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Very skinny leo

T

turtlebuyer

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I have a leo who is very very skinny. I have not looked at it closely to tell if it is eating I would assume not. what can I do and what would cause this. The others in the tank are not skinny. I did keep it on calcisand could it be impacted, if so what can I do? If the little critters come from afganistan dont they live on sand.
 
The best thing that you can do for this gecko is take it to a qualified herp. vet. If indeed it is impacted, they will be able to tell with a simple xray.

If the little critters come from afganistan dont they live on sand.
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I've never been to Afghanistan, but my bestfriend's cousin is a marine and he has told me about being in Aghanistan and Iraq. He said that the sand is very fine sand. Calci-Sand is horrible for leopard geckos because their GI Tract (how long it takes to digest their food) is short, meaning that the granuals of sand that is infused with calcium does not have time to break up. I remember a year or so ago that I read an "experiment" with Calci-sand in which they put Calci-sand in water, 24 hours later it turned into a block of "cement like sand".
 
I have a leo who is very very skinny. I have not looked at it closely to tell if it is eating I would assume not. what can I do and what would cause this.
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Not eating can cause this.

The others in the tank are not skinny.
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They may become skinny if they are kept with another skinny gecko that is infected with something or kept on Calci-Sand.

I did keep it on calcisand could it be impacted, if so what can I do?
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Take the gecko to the vet.

If the little critters come from afganistan dont they live on sand.
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No.
 
Not really. You would need a vet to treat it effectively. There's no substitute for the care given by a qualified herp. vet.
 
If she's severely emaciated (all the bones visible, no fat on tail etc) immediate vet care is probably necessary, if she's just thin (pelvic girdly not clearly visible, thigh bones not clearly defined, some fat on the tail etc), you can try the following first.

Immediately remove her from the group and place her in a cage lined with something like paper towels or repti-carpet that can't be eaten. Offer your leo food once she's settled in. Sometimes the leo at the bottom of the heirarchy will get so bullied that they kind of stop trying to compete for food etc. If this is the case, she should start eating and recover quickly if isolated.

If she doesn't eat, try Marcia's slurry ( http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32145&highlight=slurry ). If after you give her the slurry and she produces a sandfilled stool and starts accepting normal food, her problems were likely due to impaction and as long as she's passing the sand she should be able to clear it on her own.

If she eats and produces loose runny stools, or if she eats, but fails to gain weight she may have a parasite or bacterial infection that requires treatment (take a fresh stool with you to the vet). If she doesn't produce a stool or produces very little or nothing but urates, she's probably got an impaction that she can't clear and needs medical intervention.

Some people have success with sand, but for every success story I've seen 10 posts about impacted geckos. Personally, if I were to use sand I would use real sand before any type of calci-sand. Here's a page with some info on calci-sands http://www.pythons.com/calcium.html .

-Alice
 
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Go to a herp vet. I am an exotics and small animal vet in PA and if a client called I would have them bring the lizard in along with a fecal sample. Radiographs can show if impaction likely. Bloodwork can show if infection or organ dysfunction present. I have seen geckos with infections (viral, bacterial, and fungal), neoplasia, nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (MBD), gout, impactions, endoparasites, and a whole lot of other diseases that had the same clinical signs as your lizard. An emaciated lizard is a sick lizard and should be seen.
Michael Wenninger DVM
 
I gave him some crix last night and he was trying to catch them but I dont know if he did. Can they be force fed. I have reason to believe that it is not sick because it is on of my babies so it hasnt been anywhere to get sick. If it is impacted it seems there is not much I can do and to put it bluntly Im not going to spend 2-3 hundred bones for a 60 doller leo. I dont want it to die and Im doing everything I can and taking your advice but I have kids and a house payment and gas is $3 a gallon again.
 
turtlebuyer said:
I gave him some crix last night and he was trying to catch them but I dont know if he did. Can they be force fed. I have reason to believe that it is not sick because it is on of my babies so it hasnt been anywhere to get sick. If it is impacted it seems there is not much I can do and to put it bluntly Im not going to spend 2-3 hundred bones for a 60 doller leo. I dont want it to die and Im doing everything I can and taking your advice but I have kids and a house payment and gas is $3 a gallon again.
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Sounds like maybe you shouldn't own any animals then........ seriously, if you own animals you should be able to care for them, you took on that responsibility when you got them.
:uhh:
And there is a good posibility it will not cost 2-300dollars. Could be something simple that requres antibotics. But you won't know that till you acually take it to the vet.
 
I agree with Sarah 100% and it will most likely be less than $100, Id call and ASK a price before ASSuming it will be $2-300. It may be a case of pinworms which are inexpensive to treat or something totally non parasite related that could be very inexpensive to treat.

Did you keep the leo on sand? If so you can try a few drops of olive oil a day on his/her nose and they will lick it off and do some warm baths (soak in luke warm water for 20 minutes a day) to help aid the impaction coming out.

If the leo has never been on sand, impaction is unlikely and its most likely something else going on, could be as simple as not being able to get food while caged with others, if he/she was bullied and unable to eat.

Alice already posted the link to the Slurry that can be fed to help ALOT, you place a few drops on their face and they will lick it off.
 
Good points you guys,,, I think it is unfair to your pet to not give him a chance. Too many pet owners place monetary values on their animal's lives which just sucks. I understand that vet bills can get expensive, but it probably won't be as bad as you think. At least take him in to get pricing on proper vet care before you jump to conclusions. Good luck to you.
 
turtlebuyer said:
I gave him some crix last night and he was trying to catch them but I dont know if he did. Can they be force fed. I have reason to believe that it is not sick because it is on of my babies so it hasnt been anywhere to get sick. If it is impacted it seems there is not much I can do and to put it bluntly Im not going to spend 2-3 hundred bones for a 60 doller leo. I dont want it to die and Im doing everything I can and taking your advice but I have kids and a house payment and gas is $3 a gallon again.
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Then you should not OWN a pet. If you cannot (or will not) spend the money to give it the basic care it needs to survive, won't even call a vet to find out what it will cost....give it to someone who will.

People who would rather let an animal slowly suffer and starve to death instead of taking proper care of them make me ILL.
 
i agree that owning a pet is a responsibilty, and sometimes choices have to be made about how far your gonna go to save them. im trying to not jump on anybodies case about it, but it does suck.

it very well could be something simple to diagnose and treat, but if you dont then it can and probably will affect any other leos you have. then youll be dealing with a bunch of sick pets that are all withering and dying away right in front of you, slowly, a little every day. cuz now you really cant afford to treat all of them, instead of just the one for now.

sure it a worse case but its possible, and is unfair to your pets. it may even ruin keeping these wonderful animals for you.
 
oh ya, lose the calci-sand for sure. im sure its fine for something, just not keeping leos on. ive never used it but have seen first hand that leos will eat loose substrates, and one that clumps up like calci-sand has to be all bad.
 
I took the sand out and I am putting mineral oil on their noses to help pass the sand if that is the problem. I am even force feeding them Mworms dipped in suppliments. I dont see how this particular leo could have worms or anything else cuz its never been out of my house and my others have come from Kelly or tremper or that guy who developed blazing blizzes. I will try soaking them in warm watter this evening.
 
I dont see how this particular leo could have worms or anything else cuz its never been out of my house and my others have come from Kelly or tremper or that guy who developed blazing blizzes.
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NEVER assume a newly acquired gecko is disease free... regardless of where you got it!

Then you should not OWN a pet. If you cannot (or will not) spend the money to give it the basic care it needs to survive, won't even call a vet to find out what it will cost....give it to someone who will.

People who would rather let an animal slowly suffer and starve to death instead of taking proper care of them make me ILL.
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In light of some of the recent posts here, I couldn't agree more...
 
Ok ok how about I give it a week and if I dont see any improvement Ill find a vette. Will that make you guys happy. I dont want to be cruel to animals. If I didnt love aminals I wouldnt have 3 birds 3 cats 1 dog and 20 leos. I just hate paying high vet bills. Hell I wont take myself to the doctor anymore unless I think Im dying.
 
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