Very Sick Gecko

[Daylight_Thieves]

I would personally stay away from wax worms if you can, just because they are so addicting... I might have posted that in my first post, I can't remember.

I would use the largest mealie or superworm that she can eat- remember, no wider than between her eyes. Superworms especially are good at helping gain weight and will also give her more vital nutrients than waxworms.

Also, make sure that you are dusting her food with multivitamins and calcium w/ D3 and that you give her a small dish of pure calcium- NO D3- for her to lick if she feels she needs the nutrients.

I am very glad to hear that she is doing better!

 

[Pyxis]

Will do! I've been feeding my healthy girl gutloaded mealworms dusted with vitamins and calcium, so I'll just feed her the same thing. I'm not sure why she suddenly perked up - I had been giving her baths for a couple days prior, so perhaps she was very dehydrated? I can't remember, but she may not have had a water dish at Petco. There's one in there now, but it might be a new addition. Would dehydration perhaps have caused this?

 

[Daylight_Thieves]

Dehydration could have been the cause- but I'm not a vet so I don't know. Baths are also calming to leos so it could have just helped her adjust to her new surroundings.

It could also just have been a new home hunger strike. I have only had one leo that eat the first week that I'd bought them (and I've had 10) and she is definitely in the minority for how they are supposed to act.

I was wondering if you had separated both of the girls? I never saw a post say you did and if you didn't it would be wise to do so so you can accurately monitor each ones' habits. I've housed females together but only after the 90 day quarantine period and only if they were within 10g of each other in weight.

Do you have a scale to weigh them? It would be a benefit to buy a $20 kitchen scale and weigh them each week to see how they are growing. An early warning sign that something is wrong is a steady decrease in weight. Leos don't show that they are sick until they are REALLY sick so weighing is a cost effective solution to check on their health- rather than going to a vet ever week.

Also, a good way to visually check if they are healthy is to see if the largest part of the tail is as wide or slightly wider than their neck.

If you have the time it would also be great to see pictures of your girls.

 

[Pyxis]

They've been separated I kept the 'sick' one in the ten gallon so as not to cause her more stress, and Oasis, the healthy girl, is now the proud owner of a 20 gallon. Plus, it was much easier to up the temperature of the whole ten gallon with a ceramic heat emitter than it would have been with the 20. Pictures coming soon. But be forewarned, the skinny one is REALLY skinny. There's no way her tail is as thick as her neck, and her hip bones are showing a little. I'm so glad she's eating again. She also dislikes human contact, and will squeak at you if you get near her or touch her. Not a full on scream, but she makes it clear she's not happy about it. Is there any way to change this? Oasis is as sweet as sugar, though. They're so different, these two.

 

[Daylight_Thieves]

You can try just sticking your hand in the tank, but not moving it and letting her come to you and sniff/ lick your hand. Because they were probably only about 3 weeks old when they were shipped to Petco, they didn't have much interaction. It will take time to adjust to the handling. Although some leos are just not super handle-able. I had 2 that never came out really and others that rode around in the hood of my sweatshirt. It's all based on their personalities.

 

[grboxa]

I honestly DON'T UNDERSTAND why people still buy animals from petstores. ESPECIALLY[/B] ones that don't treat their animals right.

Here's another person who says they "RESCUED" some animals, but in reality your helping the store make a PROFIT from the purchase and helps them PURCHASE MORE ANIMALS to abuse.

I don't see the problem with buying a gecko from a pet-store you trust. Not all pet-stores are bad, and personally the reptile store near me I will support because they take good care of there animals. You sound very ignorant to be honest, you think all breeders take good care of there animals?. It's about being smart where you buy your animal from, (btw I have 1 from retail and 1 from a breeder). If your at a pet-store take a look around at setups ,ask questions and get a feel of the treatment by the store. Same with a breeder, you wouldn't just order a gecko from any breeder that comes up first right?, ofcourse not, you would research and try and find the best ones you can.

 

[Jayme]

Pyxis, your sick gecko probably doesn't want you to handle her because it might be painful while she's in such a sickly, underweight state. Give her some time to recover before you worry about getting her acclimated to human interaction. She'll probably calm down as she ages as well.

Also when my gecko went on a month long hunger strike shortly after I got her, I finally managed to get her to eat by offering some juicy, wriggling silkworms and hornworms. If you want to try those, your local reptile shop might have them, and if not they'd have to be ordered from the internet.

I hope all goes well. Maybe the vet will give her something for her appetite and vitamins. Either way, good luck!

 

[grboxa]

Glad to hear shes spending time in the warm hide and eating now. Shes probably very stressed, let her settle in, get healthy and slowly introduce handling, for now just let her be. Also, obviously since she has turned around you are probably relieved and eager to make her gain weight and get healthy, with that being said try not to throw to many wax-worms at her to try and fatten her up, iv'e read about some people doing this and it is unhealthy, just wanted to throw that out there. In my experience silkworms work great with putting on weight without the fat content like wax-worms.

 

[GeekyGecko]

I'm so glad that your gecko has had a great turn around. Also can't wait to see pics. My first geckos were also from Petco. One of them was very skinny, and the other as healthy as a horse.. LOL. He was stubborn at first, would not eat anything.

This is Marvel when we first got him:


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And this is Marvel now:

I gave Marvel baths in Pedialyte, also gave him slurry, and he finally started eating and plumping up in no time. So don't lose hope. Keep at it! With your TLC, healing can happen!