Sudden death of Twig

[chrisherp]

Hello Everyone

I have read thru many post before I signed up.
I lost my gecko 2 years ago and wanted to see if anyone had any input.
I am planning to buy another but after the pain of losing my precious gecko I wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistake twice.
I had him for 7 years and all of a sudden all this stuff started happening.
He started refusing his mealies, he started having seizures.
I also noticed like white bumps under his skin. I took him to the vet which checked for parasites-came out clean. The vet said he looked normal just a bit dehydrated so told me to start soaks which I did. A week later he started eating again, but then after a few days he stopped eating. He started losing weight and began to act lethargic. I called another vet which told me the seizures can be a sign of toxicity and to bring him in and so I did. She told me my set-up was great but wanted to draw blood to check his calcium level. Sadly it would have cost me $400 which I could not afford that day. I found my gecko Twig that wed cold and stiff. I knew he had passed away. I was so heartbroken a necropsy never crossed my mind.

I am afraid I caused his death by giving him to much calcium. Has anyone experienced a similiar death?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I'm sorry you lost your gecko. Without a necropsy there's no definite cause of death, so no need to blame yourself for calcium. It could have been any number of other things. A lot of geckos do well for a good while before any symptoms start showing. Best you can do at this point is move forward. If you want to get another, read thru forum threads and take note of somethings you'd like to do different than before

 

[reps4life]

Sorry for your lost. Their is no reason to blame yourself without knowing the actual cause.
If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think it was too much calcium?

 

[chrisherp]

Thanks guys for the responces. The reason I am convinced it was too much calcium is the vet was immediately concerned of the white things under the skin and she asked how often I dusted the mealies and I told her every other day as an adult and she said it was too frequent. That is why she wanted to draw blood but I could not afford it that one day.

 

[reps4life]

Thanks guys for the responces. The reason I am convinced it was too much calcium is the vet was immediately concerned of the white things under the skin and she asked how often I dusted the mealies and I told her every other day as an adult and she said it was too frequent. That is why she wanted to draw blood but I could not afford it that one day.

Well if you decide to buy another I would discuss the use of calcium; how much and how often wth the vet.

What was your temps?

 

[chrisherp]

Cold side 78~ warm side 92-94
My set up was basic as most people.
40 gallon
UTH
2 hides ~1 moist hide
He was housed alone.
He was doing so well. It all happened rather quickly.

 

[LZRDGRL]

Well, if you had him for 7 years already, he was an older gecko. So maybe it was just his time. For the next 7 or 10 years, you should get a nice new gecko in his memory Sounds like you did everything right. No reason to blame yourself.

I had a gecko who had seizures and died of a stroke (I did have a necropsy done). He became paralyzed in the end. It might have been because he got too close to the heat lamp and something happened to the chemicals in his body. It most likely wasn't just the fault of the calcium, which I always have available in a lid in the cages.

Hope you get back into the hobby. After all, 7 years is quite successful! :main_yes:

Chrissy

 

[chrisherp]

Well, if you had him for 7 years already, he was an older gecko. So maybe it was just his time. For the next 7 or 10 years, you should get a nice new gecko in his memory Sounds like you did everything right. No reason to blame yourself.

I had a gecko who had seizures and died of a stroke (I did have a necropsy done). He became paralyzed in the end. It might have been because he got too close to the heat lamp and something happened to the chemicals in his body. It most likely wasn't just the fault of the calcium, which I always have available in a lid in the cages.

Hope you get back into the hobby. After all, 7 years is quite successful! :main_yes:

Chrissy

I feel better already. Thank you

 

[gecko4245]

Hello Everyone

I have read thru many post before I signed up.
I lost my gecko 2 years ago and wanted to see if anyone had any input.
I am planning to buy another but after the pain of losing my precious gecko I wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistake twice.
I had him for 7 years and all of a sudden all this stuff started happening.
He started refusing his mealies, he started having seizures.
I also noticed like white bumps under his skin. I took him to the vet which checked for parasites-came out clean. The vet said he looked normal just a bit dehydrated so told me to start soaks which I did. A week later he started eating again, but then after a few days he stopped eating. He started losing weight and began to act lethargic. I called another vet which told me the seizures can be a sign of toxicity and to bring him in and so I did. She told me my set-up was great but wanted to draw blood to check his calcium level. Sadly it would have cost me $400 which I could not afford that day. I found my gecko Twig that wed cold and stiff. I knew he had passed away. I was so heartbroken a necropsy never crossed my mind.

I am afraid I caused his death by giving him to much calcium. Has anyone experienced a similiar death?

Did you use uvb? How often did u use calcium w/d?

 

[chrisherp]

No I did not use UVB. He was nocturnal. I dusted calcium w/d daily until he was 2, then every other day.

 

[gecko4245]

No I did not use UVB. He was nocturnal. I dusted calcium w/d daily until he was 2, then every other day.

I know they are 7 years old was young to me. Mine died at 12 but when I bought her she had mbd. I think every other day of vitD is too much, for babies I only use D 2 times a week. Adults once a week. Plain calcium was not the problem I'm sure. Anyway you have to look foward and get another cutie

 

[artes]

I use Repashy's Leopard Gecko calcium. It smells good, and has the right levels of D3 so you can use it without juggling to remember which calcium you used when.

 

[chrisherp]

I use Repashy's Leopard Gecko calcium. It smells good, and has the right levels of D3 so you can use it without juggling to remember which calcium you used when.

Thanks but I honestly do not like the idea of having everything mixed together. I am considering taking this approach instead.

http://www.petinfoclub.com/Exotics/Know_your_pet/Lighting_for_nocturnal_lizards.aspx

 

[artes]

Its totally your choice. I just have a poor memory, and I'd either forget where I left the calcium that I needed, or I would forget which I used last.

 

[reps4life]

Thanks but I honestly do not like the idea of having everything mixed together. I am considering taking this approach instead.

http://www.petinfoclub.com/Exotics/Know_your_pet/Lighting_for_nocturnal_lizards.aspx

great info. If you do decide to use UVB make sure it's the long tube and not the coil. Also place it only on one side only as an option, use a low level and provide as many hides as possible.

 

[chrisherp]

great info. If you do decide to use UVB make sure it's the long tube and not the coil. Also place it only on one side only as an option, use a low level and provide as many hides as possible.

Sure will. I am still looking into more information.