Reptile & Amphibian Forums

finally got pics of him onto my comp, the first 2 are about 2 weeks after i got him, the last 2 were taken today. notice how he/she hasnt got much bigger. i hope to god they werent parasites in them damn mealies and waxies..but it would explain alot... =(

sorry im new to forums and posting pics etc. i cant seem to post more than one pic at a time, so here's one from when i got him. ^^

you can see im a noob, that pic sucked..lol here's another one that should be a little better..

that gecko is pretty thin... would you be able to have your vet do some tests to check for parasites?

just so happens he went to the vets yesterday, i said in the previous messages but i didnt know for sure until he crapped on the floor, which was slimy green (like greeny brown) and did have a worm in it. i also cut up all the wax worms, which looked as tho they had parasites in them, but the meal worms had very fine black fiber like strands inside of them. the crickets seemed ok, but thats the onyl thing he wont eat, which sucks. i got the waxworms to try and put weight on him, but the vet said he looks to be in pretty good health, jst a bit pale, which she gave me flagyl for. he seems to like it, its nice and sweet so hopefully this will get him back on track. also going to get vitamin E suppliments next chance i get, which sadly isnt until tomorrow. im also going to get a new batch of waxworms and cut some open, see if ther the same as the ones i threw away. i got my fingers crossed it isnt cypto, but the vet said he looks fairly healthy, so mot likely wont be that. ^^ if anyone can shed light onto what i found inside the mealies and waxies, it'd be a grat help.

His tail is very very thin and i believe that is what was meant by fattening him up. He looks pretty good otherwise. Yes they can poop out worm looking things as such from waxworms if not digested properly. I do belive it is just the internal organs of the waxworms to tell you the truth. Unless all waxies have parasites in them..lol...I would possibly think about a 2nd vet opinion. If your vet said it' healhty looking they were wrong, a skinny tail like that is much for concern.

she said he looked healthy but the thin tail (compared to how an eating gecko would look)should improve with the flagyl, hopefully making him eat. i've decided to not give him food until tomorrow when i get new crickets and vitamin suppliments. hopefully this will make him eat more, but if this doesnt work i'll jst have to go back to leaving a saucer full of mealies in ther for him. even if there right in front of him he wont bat an eyelid (lol a little joke there..lol) he even sits ontop of crickets, and flinches when they touch him. also, i try to handle him every day, for about 10-15 mins at a time, usually 2-3 times a day, but he's still a bit jumpy when i stoke his back. i have to start at the tail or head and work my way down his back. is this normal or should he get used to my touch after a while..?

thanks for the feedback aswell.

i wont be getting a second opinion either, as the vet i saw is the one every pet shop i contacted recommended, even other vets recommended her lol so she has to be pretty good..

plz read my post above if you havent already. just bcuz the pet stores recomended her doesnt mean anything. it just means that she is the closest nearby and cheapest, most pet store owners dont give a damn about their animals, its all about the sale. i recently was talking to a large reptile store owner this weekend and i couldnt beleive the things i was hearing. i also cant beleive what they tell these newbies too on how to care for their new pets. this is someone who always and probably currently has banners flashing here right now. it also seems very irresponsible to pescribe flagyl with out a stool sample and just say it has parasites not matter how probable it may be! i am going through school right now to become a vet for situations like these. I really am not trying to be mean or yell at you, im sure that is what it sounds like, so im sorry.

also, handling the gecko 2-3 times/day is too much for an adult, let alone a juvenile. yes, the gecko will eventually get used to you, but you're likely causing significant stress by forcing contact that frequently. when they're young, i usually try to handle them *once* every 2-3 days, and the one living with me now is tame as can be, even appears to request being picked up.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

thanks for all the feed back im gettin on this. about the vet, she is the best around, even other vets recommended her over there own. she isnt cheap either, £4.79 for the medicine (about $6-7) and a £24.99 consultancy fee (for a 10 minute session, about $40). im not sure if this is cheap or not, but seems extortionate, but hey, guess it how the world works. she suspected it is most likely parasites causing his condition, which is why im to give him a drop of Flagyl every day for the next 2-3 weeks. i wasnt too sure about handling my gecko from the start. i read in books it's best to handle them every day so they become familiar with you but once his treatment is over i'll stick to handling him 2-3 times a week. for the next 10-14 days im going to have to handle it at least once aday, as it HAS to have a drop of flagyl everyday in hope that it will make him better.. i looked on the net as to what parasites Flagyl cures, it says Amebiasis, quite common but can lead to death...i guess all i can do at the moment is monitor his progress and try to get him to eat. tht would be a good sign of recovery. what else can leo's eat apart from crix (he wont touch them), mealies (very rarely eats them) but seems to like the waxies, which yes, i know are not a good staple diet for him. i hear they like veggie's, but what can and cant they eat..?

thank you again for all the feedback. its well appreciated

No offense but it just sounds like you don't care about getting a second opinion because it would cost you more money. Just the way your coming off...i would get a second opinion personally. Fatties is right about pet stores. I used to work at one that used a vet from Jersey (I live in PA) and he cost the cheapest and he would travel to them so it was a good deal just for the store. Ridiculous!

ANNYWAYS, Yes the handling is way to much and way to often. I have 7 leos and 4 of them will come right out when i start to take the lid off and the walk right onto my hand. It just takes time and patience. Also if he is sick i for sure would not want to make him more ill. As if you didn't feel good would you want someone picking you up if you just got comfy? I doubt it! LOL

DO NOT FEED WAXIES MORE THEN 1 a week. You are going to get him addicted to them and he will NOT be interested ever in anything else and he will loose more weight and get malnurished and so on and so forth, he could also end up obest and not alive. Feed 2-3 cricks at first and see if he goes for them....If not then try grabbing the crix with a tweezers and feeding that way.

Good luck and i hope all turns out well for you. Make sure you keep us posted on the hopefully progress on your little one!

its not that i dont want a second opinion, i will most likely get one if my vet cannot find anythign wrong or if she is taking too long with getting to the bottom of the problem.

dont worry either, since i got waxworms he's had 3, the past 7 days he's had one, but now that i think about it, as soon as i put the last one in front of him, he ate it straight away..is there no way to ween him off waxies..i mean if he gets hungry enough he will eat other food wont he..? he has eaten the occaisional mealie, 2 in the past 7 days i think, but crix he doesnt bother with, i jsut tried to tong feed him a mealie and he doesnt want to know. most of the time he has his eye's closed and the vet said it could be a sign of conjuncitivitis, but he should be getting tests done on his next visit. im going to be bust until mid next week so i wont be posting i dont think. if any news comes along i'll surely tell.

okay when i first started i made the mistake of feeding waxies, myself. i waited for like a month pluss and the male that i adopted wouldnt eat, that bastard. just kidding, but this boy was tough! so i finally gave him a waxie and of course he eats it emediatly like an adicted person to herion or something. so the next thing i tried was the cricket, no response. so then i held the live cricket and live worm together and he ate it but i had to hold onto it until he grabbed them both, then i let him munch on both of them. i did this like twice. after that i tried just the cricket again and no response, so then i rubbed the live worm all over the live cricket to make the cricket smell like the worm!!! he grabbed it!! but was kinda upset that it wasnt what he thought it was. he ate it though and i had to do this for like 2-3 weeks BY HAND> oo it was awfull then i stoped having to make the crickets smell like the worms and that made things a little easier but he still wouldnt eat on his own! i had to continue to hand feed him.

i realized this was because he was always looking for my fingers and looking up. so i had to train him to look down, once we acomplished that i had to teach him that food can walk. haha. anyhow he finally started eating on his own!! after like months of this everynight.. this was the most stuborn adult ever! you can probably avoid some of this by using tweezers but make sure you leave him inside the cage while you do this!! im glad i adopted him out finally. but he gave me my first babies ever

Try mashing up waxies and rubing the guts on the mealies and the crix and see if he will take an interest to them if he does then you may have to just sent them less and less each day till he just eats crix or mealies!

kool i'll mash up aload of mealies when they hatch (im only letting 4 breed as i dont want to be over run with mealies) so i'll definately give that a go, seems like it just might work ^^