Very Thin Baby Leo, possibly compacted need help/advice

[Ellen]

Ok so im not completely new to leopard geckos. around 8 months ago I bought my first gecko, he was a pretty big adult male and he has been doing fine since ive had him. On the other hand this new leo i bought from +++++ is anther story. I bought this little leo from +++++ because it was obvious +++++ wasnt taking care of the little one, it is extremely thin, it has absolutely no fat in its tail (it looks like its just skin and bone). I bought him because i couldnt stand seeing the little one so thin in a tank with fatter babies. Going into this i realize the potential of this little one dying but i wanted to at least try to get it healthy again.
So i have had the little one for about 5 days now and it is doing ok. the first full day i had it i was able to get it to eat 2 small meal worms (which i was thrilled about) and over night he pooped. But since the first feeding I havent been able to get it to eat or poop quite frankly. A couple days after having it i was able to get it to drink some water from soaking a q-tip in water and it licking the q-tip. Looking back i hope doing that didnt cause any harm to the little one. I used the q-tip because i wanted to make sure it was getting water plus i wasnt sure if it was able to drink from the bowl in its tank. Today (about day 5) while i was handling the little one i looked at its stomach and saw (through the skin) that it looks like the meal worms are still in its stomach. Also today i gave it a little bit of olive oil (on a q-tip). When i first got my adult gecko i thought he was impacted and i actually went on this forum and saw giving them a little olive oil can help them pass the blockage. I dont know if it takes the babies longer to digest food or if it could possibly be because it is soooo thin or a possible compaction. (Note: if it poops *hopefully soon* im thinking the meal worms might be too hard for it to digest them so i might switch to little tiny crickets)

It doesnt look like its getting ready to shed, but i mean i could be wrong. Another thing i have a question about, i hope its not a health concern, but the little one looks like it has been dusted. Its not like its coloring has white in it

I need some advice about how to care for the little one and help it gain some weight, reptiles in general are new to me, my adult male is the first reptile ive ever owned and little reptiles are even more new to me! PLease i really need help, i dont want this little one to die!!
Thank you,

p.s. ive attached photos of both my geckos. 1st pic is of the little one in the tank at +++++ when i first met it, 2nd it wsat in its water dish for several hours one day. 3rd this is a size comparison of my adult male and the little one. please note i have the little one in a small container, because at this point i still dont know if it will survive and i dont have the money to buy another 10 gallon tank........also my adult male looks ate the little one the same way he does his meal worms, i dont trust him.

 

[rothsauce]

What is the tank setup like? By small container I'm assuming (by the pictures) it's just a small tank?

You could try making a gecko slurry, something that would be easier for it to digest and still give it nutrition.

Could use a little more info on how it's being housed

 

[Ellen]

Yes i have the little one in a small tank, its more like a travel size tank. I am not planning on getting a larger tank until i know it will survive. Inside the tank i have coarse gravel, a log for it to hide under and a water dish. This past night i took the water dish out and put a dish with about 5 meal worms. when i woke up this morning, there were 2 meal worms missing, it didnt look like they escaped the dish. Hoping it ate them.

I looked up a recipe for the gecko slurry (Geckos-Leopard - Golden Gate Gecko?s Slurry Recipe) I will try to get all the ingredients today and try feeding it the slurry to the little one as recommended by the above recipe. Ill post an update if there are any changes.
Thank you!!!

 

[Dinosaur!]

yes, if you could fill this out it would really help us figure out how to help you

http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/70912.htm

 

[indyana]

Your little one could be suffering from parasites. Please be very careful to avoid cross contamination to your other gecko.

I usually recommend having tests done for internal parasites and Crypto for geckos in poor health. As mentioned above, more habitat information would help us make sure the environment is ideal for its recovery.

 

[Ellen]

About your leo:
- Sex: still too young to determine, but guesstimating it is a male based on the shape of its nose
- Age & Weight: guesstimating less than 6 months, weight im not sure, i dont have a scale small enough to weigh
- How long have you owned your leo: 1 week
- Where was he/she obtained: +++++

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: try to handle once a day, but he is still really skittish around people
- Is your leo acting any different today? Well ive only had him for a week so i am not really sure what his normal behavior is. When ever i am around him he just sleeps, recently he stopped sleeping in the hideaway and sleeps next to it.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe: cant really answer that.
B) Fecals
- Describe: the first time he pooped it looked normal, he is tiny so of course his feces was tiny. after that first poop it seems like he is passing just urate. its really small no larger than a pin head.
- When was the [COLOR=#009900 !important]last[/COLOR] time he/she went: a full on poop about 6 days ago, just a urate about 2-3 days ago.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on:
the problem is getting weight on this gecko, it is very anorexic. it ate two meal worms the second day i had him. I made him slurry, and i gave him about 1/2 mL. i am going to try to get it to eat a little bit of slurry everyday. he hasn't full on pooped since i fed him the meal worms, but looking at its belly i can see the meal worms are making their way down, and he might poop either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: about 1-2 gallon
- Type: plastic
- Type of substrate: coarse gravel
- Hides, how many, what kind: I have one hide, it is a log, its pretty, it was the only hide that i had.
B) Heating
- Heat source: I have his tank right up against the hot side of my other geckos tank
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): the hot side is usually around 85-90, im not sure about the cool side, but i do know it is lowwer
- Method of regulating heat source: lamp
- What are you using to measure your temps: a round thermometer from +++++
- Do you have any lights (describe): I have the nocturnal (red) heat lamp,
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): at +++++ i couldnt tell how many were male or female. since ive had him i only have him in his little tank
- Describe health, or previous problems: the other geckos were probably twice his size (wieght wise) there was one gecko that was close the this ones weight but it was fatter than this little one.

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding: tried to feed him meal worms but i think it is too hard for him to digest them at the moment. so ive just started feeding him a slurry (Golden Gate Geckos Information)
- How are you feeding: I am hand feeding the little one, i held him in one hand and held the eye dropper( how i give the slurry) in the other hand.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using: in the slurry there is ReptoCal Calcium and Rep-Cal Multivitamins, both of them are powders. the meals worms i sprayed with calcium spray.
- What are you gut loading food with i dont necessarily gut load the meal worms, i havent had a problem not gut loading them

 

[nikki9093]

I know for sure, if you do not have a heat mat (UTH) under the tank they have a harder time digesting food. they need belly heat, not really heat from a lamp unless the ambient air inside the tank is colder then 65…usually in the winter months. investing in a infrared temp gun is a good investment to check surface heat when you have a heat mat but don't have a temp control. then again, it may really have parasites and i would not keep the two leos near each other at all. the newest one should have been quarantined when you brought him into the house. when handling, you need to wash everything, arms, hands, when ever touches the little one. i would go as so far as to change your clothes too. better safe then anything. get him to a vet. ultimately, its your choice what you do…but the vet can get a better handle on whats going on.

 

[sausage]

I agree with whats been said above. you need a UHT on its tank for digestion. As said i would also go get it tested for parasites, crypto is a possibility. I would rule out impaction as impacted geckos will most oftern have a bloated or distended abdomen with the rest of the body being stick thin. Defo start with a bug slurry.
hope he/ she gest better

 

[nikki9093]

how is this baby doing? any good news?