why is my gecko ill?

[iluvgeckos]

About your leo:
- Sex: female
- Age & Weight: 3 years old; unknown weight
- How long have you owned your leo: 2 1/2 years.
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): petco

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: every or every other day.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. (she is having problems shedding, won't eat or poop, and is barely moving.)
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
(she has always had trouble shedding.)
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): i don't know what they look like, she hasn't gone in a month.
- When was the last time he/she went: a month or so.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: she is not eating, won't poop, and is barely moving.

Housing:
everything is from zilla's deluxe desert gecko kit i bought for her.
A) Enclosure
- Size: 20 gallon long
- Type (ex. glass tank): glass
- Type of substrate: calcium sand
- Hides, how many, what kind: one herp hotel
B) Heating
- Heat source: two lamp fixtures with a day and UV night bulb
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): 85 degrees
- Method of regulating heat source: N/A
- What are you using to measure your temps: zilla thermometer
- Do you have any lights (describe): yes, the heat lamps.
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): N/A
- Describe health, or previous problems: N/A

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): i just leave in 20 crickets a week, sometimes a dish of mealworms.
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): just put 20 crickets in the cage for the week, sometimes some mealworms in the dish.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): N/A
- What are you gut loading food with: N/A

i really have no clue what i am doing wrong she has been fine for two years, she just went down hill so fast. i tried force feeding her but she still isn't eating. everytime i look at her i think she is dead. my parents won't let me take her to the vet because "we paid $20 for this gecko, we aren't paying $100 or more to take her there".

please help. i don't know what to do, she will die if no one can help me. :bigcry:

 

[Jaiden23]

Your leo needs to see a vet asap. Unfortunately those reptile kits are not safe to use and will not give you the type of environment that your leopard gecko needs. There are multiple problems with your current setup, but the biggest would be the sand. Calcium sand is dangerous and can cause impaction, which is what it would appear is wrong with your leo.

She also needs belly heat from a UTH, instead of the lights. She needs a warm side and a cool side, the warm side should be 88-95 degrees to allow for digestion.

She also should have 3 hides, a warm hide, a cool hide and a moist/humid hide for shedding.

The crickets and mealworms are fine staples to use, but they do need to be dusted with vitamins and calcium and ought to be gutloaded for better nutritional value.

I hope your leo pulls through and recovers, but I can't stress the importance of taking her to the vet enough. Perhaps there are some home remedy type steps you could try, but someone else will have to provide you with those as I am not familiar with them.

 

[iluvgeckos]

i will keep asking my parents. i feel so bad i did everything petco said to do. they said calcium sand can be easily passed and that you don't need any type of calcium if you use it.

i will take out the sand right away. what should i use? newspaper or something? and what brand of calcium and vitamin should i use? how often do i 'dust'? also what size heat mat do i need?

 

[katie_]

She needs to go to a vet asap.
At this point, it sounds like that is all you can do.
Not eating or pooping for a month is a long time, you may have left it for too long child or not.

 

[Jordycakes]

I know im not allowed to say this... but Petco ild like to give them a big clap of being wrong like always -.-

But yeah get him/her to the vets Asap! And use paper towels

 

[Jaiden23]

i will keep asking my parents. i feel so bad i did everything petco said to do. they said calcium sand can be easily passed and that you don't need any type of calcium if you use it.

i will take out the sand right away. what should i use? newspaper or something? and what brand of calcium and vitamin should i use? how often do i 'dust'? also what size heat mat do i need?

Unfortunately this is pretty common. The bulk of the time the employees in the large chain pet stores just don't know how to properly care for the reptiles that they sell. I've yet to come across any reptile that could safely be housed on calcium sand, it encourages the animals to eat it but it is still sand and cannot be passed. It makes me cringe every time I see a store selling it.

You can use papertowels, slate tile or repti-carpet (although alot of people, myself included, aren't very comfortable with the carpet).

I dust with Fluker's Repta-Calcium without D3 on a daily basis, and leave a small dish of it in the tank at all times. Really any brand of calcium will work, as long as it does not have D3 in it.

For vitamins and D3 I use Zoo Med's Reptivite, Repashy is another very good brand that's popular. I dust with this once per week.

The heat mat should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottom of the tank.
Ah, and I should add that you ought to use a thermostat or a Rheostat with the heat mat to control the temperature. A heat mat on it's own can easily reach over 100 degrees at times. Thermostats will keep your temperate right where you want it, but Rheostats, or lamp dimmers, are cheaper. They just need monitored and adjusted more closely than the thermostats.

 

[iluvgeckos]

i was going to take her to the vet on august 2 but she died the night before. R.I.P. Lizzy

 

[sausage]

I'm sorry for your loss. Was a very sad end.
The best thing to do when obtaining a new specialised pet is to do alot of reasurch, don't rely on what one person/pet shop tells you.

I hope this bad experience dosnt put you off keeping these fantastic animals,
Fix the set up and carry on with leopards .
We're always here to answer any questions you have or to offer advice.

Vets arnt as expensive as every one makes them out to be. Iv just taken one of mine and he needs eye drops and antibiotics for a week and it only cost me £22.

 

[katie_]

Ugh, poor poor gecko.