# Need leopard gecko help



## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

So I got a leopard gecko in april. I got the best one I could find in the store. It's tail was pretty good looking  but nothing like the pictures I see where its like as wide as their body. Well anyways he was consistant with that size tail and had nice poops so I wasn't worried. But it has slowly gotten skinny,  and I can see a line where his spine is. I was feeding him medium super worms, but then he got tired of them so I was feeding him pretty big crickets. But only one a night, somtimes one in morning one in night. But only one at night becqause once I gave it two and it threw it up. A few days ago I got large superworms, I gave hima full one (stupid me) then I thought uh oh thats too big. So I started to cut them in half and he was eating those. It has been pooping daily, but what is worrying me is that its like bad poop. I've been using "leopard gecko calcium plus" to dust his food. I really hope it's somthing I'm doing wrong and not like a parasite or somthing serious. But I'm getting worried and I'm doing everything wrong, please give me a suggestion on how to fatten him up. I'm going to get medium mealworms because the large ones seem to big. his tail had the dramatic drop in size since he ate the large meal worm, could he have an impaction from it and then eating the equivilent of another one just cut up? I feel horrible for making this poor gecko miserable, but I don't want to give it up, I love it and I want to fix this. how many medium super worms should I feed a day?

his poop-http://www.flickr.com/photos/48944632@N02/4864825471/

him-http://www.flickr.com/photos/48944632@N02/4865445166/in/photostream/


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## neubii18 (Aug 6, 2010)

first off,pictures of him would help to see how skinny he is,but if you can see his spine,that is definately NOT GOOD.i have found that only 1 large individual out of my 30+ geckos will readily eat super worms.i reccomend regular mealworms as a feeder.also,you should have a dish that always has mealworms in it so he can eat when he wants.you should also put calcium powder in the mealworm dish so he can lick it up when he wants and is still getting some from his food.and mealworms and superworms CANNOT impact geckos.this is a common myth that is not true.have you given it a pinky?i give my breeding females a pinky mouse every now and then.it gives them a lot more weight and makes them healthier.you could also try waxworms,but i don't reccomend it as they are not very nutricous and can get the geckos addicted to them and not want to eat anything but waxworms.what are the temps in the cage?they need acess hotspot of 88F-90F,and then a thermal gradient down to room temp.i hope this helps.if you posted a picture,i could tell you how serious the situation is.


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## neubii18 (Aug 6, 2010)

i didn't see the link to the pic.yea,he is REALLY skinny.it looks like it might be parasites,considering his poop is also wierd.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

Oh god I really hope it aint parsites. how could he have gotten them if it is? I have a heat pad and the ambient temp is whatever it is here (hot). This feels so horrible. I'm losing sleep over it.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

should I try feeding him as much as he will take? and can I keep feeding him the cut in half large super worms for now until I can get meal worms.


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 6, 2010)

first move is to tell us exactly how you have it set up. tank, substrate, temp gradiants, hides. your feeding schedule sounds a bit lean, but, there could be more going on. parasites are a possibility, bacterial and viral infections are another. the only way to rule them out is with a visit to a vet. for now id say offer more food, and get back to us with those important details i outlined above.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

I have it in a ten gallon with reptile carpet stuff with a hide, a humidity hide and another hide. With a water dish and a paper towel that he poops on and a bottle cap with the vitamin stuff. I will admit I dont usualy change the water dish I usualy refill it.


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## neubii18 (Aug 6, 2010)

Your setup sounds good.it sounds and looks like it has Cryptosporidiosis though.it may have been infected when you got it.I reccomend you assist feed it to put some weight on it.or maybe try the famous slurry created by marcia at gold gate geckos.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

for now until I can get somthing smaller can I feed it full large mealworms "uncut"? And just cut off their chompers, because he likes it to be squirming and it gives him more food and dosn't leak guts all over the place. And giving him those large ones wont give him an impaction? The are as wide as the inside corners of his eyes and averageing almost 2 inches. So can I put a bowel of those until I get smaller stuff?


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## Big Red TJ (Aug 6, 2010)

If you got it at petco or petsmart it most likely has a parasite...get it to a vet this won't get better on it's own.  I worked for petco many years ago and alot if not 80% of there leapoard geckos come in this way.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

could it have carried it with no effect until now if it got it at the petco.  I don't think that my vet does exotic stuff. And can the vet cure parasites (if thats what mine has)?


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 6, 2010)

there are several vets between long island and westchester county ny that see reptile patients. there is no guarentee they can cure anything, but by taking your gecko to a reptile vet you can find out what, if anything, is wrong with it. no amount of experience, no amount of training, can allow anyone to diagnose an animal online from pictures. the only way you will get any answers that will possibly help you is by taking it to a vet. if its parasites there are ways of effectively treating them. if its bacterial there are ways of effectively treating that. same if its viral. the problem is without taking the animal to a vet you can't know what, if anything, is wrong with it. parasite infections are common, and usually kept in check until the animal becomes stressed, which could include being shipped to petco, being handled roughly while at petco, then the trip home with you. i still think your feeding schedule sounds fairly lean, when i bred leopard geckos they got more than 1 or 2 prey items daily, and i never removed the head from any feeder. so to sum up...you won't learn anything informative about what could possibly be wrong with your gecko until you take it to a reptile vet and have a few tests run. good luck and keep us posted.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

He made another poop that is pretty solid. It still dosn't look normal. And he ate a big super worm after the poop. Does this poop make things just a little better? and what is the yellow stuff on the white part of it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48944632@N02/4867365956/


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 6, 2010)

the white/yellow you're seeing are urates, though they're still fairly watery. one poop of slightly better consistency doesn't mean anything when you don't know what the problem is in the first place. I would still try offering more food, perhaps a small dish with several superworms in it. until you know what is causing the weight loss you cannot know how to treat it.


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## hassman789 (Aug 6, 2010)

Yeah Im offering him a dish with them in it. And I'm going to get better sized worms to see if he starts to eat and gain weight with those. If he still dosn't get better I'm taking him to a vet.


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## hassman789 (Aug 7, 2010)

Made another solid poop today. Better than the last! This one is normal shaped and brownish black color with the white dot (opposed to the brownish tan wet one yesterday). I know this is gross, I'm sorry, but I'm just documenting it, and I'm excited that hes going to the bathroom normally.


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 7, 2010)

You still haven't addressed the problem. there is a reason his feces were abnormal. just because they look better does not mean the problem has cleared up on its own. unless the problem was drastic underfeeding, and I'm not saying that's the case at all. how long did you quarantine the gecko? have you checked the expiration date on the vitamin and calcium supplements you use? I still feel you should take the animal to a reptile vet and have it checked over. without a visit to the vet you really have no way of knowing whats going on and in all honesty this could be a temporary step forward followed by a much bigger step back. good luck and keep us posted.


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## hassman789 (Aug 8, 2010)

Jaymz Bedell said:


> how long did you quarantine the gecko?


I didn't know I was supposed to quarentine it, and from what? I don't have any other geckos. I have frogs and a snake in the same room though. I will be calling the vet hopefully tomorrow (If they are open on sundays). I keep trying to get him to eat as much as possible. Hes only eaten one medium superworm tonight, he dosn't have a very good appetite? So he will be getting vetinary assistance.


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 8, 2010)

quarantine is simply a precaution. quarantine enclosures are spartan, easy to clean, easy to monitor. you have other reptiles and amphibians that are established in your collection. pathogens and parasites are not all host species specific, quite a few are reptile generalists. others will effect both reptiles and amphibians. even captive bred reptiles and amphibians that look perfectly healthy should be quarantined for a minimum of 90 days. and it's not just keeping them in a seperate room, it's working with/feeding them last and making sure to clean any shared tools. quite a few people have wiped out their entire collection over a lack of quarantine. if you do a little research into it you'll come across horror stories, and coulda shoulda wouldas. you didn't know, now you do. next time hopefully you'll remember to quarantine ANY new animal you bring into your home. quarantine is also a great time to collect fecal samples for parasite testing. it's easier to collect them in the spartan environment of a quarantine cage too. as for the vet...sadly most do not have sunday hours. its worth trying though. as to loss of appetite. anorexia in reptiles is a symptom not a disease. if your gecko isn't eating enough to maintain a healthy body weight thats a fairly serious symptom. im glad you're getting him to a vet, and hopefully it's something relatively easy to fix. you're also not alone, every animal keeper ends up dealing with illness and parasites at some point. it's not a bad idea to develop a good relationship with your reptile/exotic vet. and always ask your vet questions, whatever pops to your mind, even if you think it's silly. questions lead to answers, if not for questioning and pondering our hobby probably wouldn't have advanced to where it is now. good luck, and please keep us posted.


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## popkin (Aug 8, 2010)

Don't forget to take a fresh fecal sample in with you too, the vet can check it to see if he's/she's shedding any parasites.


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## hassman789 (Aug 8, 2010)

Ok things seem bad. I couldn't get him to eat yesterday or today. I won't be able to get into contact with the vet tomorrow. Should I try to force feed? When I get it in the force feed position it thrashes its head around. Should I try to make that slushy thing? I'm so worried!


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## Matt K (Aug 8, 2010)

Never seen so much bad advice and not enough people asking enough questions to really know what the problem is.

Short of me writing a long page post of instructions, go to geckoforums.net and look for the caresheet or cruise the husbandry posts.  Don't ask questions though unless you want the same wrong answers here (excluding the moderators on that forum).

I have rehabbed geckos and other reptiles for the better part of 30 years, and its always dissappointing that there is still such a lack of knowledge about the hobby....


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 9, 2010)

don't force feed, right now it would just be more stressful than anything else. good luck with the vet. again please keep us posted.


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## hassman789 (Aug 9, 2010)

Since hes not eating, how long can he go without food at his skinny size?  Honestly I'm losing hope


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## Jaymz Bedell (Aug 9, 2010)

force feeding isn't only stressful, if done wrong it can be more harmful than helpful. if you've got someone with a lot of experience that can show you the proper way to do it it MIGHT be an option. the problem is you still won't know whats causing the symptoms your gecko is showing so force feeding would not solve your problem. your gecko has lost a lot of it's mass, it doesn't have much stored up in it's body. something is causing it, reptiles don't stop eating for no reason. you can try looking for a high calorie reptile appetite stimulant, in all honesty i've seen them in pet stores but never used any pet store brand. again even if it does work it doesn't take care of the underlying cause that got him to this stage. even if you can't get him to a vet today it would be worth speaking to a reptile vet to get an idea of other options to keep the gecko alive till you can get it in to see the vet. a vet will not be able to diagnose anything from a verbal description over the phone, but they might have a few ideas to get some much needed calories into him. what are you offering beside various worms? have you tried something that moves more like crickets or roaches? sometimes the speedy and erratic movements from crickets or roaches are enough to get leopard geckos to eat a few and get those needed calories. keep us posted and good luck.


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