Sick, Sick Leos!

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pkwj

Guest
Hello-

I am brand new here and to geckos in general. I do have other reptiles (bearded dragons, anoles and a ball python), just not geckos. Here is what I know about them.

I got them tonight. They are male/female...however they are NOT in good shape at all. They are very skinny, even their heads have sunken in spots. I guess this guy got them from someone in pretty much the same condition. But he said that he has had them for about 6 months. Shouldn't they fatten up??

The only real experience that I have with fattening up lizards is with my green anole and that actually happended pretty quickly.

The people that I got them from said that they have been feeding them dusted (with what exactly, I don't know) crickets and meal worms. They did say something about parasites, but not that the geckos had been tested. Also they mentioned some kind of disease that started with an R - I didn't recognize the name, but sounded like virus of somesort or bacteria that lives in the substrate. It has been suggested maybe Crypto was what I was forgetting, I will be reasearching that today.

So, I will be separating them tonight, getting their temps up and letting them settle in a nice quite part of the basement for the time being.

What do you suggest I do to fatten them up???

I would certainly be most grateful for any advice that you all might have.

Karen
 
M

Mel&Keith

Mod Squad Member
Messages
7,180
Location
Pasadena, TX
Definitely get them to the vet. If they weren't gaining weight but were being fed, they probably have some sort of parasite.
 
Golden Gate Geckos

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
Messages
12,730
Location
SF Bay Area
Agreed. Get a fecal sample to a vet ASAP. If they are not eating, you can feed them my slurry (sticky at the top of this forum) so they will produce a stool. Make sure their environmental needs are met, ie: belly heat temperature at around 90 degress on part of their enclosure.

Did you pay for these geckos?
 
P

pkwj

Guest
Thank you for the information. The chat was very informative - I am worried now though that my beardeds can get this (assuming that is what is wrong w/the geckos). How do I prevent that? Is hand washing enough?

No, I didn't pay for them...it was more of a rescue type of a situation. He didn't know what to do with them anymore. He said that they have looked like this the whole time that he has had them.

Assuming that he was feeding them correctly and had temps right, how long can they last with this? He has had them about 4-6 months.

I have on clean dry papertowel, with a red light (they were using white), they have water to soak in (and are), they have been misted and are in a quiet recess of my basement.

They have shown some improvement from being warm last night - when I got them their heads and bellies were to the ground and they weren't moving other than to breath. This morning they were up off of the ground and looking a touch more alert.
 
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pkwj

Guest
I have them with a UTH (that I stole from the hermit crabs) and a digital temp (that I stole from the beardeds, see a pattern here :) ), according to that the ground temp is 92.5. They are moving a lot more today, and soaking in the shallow water dishes. But haven't eaten the crickets yet.

I am thinking that tonight when they have been up to heat for abou 24 hours that they (hopefully) will be more willing to eat.

I am hoping at this point that one more day is a good thing and that they will get stronger instead of just prolonging the inevitable and causing them more suffering.
 
rubym

rubym

New Member
Messages
1,525
Location
indiana
I would as everyone else said get them to the vet ASAP. We had a rescue that sounded very similar to yours and the first thing our vet thought of was crypto. Luckily she tested negative.She had gastroeneritis and was full of pin worms. Our vet told us that it could be passed onto my bearded. i mad sure to wash my hands in hot water and antibacterial soap. I also used the antibacterial hand sanitizer after washing just to be safe. You also want to make sure you clean their tank daily. Our vet had me change the paper towels several times a day. It was alot of work but it was well worth it. I hope things work out ok for your little ones. Keep us posted.
 
P

pkwj

Guest
I have an appointment this afternoon for the one that is left. The female died yesterday.

At the suggestion of the pet store, I am feeding them a mixture that they use - pediolyte; protien powder and blended wax worms (or worms of some type). This is being fed several times a day. I am having trouble however, getting him to open his mouth. I can get his lips to part a teeny, tiny bit and squeeze a drop at a time in. Sometimes he swallows, other times in just spills back out of his mouth.

I would say that he is eating less than an 1/8 tsp everytime.

I'll let you know what the vet says.

Thanks for all of your help with them.
 
P

pkwj

Guest
Well.... the second one didn't make it to the vet. I did manage to get him to open his mouth and take about a 1/4 tsp. But I'm pretty sure that the stress of that was too much for him and pushed him over the edge.

He died before his appointment.

I want to thank you all for your help with them, it was greatly appreciated.

Karen
 
Bert-N-Sheila

Bert-N-Sheila

DOT COM JUNKIES
Messages
95
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I'm sorry for your losses.

I just wanted to make note that from my experience with the symptoms/issues you provided it could have been Dehydration. I had a weeee little little one that died because of it. I just wanted to add to this for future forums searchers this because sometimes I have had to force some rescues to take in water. The sunken in head you descibed along with the other combination of things was what I have dealt with on three occasions and all three times for me it was major dehydration. For whatever reason they were not drinking water. Again, this is not to say that this was your case... it is only added because of how alike your and I problems were. Two of the three made it out fine and I ended up keeping as pets because of the dedication that was required. (I got majorly attached in other words)
 
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