Senior Leo

[catvettech]

My "Gex" is 14 years old. Due to personal problems, he and some of my cats had to go to friends to be cared for. After 1 1/2 year separation, he is now back with me for about 2 weeks now. The friend stated that he was not eating very well (if at all) for the past 6 months (maybe). When he went with my friend, he was a handsome, robust, dude......now he is thin (can see backbone, fat loss, head small, tail not as full) old man. I offer him food everyday (wax worms, crickets, butterworms, mealworms) and sometimes he will go for them but most times not. When he locks on to the food, it drops out of his mouth. He is eager and will try a few more times to get the food (I try to help), but most times gives up so I have been feeding him slurry. He has been successful at times and managed to get down wax worms and butter worms. I tested his stool once since his return (no parasites seen) and will be following up with another stool soon.

I have decided that I will not stress him and have blood drawn. I will keep him comfortable in the cage that he has known for his entire life and nurse him as I have been doing.

Anyone with information about senior leos? Most of the food he ingests is the slurry and his stool has been loose. I imagine it is due to the slurry?

 

[acpart]

One thing to check is whether he is having trouble holding on to the live food because he's calcium deficient and his jaw is soft. I had a gecko I was "reconditioning" that had this problem. I was mixing calcium with D3 and water into a paste and feeding her some. If you can get him to a vet it would probably be a good idea.

Aliza

 

[catvettech]

Yes, I thought of that but I am not able to tell by myself. I have made sure that he gets calcium. Thank you for your reply.

 

[catvettech]

Pictures of "Gex" attached. You can see that he has skin from previous sheds on his toes that I am working on. Looking at some of the other leos that are not eating, he doesn't look all that bad.

Again, any advice of senior leos would be appreciated.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

He doesn't look TOO bad... he still has a fairly good fat reserve in his tail. I'm not sure if it's the camera angle, but I may see a slight bit of MBD in his legs. Make sure he has plenty of calcium!

Also, when geckos are fed slurry over a long period of time, they will not eat live food prey becasue they are not hungry, and they can get lazy! Try pulling the back legs off a few crickets and see if he has a better time getting them.

Like Aliza said, if his jaw is soft from calcium deficiency, he'll have a harder time with the ectoskeletons on some feeders.

I'm glad you got him back! If you can get him back in better condition, he should give you several more years!

 

[catvettech]

I used to call him lazy! I would hold the food for this guy most of the time and let him eat it out of my hand. Well.....let's just say that I spoiled him. Anyway, his right front leg looks odder than the left front.

Since I have been feeding him, he is more alert and I have hope for him.

Are there any consequences in giving too much calcium to a leo?