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My baby is dying... please help me

S

secret_shad0w

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My leopard gecko is five months old. She has never had what I have been told are normal eating habits, but she remained healthy... until a few weeks ago. She has been refusing to eat crickets, and up until tonight she would still eat mealworms and waxworms, although she has ALWAYS thrown them up within 12 hours after. However, tonight she refused to eat at all. She is deathly skinny - you can see her pelvic bones in the back near her tail (which is as skinny as that of a mouse.) She is also extremely lethargic. She will not move unless prodded, and she will barely open her eyes even when moving. The only positive sign is that she is still drinking water... but only when I goaded her into moving over by her water dish. Unless I remove her hiding place she will not come out. My father refuses to allow me to take her to the vet, as he doesn't think she is worth the 50 or more dollars. I'm so worried, I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be wrong and how to get her to eat? Is there any way to put nutritional supplements in her water? I'm afraid to go to sleep as I'm terrified that she will die while I'm sleeping.

Please, help me.
 
I am so sorry your gecko is doing poorly. In situations like this it is imperative that we take our animals to a qualified vet to test for internal parasites and/or bacterial problems. I have no solution for you, I'm sorry.
 
I'm not even that good with leos but that does sound like something for a vet - try explaining to your father
 
I really feel for you honestly. :( Where did you get her from and whats her heat at? The regurges are a bad sign. :( I might try putting Flukers, Pedialyte, or even Gatorade in her water. Other then that I'm not sure. You can tell your Dad that Leos aren't disposable Creatures, and that they live 20+ years. At least thats one of the things I would say. I'm really sorry for your situation. Maybe get a paper route or babysit and you could help pay, then he might be more open to the idea.
 
I wish we could help you, but this isn't something that anyone can dianose nor treat over the internet. She needs to see a vet, and it sounds like she has very well had something wrong from the day you got her, if she has always thrown up her food. That is certainly not normal, nor healthy.

Kristin's suggestion is all I can think of at this point....tell your Dad that you will work off the money to pay the vet bill, or something. I'm very sorry we can't help more.
 
Does anyone here know(I dont know anything about geckos at all, other than typical husbandry requirements) whether you can use fenbendazole or metrozol (panacur and flagyl) on geckos??? I know you can with some lizards and some you cant. I have plenty of both and if they can be used on them and you are located close enough I would be more than willing to help you out. I have dosage chart for snakes.... not sure what it would be for a gecko, but that info wouldnt be hard to dig up. No matter what I wish you the best of luck. Dan M.
 
Kyle, while that is true, maybe she could try it once, theres also adverse affects with that. If its just going to puick everything up it eats then theres no need to stress it out right now. In my opinion. I understand wanting to try everything for a sick Critter though. :(

If you read this and hopefully come back and reply I have a few more questions. What type of heat and Thermostat are you using?? What are her hot spot temps and the temps in the room shes kept in? A Gecko will regurge if their kept to cold but if their not and their temps are fine then it really is sick. Also, does this Gecko's eye's s look disoriented? If you answer these questions we should be able to help you diagnose the problem. We are not Vets though and if it is sick it needs the meds obtained from a Vet. Again, I am really sorry about your poor baby and for your whole situation with your Dad. :(
 
Without seeing a vet there is no way to tell what is wrong. You should check to make sure that your husbandry is correct, especially temps. If your husbandry is fine, and you gecko is not stressed from other cage mates etc, then it is most likely internal parasites. Cryptosporidium is a fairly common internal parasite that causes rapid weight loss and vomiting. If it is crypto, there is no cure, and the best thing to do is to euthanize the leo.

As bad as you made it sound I seriously doubt that it has a chance anyway. Sorry that this is happening to you and your pet, and I hope it doesn't deter you from keeping them in the future.
 
I took her to the vet this afternoon. They said I was doing everything right and diagnosed it as parasites. So they gave her some deworming meds, gave me antibiotics to take home, and told me to give her Gatorade. I gave her the Gatorade when we got home, and within 5 minutes she was totally spazzing out for a good 1 or 2 minutes. She then just collapsed and died. I called the vet and they said she was just too weak and the stress probably just sent her over the edge.
 
That is really bad, I am sorry to hear of your loss. She should have seen the vet sooner, sometimes it can be too late to fix a problem.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. :( It sounds like she was just too far gone but at least she isn't suffering anymore.
 
Aaawwwwww. Thats so sad. I am sorry for your loss. :( Next time will hopefully be MUCH better for you. Good luck. :)
 
I took her to the vet this afternoon. They said I was doing everything right and diagnosed it as parasites. So they gave her some deworming meds, gave me antibiotics to take home
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I am very sorry for your loss. Out of curiosity, what parasites were diagnosed and what meds were prescribed and at what dosage?
 
KelliH said:
I am very sorry for your loss. Out of curiosity, what parasites were diagnosed and what meds were prescribed and at what dosage?
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They didn't do any significant testing. Just symptoms and ruling out other possibilities. Also, they didn't want to stress her out anymore then they had to. It was a general antibiotic for reptiles, and literally less than a drop twice a day b/c she was so small.
 
secret_shad0w said:
They didn't do any significant testing. Just symptoms and ruling out other possibilities. Also, they didn't want to stress her out anymore then they had to. It was a general antibiotic for reptiles, and literally less than a drop twice a day b/c she was so small.
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Sounds like a vet with little to no reptile experience, I wouldn't go there again. Again sorry for your loss.
 
garweft said:
Sounds like a vet with little to no reptile experience, I wouldn't go there again. Again sorry for your loss.
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Actually it's my area's leading reptile vet. She was too tiny and too stressed out to do extensive tests, it would have killed her faster. You would not take blood samples from an already lethargic, aenemic, severely anoxic and underweight human, so why would you do anything differet for a gecko? and he couldn't get a stool sample because she hadn't eaten anything - there was no stool for her to pass.
 
secret_shad0w said:
Actually it's my area's leading reptile vet. She was too tiny and too stressed out to do extensive tests, it would have killed her faster. You would not take blood samples from an already lethargic, aenemic, severely anoxic and underweight human, so why would you do anything differet for a gecko? and he couldn't get a stool sample because she hadn't eaten anything - there was no stool for her to pass.
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In the future, if you get a gecko who will not produce a stool, you might want to try Marcia's Slurry, just to get one for the Vet.

I'm sorry for your loss, I hope you don't shy away from keeping.
 
secret_shad0w said:
Actually it's my area's leading reptile vet. She was too tiny and too stressed out to do extensive tests, it would have killed her faster. You would not take blood samples from an already lethargic, aenemic, severely anoxic and underweight human, so why would you do anything differet for a gecko? and he couldn't get a stool sample because she hadn't eaten anything - there was no stool for her to pass.
Click to expand...

The vet could have flushed the cloaca for a sample to test. It is not as good as a fecal sample, but is better than just sending someone home with a few general medications. The fecal flush and a small blood draw would be no more stressful than the administration of unnecessary medications. Treating reptiles, without a proper diagnosis, by giving it a battery of medications is an antiquated approach.

If you were to take your dog to the vet because she stopped eating and had lost a lot of weight, and the vet just sent you home with a bunch of different medications without running any kind of test, would you be happy with the service? What about a mechanic that just replaces a bunch of parts and hopes it works?
 
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