weight loss question

[mjr_my]

Hi, my son and I are new to leopard geckos. We had one hatchling panther that was healthy for 6 months then passed away, we did not know he was a hatchling and probably the store should not have sold such a new baby to us as we were inexperienced. Then we got a juvenile leo that did well for about a month then just stopped eating one day. We thought he was impacted but he started to vomit and his tail got really skinny and he passed away on the day of our vet appointment. These two were both from Petsmart.

So, we decided to go to a reptile specialty store that has gotten great reviews in our area. This time we bought a female sub-adult about 1 year old, thinking that she might be hardier. We have had her for two weeks, no problem. She has been eating and pooping, and even had one successful shed last week. The last time she ate was Sat the last time she pooped was Sun. It did have some cricket parts in it (last cricket was sort of big).

I have been watching her and thinking her tail was getting skinnier. But yesterday it was noticably skinnier. We actually took a pic of her tail the day we got her to monitor her tail thickness and it has gotten skinnier. I am not sure what we are doing wrong other than the crickets we buy are from Petco. Can these be contaminated for some reason?

She did drink a lot of water out of her water dish this morning....so cute, like a puppy.

This is her set up.

10 gallon tank
repti-sand (guy at store said because she is an adult this was OK-and she has pooped in the last 48 hours)
under tank heating pad
hide on warm side
hide on cool side
water (changed 2-3 times/week)
little lid of calcium powder
little plant to hide behind
hide on warm side has paper towel that we moisten every day (as per reptile store suggestion for humidity)
spray glass 2x daily so she can drink beads if she wants.


We dust crickets and worms with calcium with D3 at least 2 times/week and we dust them with vitamins (flukers brand) once/week. We feed the crickets the orange slices from flukers. Is it possible that we aren't gut loading our crickets right? Is there any thing we can give her in the immediate future to get her weight back up? She was very curious and alert this morning but not interested in her mealworm or cricket in the last 24-36 hours.

Ok, sorry it was long, but I wanted to give as much info as possible right up front.

thanks in advance!

 

[GeckoGathering]

Geckos

Hi, my son and I are new to leopard geckos. We had one hatchling panther that was healthy for 6 months then passed away, we did not know he was a hatchling and probably the store should not have sold such a new baby to us as we were inexperienced. Then we got a juvenile leo that did well for about a month then just stopped eating one day. We thought he was impacted but he started to vomit and his tail got really skinny and he passed away on the day of our vet appointment. These two were both from Petsmart.

So, we decided to go to a reptile specialty store that has gotten great reviews in our area. This time we bought a female sub-adult about 1 year old, thinking that she might be hardier. We have had her for two weeks, no problem. She has been eating and pooping, and even had one successful shed last week. The last time she ate was Sat the last time she pooped was Sun. It did have some cricket parts in it (last cricket was sort of big).

I have been watching her and thinking her tail was getting skinnier. But yesterday it was noticably skinnier. We actually took a pic of her tail the day we got her to monitor her tail thickness and it has gotten skinnier. I am not sure what we are doing wrong other than the crickets we buy are from Petco. Can these be contaminated for some reason?

She did drink a lot of water out of her water dish this morning....so cute, like a puppy.

This is her set up.

10 gallon tank
repti-sand (guy at store said because she is an adult this was OK-and she has pooped in the last 48 hours)
under tank heating pad
hide on warm side
hide on cool side
water (changed 2-3 times/week)
little lid of calcium powder
little plant to hide behind
hide on warm side has paper towel that we moisten every day (as per reptile store suggestion for humidity)
spray glass 2x daily so she can drink beads if she wants.


We dust crickets and worms with calcium with D3 at least 2 times/week and we dust them with vitamins (flukers brand) once/week. We feed the crickets the orange slices from flukers. Is it possible that we aren't gut loading our crickets right? Is there any thing we can give her in the immediate future to get her weight back up? She was very curious and alert this morning but not interested in her mealworm or cricket in the last 24-36 hours.

Ok, sorry it was long, but I wanted to give as much info as possible right up front.

thanks in advance!

IMHO....Suggestions:
Get rid of the sand.
Verify hot belly temp is 90 or some what higher.
Don't spray the tank down.
If feeding crickets (not adults) then gut load.
You speak of prey food fed as singular....
Try more, keep worms available in a dish.
Take care. HJ​

 

[mjr_my]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did speak with the reptile guy that we bought her from and he said we probably aren't feeding her enough (like you said). And apparently we should feed her with the lights off, lol. The kids like to watch her but they will have to get over it or get a small wattage light.

I guess we were so caught up in not over-feeding and getting an obstruction (which is what I think happened to the last gecko) that we were being to cautious with the crickets and taking them out as soon as she didn't show interest.

I am thinking that we will put her on tile. We have some left over from when we did our bathroom and we can get them cut. Would be easy to clean too.

Thanks so much.

 

[SDCowboy]

Always keep a dish of mealworms in the tank. Also give it a waxworm or two every few days until the weight comes back.

 

[lovelovelove135]

And apparently we should feed her with the lights off, lol. The kids like to watch her but they will have to get over it or get a small wattage light.

Just wanted to let you know, you can get a red light Leos don't mind the red light because they can't see it. So it's a win win situation haha Your gecko is happy and so are your kids

 

[SDCowboy]

And apparently we should feed her with the lights off, lol. The kids like to watch her but they will have to get over it or get a small wattage light.

Just get a red light and leave it on while you're awake at night. They can't see the light. Red lights are specifically for night viewing.

 

[mjr_my]

Thanks everyone, I guess I will be making another stop to the pet store on my way home tonight, . I have to admit that I really enjoy her. I fought having a reptile for a long time but now I feel like she is my pet too.

I am sure she will be fine. Her attitude is pretty good so I think this will do the trick.

So glad, I was so worried it might be something like parasites or something.

 

[mjr_my]

ok, fed her a worm that she ate up happily and then vomited it up whole. it was a super worm. so does this mean crypto for sure or can it be impaction? this is exactly what happened with our last gecko EXACTLY and he was on a reptile carpet.

anyone HELP!!

 

[drblack2013]

How big was the superworm? If she hasn't been eating, you want to build up her appetite, without providing complete satiety. A superworm may have been too big for her stomach at the moment. Provide her with meal worms/crickets with their back legs pulled off, and like some one said earlier, if she won't eat at all try a wax worm followed by meal worms/crickets. Vomiting alone does not mean crypto, usually diarrhea is present.

 

[mjr_my]

ok thank you so much....we are now cleaning out her tank just in case. I will give her the crickets. tonight and leave her be. i took out all sand, and will put down paper towel until we figure it out. I am also going to throughly check belly temp since I know this can cause vomiting.

the rep guy at the place we bought her thought that it was unlikely to be crypto due to the fact that she was captive bred. but i always assume the worst i guess.

the superworm was probably 1.5-2 inches long.

will i ever be able to give her those?

 

[drblack2013]

If you leave crickets in over night make sure to pull the back legs off and put them in a dish that they can't escape. They will chew on your leo. Super worms are a great feeder and eventually you will be able to feed them. There are usually a few smaller ones in the container, so try those first because depending on the gecko, one superworm may be all they can eat, then there are some piggies that can eat 3-4 at a time.

 

[Pinky81]

do you have a digital thermometer probe?? What are you floor temps???

Also go out and get a digital scale from wally world or target and monitor her ACTUAL weight! Sometimes just from not drinking so much the tail can shrink. Best way to tell weight loss or gain is a gram scale. Only around$15.

honestly I think the super worm was a little too big...try giant meal worms!

 

[mjr_my]

thanks everyone...she vomited again without eating anything. it smells nasty, like bad chicken broth (bacterial?). it did have some sand in it. we have taken her off sand, cleaned her entire tank from top to bottom. floor temp is around 88 degrees F. she is still curious and even checked out the new hide i put on her cool side.

my worries are we just lost a juvenile that had the exact same issues, he was on a carpet but basically, he was eating like a champ one day and the next he just stopped and then the vomiting started.

we cleaned the tank between geckos too....i also gave her a warm water soak tonight, I can't see an impaction but who knows. I am just heart broken for my son, he is trying so hard to take diligent care of her and he is just so sad that it is not working out again.

we bought a sub-adult (1 yo) hoping she would be tougher.....

 

[fl_orchidslave]

thanks everyone...she vomited again without eating anything. it smells nasty, like bad chicken broth (bacterial?). it did have some sand in it. we have taken her off sand, cleaned her entire tank from top to bottom. floor temp is around 88 degrees F. she is still curious and even checked out the new hide i put on her cool side.

my worries are we just lost a juvenile that had the exact same issues, he was on a carpet but basically, he was eating like a champ one day and the next he just stopped and then the vomiting started.

we cleaned the tank between geckos too....i also gave her a warm water soak tonight, I can't see an impaction but who knows. I am just heart broken for my son, he is trying so hard to take diligent care of her and he is just so sad that it is not working out again.

we bought a sub-adult (1 yo) hoping she would be tougher.....

It is possible your tank may be contaminated from the previous resident. If this gecko does not recover, throw that tank away and everything inside it. Also, anything the previous gecko used and anything that has come in contact with either of them. I'm not saying this is the case, but if it is, that is the only way to keep this from happening again in the future.

 

[mjr_my]

update, still not eating, but she did not vomit again. gave her a ml of water last night and she kept that down (dissolved a little of her repti vitamins in it). also gave her a ml of water this morning and she drank well, once she figured out what i was doing. she seems to be keeping that down, is that a good sign? got her belly/floor temps up over 90 degrees and she still seems alert and curious.

we are completely on paper towels now. i would take a fecal to the vet if there was a fecal anything else i can give her? baby food? we have this repti Aid stuff from flukers that i could make a slurry and give her to see if she can keep it down.

 

[mjr_my]

UPDATE: Ok so since I like to not only give bad news, here is the update. I have not confirmed this but....my son said he got home from school today and the two crickets were gone and she looked like she pooped. he sent me a pic (gross i know) and sure enough it actually looks like poop and not vomit...maybe a little runny, but hey considering her state last night, i might expect her to take a little time to get things back to 100%. it also colored the paper towels orange (color of sand she was on) so I am thinking and hoping impaction and that it is making its way out.

thanks everyone..when i am sure she is out of the woods, i will post a picture of her. she is so cute. her name is Elizabeth (Lizzy for short).

 

[mjr_my]

UPDATE AGAIN....So my son was wrong, she did not eat her crickets, they were hiding, lol. but she did produce some sort of poop that did not look like vomit. It was very wet however, as the paper towel soaked most of it up. It also had an obvious urate (sp?) associated with it which makes me think it was excrement and not vomit. It smells like luria broth (any microbiologists out there?) which essentially smells like very rich concentrated (bad) chicken broth. So I am wondering if it is bacterial.

She had another this morning outside her hide which at least tells me she is coming out at night moving around. She is not hunting as the crickets were still just moving about (i pulled back legs off so they could not move around too much and put a small piece of carrot so they would chew on that and not her)

This morning the "poo" was again watery as the paper towel soaked up most of it, the liquid was brownish and there was an obvious urate. Is this a good sign?

We dropped the paper towel off at the vet and she has an appointment for tomorrow at 9 am. I hope that it is something treatable. I am just sort of wondering if any one has had experience with this and could give me some encouragement. I cut a worm open last night and swished the guts and she did lick them..didn't chow down or anything.

thanks

 

[SDCowboy]

Best of luck with the appointment. Again, I suggest leaving a dish of mealworms in the cage at all times. She won't have to chase those down.

 

[mjr_my]

OK, unfortunately, I have to go across town to get those alive..stupid petco only sells them frozen....she won't like that at all. i bought the tiny superworms but man those things are fast and just crawl out of the dish as soon as you put them in. that is what i cut in half and squished for her. i guess if she is coming out at night, she must be looking for something to eat...poor baby probably too tired to hunt....

Do you think the wet poo and urate is because she has only gotten water recently? I guess that is a sign things are at least going through.

 

[SDCowboy]

OK, unfortunately, I have to go across town to get those alive..stupid petco only sells them frozen....she won't like that at all. i bought the tiny superworms but man those things are fast and just crawl out of the dish as soon as you put them in. that is what i cut in half and squished for her. i guess if she is coming out at night, she must be looking for something to eat...poor baby probably too tired to hunt....

Do you think the wet poo and urate is because she has only gotten water recently? I guess that is a sign things are at least going through.

Did you check the fridge section because I've never seen a petco that wasn't loaded with fresh mealies. As for the poop, if she has just been drinking, it should just be the white part generally. The wet/gel like poop is generally a sign of an illness but she could just be stressed.