Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok im not trying to alarm you or anything! but how mutch does your vet know about herps? i am assuming it must have parasites really bad! i know flagyl and panacure are very similar but not sure how similar. i use panacure currently but have used flagyl in the same way and dossages. and i have NEVER used it everyday for a week! it seems like that would kill a young gecko or even an adult. not to mention it causes damage to the nervous system and liver and im sure much more if over dosed permanently! once again i may just be freaking out because of my lack of experience and i am not a vet but you may want to call around and get a second opinion! the few times that i have used it, not flagyl but panacure, i was told to dose once a week one drop, for 4 weeks on adult geckos. parasites have a life cycle like a flea and it might not effect eggs wich will hatch or whatever after a week and then youll just have more thats why he told me once a week for 4 weeks. they can also get a stomach ache just like humans taking meds with out food so if they wont eat i feed them vanilla ensure for old people because it has several vitamins and calcium, it is also fatty. i use to use baby food until i realized ensure was fattier and more nutricious.

i also just talked to a friend who is very well known in reptiles and supplies and he agrees with me on this subject. he actually said once every 2 weeks for 6 weeks because thats how the parasites life cycle goes, like i said he is much more experienced then myself. by the way most vets, even if they except reptiles they normally dont know squat about them. i think there may be a list of herp vets somewhere on kingsnake.

my second thing is is that wax worms are BAD for your geckos! not bad like life threatning but unhealthy! they are like chocolate to a 10 year old or a women on her cycle. hehe. they are pure fat with no nutritional value. you might think that it is good for fattening up your gecko but besides doing a pluss by fattening them up it makes them addicted to the worms. an example would be: the same reaction of an acoholic to acohol minus the drunk part. i guess thats not a very good example but they will refuse all other food eventaully and be fat and unhealthy.

with my babies that i have raised purly on dusted gut loaded crickets they were at least a third of the size bigger then other peoples babies who were raised on meal worms who were the sam age. that is a very arguementative subject though so i will just leave it at that. all of this is just purly my opion however but it is worth looking into! good luck! sorry about the blabbing.

hey thanks for the note bud, but i assure you she is the best vet around my area. i'll get her full title (was 9 or 10 letters after her name), you can even look her up on google. the names Jacqui Paterson, but please refrain from actually contacting her (i doubt you would, but safer to say than not) and the Flagyl isnt a strong dosage, its only 2% solution, the other 98% is water. i understand when you say to get a second opinion, but out of the 6 vets i phoned, and the 2 petshops, they said she was the best, and the fact that there arent any reptilian vets around either. she actually knew alot of stuff about gecko's, even cryptosporidium and other parasites, although, i agree they may jst read it all from books but not actually know what she is doing. i said 2 weeks for short term, he only needs it for the next 8 days (10 in total), but i'll most likely put him back into the vets a week on monday, as she said wait a few days to see if anything has improved.

i also know that waxies arent a good staple diet for leo's, but when he wont eat anythign else, its all i could do. in the past week he's had a waxworm and 2 mealies. im gonna try and tong feed him in a bit after i give him the flagyl, see if it wets his appetite.

all the input is very well appreciated

i actually jst found all these 2 comments about my vet..

Cleveland
Jacqui Paterson
Veterinary Surgery
4-6 Lyttleton Drive
Stockton On Tees, Cleveland TS18 5LE
Tel: 01642 587777
Comments:
JG - An excellent vet in regards reptiles and uses the latest equipment & techniques including Acupuncture. (04/27/02)

http://www.repticzone.com/articles/vets/UnitedKingdom.html
^--- she's at the top, along with a good comment

i'll write her full title when i see it next.

haha dont worry i wont contact your vet, besides the call would cost way more then its worth to me, i live in california. well i really hope this works for you. i just dont see how it will when like i said parasites have a life cycle much like a flea. with parasites the flagyl or panacure supposedly doesnt work on the eggs or wutever. and two weeks later you will have more parasites except it may seem as though your gecko is doing better but its really just that the parasites are still young. after another few weeks - a few months youll be right back where you started from except beleive it or not i have actually read that in situations like this the parasites can actually become imuned to it. then your really screwed. i dont know what you would have to do after that i didnt look into it because i would rather play it safe then sorry. but if you do do it for a full 14 days it may work even though all the days in between the 1st day, 7th day, and 14th day is just a waste of medication and harsh on the geckos stomach and liver. anyhow if you dont get your gecko to eat you can give your gecko beef, chicken, or turkey baby food. sometimes they just need a little meet/protien or energy to start eating again. you feed this to them using an eye dropper. you can also use vanilla ensure, the drink for old people. i dont know if they have that over in the UK. anyhow i think i already said this all, but i am just stessing it because i have owned and breed over like 50-70 geckos and have adopted several sick geckos and nursed them back to health to be re-adopted again. not just leopards either. however i am nowhere near as experienced as your vet im sure but i am going to school to be a vet and specialize in small exotics and reptiles. anyhow once again i am sorry if i sound like i am yelling at you, im not trying to. i am just a concerned gecko lover as yourself. ill stop posting now unless you ask a question or something.

Very cute fatties. I also agree with you 100%! I also would make sure that the baby food is organic! It's better for them then regular baby food.

i did try feeding it a little sliver of chicken and beef once but he didnt seem interested. but i shall try it again. and yes, i know your not yelling, i know breeders are very knowledgeable and respect the fact tht you breed them, not just observe them. the medicine wont be wasted, i only have enough to last me 2 weeks, by then he will be back at the vets (im calling him a he for now as his genitalia havent developed yet lol). if he hasnt improved by the next appointment then im going to take a stool sample in, even if they dont ask me to. also, he didnt get a full examination, no tests or anything, which i thought she would have done, but i was squeezed in between 2 patients, so the consultation wasnt long at all, and the flagyl was to try and slow the degeneration of the gecko's health until i could get a full appointment, which will be next monday. he hasnt been to the toilet since he had his last "flying lesson" which worrys me slightly, although because he hasnt eaten i dont expect much from it, im going to leave a few mealies in a dish with aload of cucumber and potato. i'll definately try looking for the vanilla ensure, he seems to like sugary things like flagyl. if nothign is working i'll buy baby food, vegetarian of course lol

i must say them gecko's look very nice! ^^

She meant beef, chicken o turkey BABY food not real chicken. Make sure it's organic to. There's a difference! LOL

ohhhhh my bad lol ok i'll try the meaty babyfood lolol

It's ok, good luck and hope all works out for you! Make sure you keep us posted on what is going on!