Vomiting gecko, parasite tests negative

[sly]

About your leo:
- Sex female
- Age & Weight 8 months, 48 grams
- How long have you owned your leo 8 months
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) friend's gecko had babies

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo every few days
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. - vomiting, eating less
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. - positive test for parasites, followed by treatment, followed by negative follow up
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) - normal
- When was the last time he/she went - a few days ago
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on
About 6 weeks ago I took her in because she vomited and we ran a fecal test which revealed pinworms. She was given a four week cycle of panacur. She vomited a few times while taking it, (last dose given 3 weeks ago at this point) and has vomited once or twice a week for the last two weeks. This is typically a few hours after eating, and happens if she eats more than one or two mealworms or more than one large cricket. I'm starting to wonder if the vitamin part of my caclium/vitamin mixture is 'sticking' to the insects moreso and causing problems. I've become more diligent about dusting, used to dust once every other week.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size 29 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank) tank
- Type of substrate reptile carpet and paper towel
- Hides, how many, what kind 2 dry (one hot side, one cool side), one humid in the middle
B) Heating
- Heat source UTH
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) 90 hot side, 70-75 cool side
- Method of regulating heat source - dimmer on the UTH (too hot otherwise)
- What are you using to measure your temps temperature gun
- Do you have any lights (describe) just room lighting (heat lamp for winter, but not on currently since temps are getting up above 70 during the day)
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) N/A
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) mealworms were the staple, recently switched to crickets to see if vomiting was mealworm related - she used to eat 4-5 mealworms a day but now vomits if she's eating more than 1-2
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) combination hand fed, left in dish, crickets are left to run around cage
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) - zoo med repti calcium without D3 left in tank, mixtures of 3 parts repti-calcium with 1 part zoo med reptivite dusted every other feeding. Used to be every other week.
- What are you gut loading food with - mealworms with ground up oat/bran cereal, with grapes/veggie/fruit for moisture, crickets with fluker's cricket feed (same as the mealworms on the moisture bit)

Anyone seen anything like this? Any suggestions? The vet has recommended trying another round of panacur just in case there are still parasites, but I'm starting to be suspicious of the vitamins (my next step is to just dust with calcium and see if it still happens). I am open to suggestions for things to try. Help! She's lost weight but it's been slow, maybe 2 grams in the last two months (and it was winter so she was eating significantly less anyway).

 

[B&B Geckos]

She could have have reinfected with pinworms. I would try another round of Panacur, as the vet recommended. Is it possible that she's still healing from the damage done by the pinworms? Hypervitaminosis is very rare in reptiles. But, if you're suspicious of the vitamins, you may try offering undusted items and provide a dish with vitamins for it to lick as needed. Best of luck.

 

[sly]

We're starting on the second round of panacur tomorrow. The vet thought that the fact that she was still vomiting if she ate more than a certain amount of food was odd, but I can ask specifically. I do keep a dish of calcium (without d3) in the tank.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

She could been reinfected or she also could have tested negative while the worms were still there if they were not dropping eggs. I think the second round of panacur is a good idea just to be sure. I would have another fecal done a couple weeks after its over and a second fecal a month after that just to be sure.

Sometimes if geckos have not eaten for a long while their stomachs shrink and they can't take more than very small meals. It might be a good idea to give her only one or two mealworms every 12-24 hours for a week or so and then go to 2-3, 3-4 etc., gradually adding more if she can keep the last meal down. Adult geckos do not need many calories to maintain their body weight so as long as she's keeping some down you're probably making progress.