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Serious Health Concerns

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xlb57

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Hello everyone, while I know there have been posts about health concerns w/leos in the past and I do plan on bringing my male albino in as soon as possible (probably Thurs.) I am very concerned with this sudden onset of what appears to be a serious health issue. First a quick background summary of the leo:
He is about 8 mos. old, weighing 50 grams or so. I recently (about 1mo. ago) moved him into a 10 gal. aquarium to separate him from another that he had grown with, which is a female. The temps. in his new aquarium are between 88-90 during the day and upper 70s-80 at night. Up until about three days ago, he has always been very active (naturally moreso at night). I noticed immediately that there was a night that he had not come out of his moist hide. I found this to be strange but didn't think anything too serious. Yesterday (Monday) however, after I had gotten home f/ school and work, I noticed that there was a large fecal dropping as well as a dark stain-like substance near it. Upon seeing this I grew obviously more concerned and started researching where I can take him (I think I have found a good place). Today however I was extremely alarmed to witness him crawl out of his moist hide (VERY sluggishly) and begin opening his mouth repeatedly. He then began shaking his head violently at which point he vomitted out what appeared to be a large chunk of skin. Since that point, he has been VERY lethargic and moving takes much noticeable effort on his part.
I'm sorry for the long post but I wanted to fill you all in on the details. Has anyone heard of these symptoms indicating any certain issue? What should I do until the vet visit?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've had a couple leos for nearly 7 yrs. now and have never run into anything quite like this. Thanks.

Concerned,
Jon
 
If his fecals are starting to look strange and you noticed that he's acting strange, then taking him to the vet would be a good idea. As for the head shaking part, that's normal, as long as it was just shed skin that he was spitting up. I've seen a couple of my geckos do the same thing after eating their shed skin. Sometimes they digest it, but other times they spit it out like you saw your male do.
 
I guess what I am seriously concerned about is the fact that he's severely lethargic. It stinks because I can't get to a vet until Thursday and I am worried I might watch him die in the mean time. Ugg
 
Just keep an eye on him until you can get him to the vet. Hopefully he's okay though.
 
Try not to stress him out. Don't handle him or put any crickets in his cage that might disturb him when he's trying to sleep.
 
Just saw him shaking his head w/his mouth open again, as though he's trying to vomit. Bah....what is wrong. :crap:
 
There can be a number of things wrong..... He could have a parasite, he could be impacted or he might not be hot enough..... What type of heating are you using??? You cant do anything for him besides take him to a vet.....
 
aawww

Well, i dont know whats wrong with your leo but i hope the best of him and i hope hes ok. I'm sorry your going through this. Now Im gona get worried for my leopard gecko. Well, good luck at the vets office.
 
Bad news: I came home from school/work today and found him dead. It really bugs me and makes me a lot more sad than I thought I would be, to be quite honest. I spent a lot of time with this guy and then poof...he's dead. After taking him out of his aquarium and placing him in a large ziploc, I noticed that about midway down on his underside was a 1/3 penny sized dark circle. Any idea what this might be? I am going to speak with the vet tomorrow anyhow to see if they might have any ideas what it could have been (just one more day until the vet!) :no01: Well, thanks for the advice anyhow, now it's time for me to keep a close eye on my other leos. Even though all of them have been acting just fine. One thing I am wondering about (and kicking myself for if this is what caused his death) is that upon making a hide area for his cage, I used some rock adhesive glue and gave it a couple hours to dry. Looking back, that was probably not nearly enough time and he very well could have ingested fumes from the glue. I am very disappointed right now and am second guessing the things I did, thinking that maybe I ultimately caused his death. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks again for the support you've shown.

Upset,
Jon
 
I think I reaad somewhere that the dark circle is caused by bile that leaks out after death. As far as I know, it is not indicative of anything and is present on most reptiles that have been dead awhile.

With the sudden onset of symptoms and death, I'd suspect some kind of toxin too. Usually with parasites the decline is more gradual.

Hopefully the vet can shed some light on the issue.

-Alice
 
Ugg...That's what I feared, because it was so sudden from active to death. Thank you for the response and I will post once I speak with the vet.
 
Sorry to hear of your lose. I agree that toxic fumes are certainly a possibility as a cause. Just an FYI for the future, any cages built can be finished with Shallac (lacquer is toxic) it is what is used on baby furniture. As for glueing, always allow at bare minimum a week... I wait 2 weeks before introduction.
 
sad...

I'm so sorry you lost your gecko. Alice is correct about the gall bladder, and it could also be the liver.. swollen from failure as a result of trying to filter out toxins. In the future, use aquarium sealant as it is non-toxic.
 
Very sorry to hear about your loss. I recently got this really cool book, it is "Understand Reptile Parasites" by Roger J. Klingenberg. Well of course it is all about parasites and there is a chapter about signs of parasitism. It has a list of specific signs of parasitism in reptiles are:
-Vomiting/regurgitation
-Diarrhea
-musuc-laden stools
-bloody stools
-off color/sour odor stools
-dehydration
some other stuff and death. So i think your leo might have had some sort of parasite, the glue might have hurt him also but the main reason it died was probably because of parasites, but a necropsy would tell you what really killed him. Again sorry for your loss.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I feel terrible as a result of what I quite possibly did to my gecko. I have had two others for almost seven yrs. now with no problems. I was simply not thinking with the glue situation and for that my awesome albino had to pay for it. From now on I am definitely going to be more careful. I have a strong feeling it was f/the glue, simply because the onset of these symptoms were quite sudden w/death following immediately. Thanks again.
 
Jon, don't feel bad as almost all (if not all) experienced caring keepers/breeders have done something along the way that was detrimental to the health of a gecko. We have all learned lessons this way. It is good that you seek to find answers to make sure it doesn't happen again, you seem to be a caring responsible person when it comes to your geckos. I hope you don't lose your enthusiasm for keeping them!
I have a strong feeling it was f/the glue, simply because the onset of these symptoms were quite sudden w/death following immediately
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
Jon,
I know how much it sucks to lose your first gecko, we lost one to impaction last year. We used sand despite the warnings, and our pet of a year and a half died because of our stupidity. Like Montezuma said, don't beat yourself up, this is a learning process. Look at it this way, God added an awesome leo to his collection!

Tony
 
Sheesh, you people know how to lighten someone's spirits. Thanks for all the positive comments and I definitely intend to keep on keeping leos. I love em and losing my first has been tough. Do you guys think I should bring in the other one that he was housed with before moving him to the tank w/the glued hide? I have not noticed any signs in the other to date.
 
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