Urgent....vet broke my geckos leg!

[rubym]

I am 95% sure my baby has a broken leg. Can a vet set her leg? Can she die from this? Ok to start at the beginning. I took our gravid female to the vet ( not our usual vet but this vet was recommended by a lady that has reptiles). I took her to the vet in her 10 gal tank because my husband has this adapter thing that plugs into the cigarette lighter then we can plug the UTH into it. We then put her and her humidity hide into her carring case. She was walking just fine in the vets when I was holding her for him on the table. They took her back to do xrays and brought her out in her humidity hide in her case. We then transfered her back into her tank. She didn't come out of her hide at all yesterday but I didn't think much about it becasue being gravid and the stress from the vet. I did look in on her and she looked ok. Anyway when she came out of it tonight she wasn't walking , she was scooting. I naturally freaked....took her out and her left front leg looks funny and she doesn't put any weight on it. The vet that we usually take the retiles to is 2.5 hours away and the emergency clinic is $125.00. Should I take her tonight? I just paid $98.00 yesterday for the other vet to do more damage then good. I am just stressing out here. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[boutiquegecko]

Not sure for the vet other than to call them and tell them what happened-though I'm sure they'll say they didn't do it. Is there a rep vet closer to you at all?
But for future travelling you can save yourself some trouble. You can place her in a small bin w/ damp paper towl and a heat pack taped to the bottom so she has a hot spot. That way you don't have to worry about a big ten gallon, stuff inside it etc.

 

[rubym]

No that is the closest vet. She has a carring case that we usually just use with the heat packs but her being gravid, I try to make sure she is extra comfortable. I called the vets office and left them a very detailed message. I am sure that they will deny it too but I want them to atleast feel bad. I also called the lady that recommended him and told her what they did. I just wasn't sure if a vet could set a gecko leg or if this was like a death sentence for a reptile. This is my first broken leg and I am not handling it well.

 

[Alchemy]

I'd be furious at the vet, especially since they didn't say anything. My guess though is that they may have accidently "dropped" her back into her case. She probably scurried into the hide before they realized what they'd done to her.

I've had so many pets over the years I've seen a lot of broken legs. One of the worst was a guinea pig that got thrown like a football by our neighbhor's small child who had gotten into our yard and opened our hutch. That was a bad one, the bone was actually protruding.

In most cases where it's simple broken but no bones are protruding or appear to be broken loose under the skin the vet will tell you that a splint will do more harm than good.

Put her into as small a container as she can comfortable live in until your regular vet gets back. You want her to move around as little as possible on it, so make sure that her food and water are all close to her. Keep her in a dimmed light, out of drafts and covered so that she doesn't freak out if something abrupt happens just outside her container (even someone talking with their hands might bother her). Try to keep her really low stress.
When your vet gets back take her in and see if their are any loose bones under the skin, if there are he'll need to take more aggressive actions. Otherwise he'll most likely tell you to simply keep her in the small container until the break has calcified enough for her to start bearing weight on it again.

If the leg starts to discolor or if you see bone protruding, call another vet immediately. Even if you have to drive awhile to get there, because they may need to amputate to prevent necropsy.

 

[Alchemy]

I forgot to address the fact she's gravid, how soon before she may start laying? It's going to probably be at least a couple of weeks before she's able to bear weight on that leg again, and egg laying could be problematic for her.

I'm not sure what to tell you there other than make sure that her hide is able to double as a place for her to lay. You'll want to check on her when she gets close, but not stress her out either. It's going to be rough, I'm so sorry.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done for a broken leg. Usually, they will heal on their own. Make sure she isn't climbing all over things, and try and boost up her calcium... which is good for healing bones and gravid females.

I'd let the vet know for sure. Let him/her take some x-rays (on the house, of course) and confirm there's a broken bone, get some liquid calcium (free, of course) and let her heal.

 

[yellermelon]

I had a gecko with a broken pelvis recently. she was also gravid. She was very bruised up and blue/purple in a large area. I moved her to a smaller container to limit movement and gave her lots and lots of calcium. She has since healed up quite nicley and begain to eat well again. She laid two bad eggs in the midst of this. That had to be painful. Poor girl.

 

[rubym]

She is in a 5 gal tank right now and I took Marcias advice and there is nothing that she can climb on. I put in a low humidity hide and her coconut is flat to the ground. The reason for the intial visit was because I was worried that she was egg bound so she could be laying any time. There is no bone protruding. We checked her over very carefully. I called our regular herp vet and she said almost the exact same thing that marcia said, No splint, liquid calcium, nothing to climb on. She said that if the vet that is responcible won't give me the calcium to come to them and they will. She said that we will wait a week or two and hope for the best with her eggs. She said that we may have to end up doing surgery and she would never be able to breed but like I told her that is no problem. Breeding isn't my main focus when it comes to these guys. She refuses to leave her coconut and I try not to disturb her too much. I figure the less stress the better right now. I am waiting on a call from the vet that did this to see if he takes any responcibility at all. I don't think that he hurt her on purpose and as someone said he may not even realize that he did.

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

You know I know how you feel. I took my geckos to the vet when i found out they might have a parasite. i took 3 of them in. Almost 300 dollar visit. I will never go back. The vet tech bascially man handled my animals. Told him my one female was gravid but he continued to man handle them. Thankfully the eggs she laid made it and hatch to two baby geckos. But I couldn't hold my geckos for weeks after him because they were so scared. My once calm 1 year old geckos that I raised from babies would run from me. And couldn't be held unless you were on the floor because they would run off your hands. i have since decided i wanted to be a vet, vet tech first. I know how to determine if they have parasites and I know how to treat with the panacur its just any other meds i have to go to the vet for. So i know how you feel and I hope she gets better and lays those eggs for you!

 

[rubym]

Thank you so much. I wouldn't be so furious if they would just bother to return my calls. I have left 2 messages on the machine and spoke to the receptionist. I am sorry but the least they can do is acknowledge that I have an issue. I don't expect them to come out and admit any wrong doing ( I would but.....). I realize that my lizard isn't a cute little furry but she means alot to me. I paid as much as someone with a cute little furry and I should get the exact same service. If vets and vet techs do not know how to handle a gecko maybe they should tell us that. I worked for a vet for 7 years ( he knows this), I could have went back there and held her for him. I am sure Ashleigh that you would have been happy to do that with your little ones also. All they have to do is admit that they are not familar with this type of animal.

 

[Bodon]

All the years of education and they can't learn to admit when theyre wrong.

 

[rubym]

Amen Andrew.They finally called me at 8:00 tonight and told me that it wasn't possible that they brokeit. She said that they set Merrick on the table and she just sat there. I now my girl is a great gecko but I have NEVER set her anywhere and she just sat there. I am sorry but as much as Ilove her, I realize that there is only so much that I can teach her and "sit" and "stay" I do not think are two of those. I told the vets wife that they better hope noone ever asks me what I think of them.

 

[tangerineman]

that's such a disturbing story,
i hope your gecko gets better and no problems with the eggs,

I don't have any experience in this type of situation, i hope they realize that this type of experience will travel very fast on the internet.

i hope you can somehow get payback for what they did.

some idiot probably thought it was 'cool' or unsual, and took the gecko out and dropped it...
people are idiots, someday the animal world will prove this by being the only form of life left, besides plants.

cynical and grumpy in nyc-
Duane

 

[BettaDragon]

that's such a disturbing story,
i hope your gecko gets better and no problems with the eggs,

I don't have any experience in this type of situation, i hope they realize that this type of experience will travel very fast on the internet.

i hope you can somehow get payback for what they did.

some idiot probably thought it was 'cool' or unsual, and took the gecko out and dropped it...
people are idiots, someday the animal world will prove this by being the only form of life left, besides plants.

cynical and grumpy in nyc-
Duane

I had an issue like that too. I live in an apartment. People came while me and my mom were out to fix something. I came back and my blizzard's cage was open and he was pretty freaked. None of the others were bothered. I guess they only messed with him because they probably never saw a white gecko before. Needless to say, we requested that people only come for repairs when we're home after that.

 

[Bodon]

Some people! It would have been so refreshing if the vet had said, 'sorry, we didnt realize we hurt it, but if you say we did then we must have. Bring it in and we will take care of it, and dont worry about the charge, we will take care of that as well." But no, i guess thats expecting way too much. Its called bad business and when they lose you as a customer and you tell EVERYONE you know about this incident maybe the vet will wish they had handled this differently.