Sick & Skinny

[voretaq7]

Hey all, hoping for some thoughts/advice -- My little leo is a bit under the weather. He's never been particularly big (57g was his high-water mark), and he's been picky about eating for a while. Recently he was off his food for about a week, and this past weekend developed what appeared to be an abscess behind his left eye.

I brought him to the vet yesterday and we found that he also had two abscesses in his mouth (which probably explains the not eating). The abscesses were drained & debrided and he's been put on Baytril (5 units 1x a day). I've also raised his temperatures (from 92F to 97F, per the vet's recommendation while he's being treated since the abscesses can apparently develop from too low a temperature).
To help with the weight loss I'm also offering him chicken baby food slurry after the Baytril -- I managed to get him to take about .25cc of that last night without too much of a fight but stopped when he started running away from the syringe.


Two items of general concern to me that you guys may have some ideas on: His hot side temperature varies pretty widely (plus/minus 2 degrees F from the target), and his shedding/wet hide has always been on the cold side of the cage due to space reasons (it's too tall to fit anywhere else), but that obviously results in a very low temperature. I'm considering adding an extra heat mat under the wet hide, but if I do this it will reduce him to two hot hides and a "warm" hide plus the paper towel area.

I'll try to get some photos of the tank up later this evening in case those would be helpful.

About your leo:
- Sex: Male
- Age: 2yr
- Weight: 52g
- Owned for: 2 years
- Pet store rescue

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: 1-2x/week
- Is your leo acting any different today? Slightly skittish, probably b/c of traumatic vet visit & bad vision in affected eye
- Has he/she had any problems in the past: Off food last year -- fixed by bribing with waxworms.

B) Fecals
- Describe: Mostly urates, occasional normal (but small) feces.
- When was the last time he went: Yesterday (All over the vet loose, but probably a "panic poop")

C) Problem Description
(See Above)

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- 18x18 bi-level
- Glass tank
- Substrates:
- Main Level: Tile, hard clay border.
- Second level: repti-carpet, tile & paper towel
- Hides
- - 1x humid (old butter container w/ paper towels)
- - 1x Hot (half-log)
- - 1x cool/warm (top of a reptile den)
- - 1x cold (the "poop spot" paper towel. When not in use as a bathroom sometimes he burrows under it)

B) Heating
- Heat source: UTH Mat
- Cage temps: Hot: 97deg (normaly 92), Warm: 87deg, Cold: Ambient (~70-72deg)
- Method of regulating heat source: Herpstat (Wide variation: -2.0 to +2.0deg)
- What are you using to measure your temps: Herpstat probe & temperature gun.
- Do you have any lights: None in use currently - occasionally red observation bulb.

C) Cage mates
None


Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- Mealworms (as-eaten. Normally 2-3 a day. lately none)
- Waxworms (1-2/week)
- How are you feeding: Typically in a dish, occasionally released in the tank for "free hunting"


B) Supplements (describe how often)
- Repashy supplement (all meals)
- Calcium w/o D3 available in tank at all times
- Gut Load: Mealworms given carrots in the food dish.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

First of all, don't try to force feed with a syringe, it's very stressful! Instead, put some dots of food on his lizard lips and he will lick from there. I take a small amt of food and put meds in it, so it's a one shot deal without issues. There's a gecko soup/slurry recipe sticky up top here that would be much better for him than chicken baby food. Loose feeders in the tank can cause injury, even worms can. He really only needs two hides, one dry and one moist at shed time. The moist hide is intended to be a humid hide, so in the winter it needs to be warm. It doesn't need to be constantly moist tho, but certainly so at shed time. You may have better temp regulation with heat tape where you could make it in an L-shape, if that makes sense. This is why a standard style tank is more suitable for leopard geckos. Square is more difficult to deal with, even tho the second level makes up for floor space. 92 is not a bad temp, but you may need to adjust the furniture so he's happier. As far as the change in poop, antibiotics are the culprit there. It would be a good idea to get a probiotic to replace the helpful digestive bacterias that antibiotics kill, to hep him get back to normal, which may take a month. One more thing, if you are using the calcium plus Rephashy formula, there's no need to keep a supplement dish in the tank. Good luck with your guy, sounds like he's on the road to recovery!

 

[voretaq7]

To clarify a little - I'm not "force-feeding" with the syringe, it's just a convenient way to measure how much food he's getting. So far he's been very cooperative licking both the meds and the slurry up without having to be forced, and when he stops showing interest in food he goes back in his tank to bask and digest (usually this is around 0.5cc total volume)

After talking with my vet we switched over from the chicken baby food to a modified version of the slurry mentioned here (chicken baby food instead of squash, and waxworms replacing part of the Ensure). I'm also trying solid food every few days to see when he seems willing to eat normally.

Re: poop, the loose stool was pre-antibiotics (during his vet visit Monday morning) -- he was fairly panicked and emptied himself out pretty well.
He hasn't gone since, so I'm watching and waiting to see what effect the antibiotics will have there. I'm expecting to need to put him on a probiotic once the meds are done to help repopulate his gut.



I've managed to dial in my temperatures a bit better (added a second heat pad directly under the wet hide, and the new larger heat pad for the hot side) -- the herpstat is still temperature-surfing even at its highest power setting, but it's holding plus-or-minus 1 degree now, with the hottest hot spot just shy of 100 degrees (F). The square tank is definitely a pain compared to a standard tank but it's a question of space constraints in a small apartment...

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Sounds good It's going to take some time to make a full recovery, but once he's eating on his own, progress will pick up. Every little improvement contributes to better health, no matter how small Keep us posted!