sudden death =/

[troy]

Hi everyone,
My name is Troy. Been visiting this sight for a number of years, back when i was big into beardies. However i have been dealing with leopard geckos and am truely fascinated with them. Recently my favorite female tremper passed away, around 3p.m. i noticed her (today is 4/14/13).
I am somewhat confused and upset by this so i wanted any insight.
setup
40g breeder dome light n 2 uth's temp run 95-100 warm side/ 73 cool side/ under main hot hide temps run 92.
many hides on each side of the tank. calcium and water offered and cleanings weekly
When i got her i had no idea she was pregnant, honestly thought she wasnt but i was prepared. im almost positive she was a first year egg laying girl. averaging 45-52 grams, weight is low but i did not choose to breed her; deed was done before i recieved her.
3-4 days ago she laid 2 eggs, and was eating like a pig drinking from the humid hide water droplets. Seemingly healthy, just tired from egg laying and low on weight, but was not lethargic. making regular fecal droppings/fecal looked normal.
Now she is deceased =/. After holding her i noticed she had white clots which looked like either calcium clumps/eggs/fatty deposits. Hard to determine but just seemed too fast to be another set of eggs, considering she had just previously laid the eggs. However it could be and she could have been egg bound. I am really at a loss and confused any insight would be very much appreciated.

 

[LZRDGRL]

Sometimes, females die after laying eggs. Not sure why; something internal... Had this happen several times. It wasn't your fault, and there's nothing you could do. The previous owner might have bred her when she was still too small.

Did you incubate the eggs? Females can lay eggs (duds) without having been with a male, so maybe she hadn't been bred at all...

Sorry that happened!!
Chrissy

 

[troy]

Sometimes, females die after laying eggs. Not sure why; something internal... Had this happen several times. It wasn't your fault, and there's nothing you could do. The previous owner might have bred her when she was still too small.

Did you incubate the eggs? Females can lay eggs (duds) without having been with a male, so maybe she hadn't been bred at all...

Sorry that happened!!
Chrissy

honestly i did not incubate the eggs. i felt bad but they did not look fertile when i got them/found them. dimpling badly i didnt catch them soon enough. this season she currently laid about 9 eggs, so i thought that she may have been bred. when i recieved her she was about 48 grams sadly.
i have 8 leos currently and im nervous about my other guys/girls.
all of them have had fecal exams but i did research on crypto, which just scared me =/. how rare is crypto and if a gecko has it will they continue eating days before they pass etc?

 

[Kylerbassman]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I would be diligent and make sure your cleaning everything until you can come up with a conclusion. Did you notice major weight loss recently in the Tremper? I'm thinking it was probably a complication with laying, but just be safe and make sure anything that came in contact with that Leo is either disposed of or completely cleaned/disinfected (I would just pitch stuff). If you notice any change in your others, it's worth getting them tested/checked ASAP. Once again, sorry for the loss. Unfortunately that's a risk to any female that is bred, but one that small ( I know it wasn't your fault) doesn't have great odds to not have a complication.

 

[troy]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I would be diligent and make sure your cleaning everything until you can come up with a conclusion. Did you notice major weight loss recently in the Tremper? I'm thinking it was probably a complication with laying, but just be safe and make sure anything that came in contact with that Leo is either disposed of or completely cleaned/disinfected (I would just pitch stuff). If you notice any change in your others, it's worth getting them tested/checked ASAP. Once again, sorry for the loss. Unfortunately that's a risk to any female that is bred, but one that small ( I know it wasn't your fault) doesn't have great odds to not have a complication.

honestly no major weight loss, no loss of appetite, really no change at all that i noticed. 2 days before she passed she ate about 20 1/2 inch crickets with calcium powder. only weight loss i noticed was after the eggs were laid which made sense to me considering it took a toll on her. actively hunting, aggressively chasing, and drinking water from the humid hide. at the moment one of my other females have come in contact with the female that passed a week ago or so, no changes in her behavior, she climbed out and fell into the tank (i have a rack setup). the girl and the one that passed i got together and had them together for some time. I spent a lot of money on the setup =/ i dont care about the ornaments as much as i do the actually show tank. Do you recommend pitching the tank as well?

 

[acpart]

As I understand it, crypto is a wasting disease so if a gecko with no symptoms died suddenly I wouldn't think it would be crypto (but I'm not a vet . . .). I would guess that thoroughly washing out the tank with a water/bleach solution and letting it sun-dry would be adequate.

Aliza

 

[Kylerbassman]

I also don't think it's crypto as stated. Put it this way, if you have a Leo that has crypto, you should honestly get rid of everything that was touched or used by that leo. It's not worth the risk to save a few bucks. I would bet its not crypto though. Again, sorry for the loss, keep monitoring others and make sure you don't see signs and or changes in behavior and so on. I would quarantine any other Leo that had contact (for now) until you can verify everyone's healthy. You may just want to get them all a fecal test done to rule stuff out.

 

[troy]

As I understand it, crypto is a wasting disease so if a gecko with no symptoms died suddenly I wouldn't think it would be crypto (but I'm not a vet . . .). I would guess that thoroughly washing out the tank with a water/bleach solution and letting it sun-dry would be adequate.

Aliza

Thank you all for your input! you have been great. I didnt think it was crypto but after researching it it just scared me beyond belief. I am getting my female a fecal exam(the one that came in contact with my passing girl). I am going to wash everything out a few times and let it dry and sit for a while until i move one of my other girls into that enclosure. Thank you all for helping out =D.