). Don't be afraid to give food with a bit higher fat content until they get back to a healthy weight. Here's a PDF analysing the nutritional content of different feeders:
http://moonvalleyreptiles.com/files/Feeder-Nutrition-Common-Reptile-Feeders-v1.0.pdf

Hope that helps. And you should totally post pics as they progress!

~Maggot

 

[darluh]

Thanks guys for your input! I feel great about doing this and really hope they will bounce back. They seem quite content so far. Only one of them ate tonight when I fed them, the biggest of the 3 (the one closest to the camera in the first picture). The one with the tail is shedding (obviously) and is chillin in her wet house. She stands and walks at that insane angle, but they all have really bendy arms, and are kind of walking on their elbows :[

Here are some pictures of them:

 

[chastity]

looks like mbd to me although i've never had one who has gone through it. going to need a lot of love and care but i'm glad they have you.

 

[darluh]

looks like mbd to me although i've never had one who has gone through it.

I've been reading about that and I agree :[ I hope its not too late for them to recover from MDB

 

[chastity]

make sure you keep up with the calcium. the first two look like they don't have it too bad, the last one makes me sad. idk how they let it go on that long with her and didn't realize something was wrong.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

That looks like very advanced MBD to me (though I'm not an expert). They definitely need to see a vet immediately, as I believe that such advanced cases can't be treated with regular calcium supplements. It's possible that they may need to be euthanised. I can't tell you for certain, mind you, but it looks like the first two are too far gone. Here's some info:

"Metabolic bone disease can only be fully reversed when detected early on. The use of certain brands of MVBs in the U.S.A has cured Green iguanas suffering from MBD. If MBD is suspected reptiles should be immediately taken to a specialist exotics vet who will be able to advise on what action should be taken. Husbandry issues should be immediately addressed to avoid worsening the condition: the UV bulb should be replaced (or included if there wasn’t already) and the diet should be heavily supplemented. In advanced cases especially where the disease prevents the reptile from feeding different forms of calcium must be injected directly. Appetite may return and trembling and partial paralysis may be cured by treatment but damage to the spine, bones and any resulting internal injuries will probably remain."
http://www.reptileexpert.org/metabolic-bone-disease/

Again, you need to see a vet ASAP.

~Maggot

 

[darluh]

I know that these geckos are sick, and probably have MBD. It breaks my heart that their fate is ultimately out of my control, I do not want to see any animal suffer. I highly doubt they will fork out the money for me to take them to a vet. I am new to this job and I've already seen 2 rabbits die from wet tail and one ball python (not sure what was wrong with it) but it really makes me concerned about working for a company like this.

I will go in on my day off tomorrow to speak to the assistant manager, and discuss the possibility of seeing a vet. If this does not work I will contact different vets and discuss seeing someone for an extremely reduced rate or something. I am afraid to contact a higher-up at this corporate company I work for because I really do enjoy my job and anonymity is usually a pile of crap. I wouldn't put it past them to fire me for "telling on them". I've only been there for two months, it would be obvious that it was me. My over-all concern is more about the animals than my job, but I feel like I am in a tight spot I will keep yall updated. Thanks.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I know that these geckos are sick, and probably have MBD. It breaks my heart that their fate is ultimately out of my control, I do not want to see any animal suffer. I highly doubt they will fork out the money for me to take them to a vet. I am new to this job and I've already seen 2 rabbits die from wet tail and one ball python (not sure what was wrong with it) but it really makes me concerned about working for a company like this.

I will go in on my day off tomorrow to speak to the assistant manager, and discuss the possibility of seeing a vet. If this does not work I will contact different vets and discuss seeing someone for an extremely reduced rate or something. I am afraid to contact a higher-up at this corporate company I work for because I really do enjoy my job and anonymity is usually a pile of crap. I wouldn't put it past them to fire me for "telling on them". I've only been there for two months, it would be obvious that it was me. My over-all concern is more about the animals than my job, but I feel like I am in a tight spot I will keep yall updated. Thanks.

They definitely need medical attention, whatever you have to do to get it for them. You could always send these pics to a local news station and inform them of all that's been going on at the store. Some bad publicity and decreased profits might convince them to start actually doing their jobs.

~Maggot

 

[darluh]

That defiantly would not end well as the employee handbook bans us from speaking about them on any social media websites.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

That defiantly would not end well as the employee handbook bans us from speaking about them on any social media websites.

No, not a social media website. I said go to the local news. You can show them this stuff anonymously.

~Maggot

 

[athdaraxen]

I know you can report stores to some animal abuse websites. I'm not sure of the url, I'll go find it!

Here it is!
http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal_cruelty/reporting_abuse/pet_stores.php

Sent from my Samsung Captivate using Tapatalk 2.

 

[darluh]

I will be reporting them eventually, right now I'm going to keep it calm because I need to keep my job. I will be keeping close track of this evidence.

I went into work and spoke with the assistant manager today, she has to get approval from the corporate office to see a vet. I am hoping to hear tomorrow that we have a scheduled vet visit. She was very concerned about them and is going to investigate why this happened and make sure the remaining geckos are properly cared for.

The babies got a brand new heat mat, vitamin D, calcium, mealworms and waxworms and a fancier hide during my visit. If they really can't be saved, they will be comfortable and spoiled until their time to go to gecko heaven comes!

 

[darluh]

I am now feeding the geckos with a syringe an insect calcium smoothie. They have so much energy and will to live. Looks like the pet store doesn't want to take them to the vet. I'm going to take them when i get paid but I'm not sure if ill be able to afford the treatment.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I am now feeding the geckos with a syringe an insect calcium smoothie. They have so much energy and will to live. Looks like the pet store doesn't want to take them to the vet. I'm going to take them when i get paid but I'm not sure if ill be able to afford the treatment.

Try finding a rescue to take them then.

~Maggot

 

[inkmouse]

I also worked for a corporate pet store... Let's call it "Petblow". lmao. I understand the difficulty she's having because if we were ever allowed to take sick animals home (rarely) we were not allowed to take them to a vet ourselves. They were only allowed to see an approved vet and Petblow was very resistant to sending anything to the vet as just sending them out cost $100-200. The result was sick mice and rats getting fed to snakes (yikes!) and the few caring employees would spend hours a day back in the "wellness" room trying to help with bad sheds, vitamin deficiency, starvation, etc. We would lobby to take them home to nurse them back to health and bring them back out of our pocket, which sometimes was allowed. At one point I stole a Bearded dragon baby that was extremely close to death and returned it 2 weeks later with no one being the wiser.
OP, it's a very difficult situation. You are a good person for doing this. I eventually had to quit my job as I couldn't stand the neglect and had 4 other employees leave in the month after I was gone. I hope this works out for you!

 

[sausage]

did these guys make it in the end? what happened??