Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have kept and bred many hundred of leopard gecko's since my own finding and learning of the on this forum some 10 or so years ago.
I see all these post anyime I visit back about weight loss and sickness being internal parasites. Leo's wont eat, won't drink, skinny, lethargic... etc.
Most pet shop leo's I see fit the qaulifications before they are bought.
1. A leo of more than 1 week old should feed readily. If not by 2 weeks subject is culled.
2. Any surviving subjects should be gaining tail weight by 10 weeks old "showing mass" or weight gain.
3. If not 1 or 2 cull the subject.

In my oppinion in the number and years that leos's have been captive bred all internal parisites should have been abolished years ago and unless a large amount of people are selling wild game fed leos then I can't really see internal parasites as even being a threat of the leopard gecko today.
Out of all the leos I have raised a good percent, probally 1/3 have died of parasitic symptom causes.
Consider with our incubation and care techniques today alot of potential non hatches or natural selection candidates actually hatch and survive to be potential pet store parasite so calleds.
With the captive bred programing that leo's have today I se parasites as a myth.
Buy a good strong leo, feed it well, heat it as needed, provide water and they will lay around all day and bask,breed and be happy.
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"Why is it we treat the earth as if we have a spare in the trunk"

Ok... I'm totally confused about why you are posting this and what the point is, but I can't get to sleep tonight, so I'll bite.

If you are trolling for something, then what about crypto? It exists normally in some animals (bearded dragons if I'm not mistaken, but don't quote me), but kills geckos (and humans) alike any chance it gets. So even the best pet store has easy paths for cross contamination of bugs that aren't even from the same continent. (But maybe could find a new host.) Not to mention not all pet stores have your expectations, I've even seen dead animals left in the "american renown" reptile store nearby.

You can breed parasite resistant geckos I suppose, but then wouldn't we end up in the same situation as bacteria that are now drug resistant?... better geckos would probably make parasites adapt.

I dunno, I guess you could say the same thing about feeders, get a bad batch and there you go. It can happen even if you are careful, organic spinach recall anyone?

Everybody gets sick, sure I hate to see the constant posts of "my gecko is sick". In fact, I got so tired of arguing with people to take the guys to the vet that I took a year off of posting and only recently came back. Things happen, we do our best and move on.

Stuff happens... even with the best intentions.

Our first gecko had parasites... for all 9 months of his life. We got him and he was beautiful, showed no signs what so ever, ate and grew. We moved apartments and the stress of the 10 mile move triggered his body to start losing the battle between the parasites and his system. We took him to the vet, it was an easy diagnosis and an easy treatment... But then he still didn't eat right, a month of hand liquid feedings and vet monitoring ended with him being put to sleep. Only then did we learn that he had them his whole life without any symptoms. The only solace the vet could give us was that we took TOO GOOD of care of him. His body kept everything in check for so long. Sure, hindsight says get a fecal for every new animal, but he was supposed to be from a trusted source. I didn't realize until I typed this how much I still miss him. His picture hangs over the cages of our current geckos, a watchful eye when we aren't here.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

According to my vet, geckos get pinworms from crickets, mealworms and other food sources. And they said they treat most/all reptiles for giardia when they come in because 'they just all have it'. So every time your geckos eats, which its gotta do, it is possible also eating parasites.

Illness is a fact of life. Something that 'selective breeding' is not going to get rid of. Although genetic engineering might..

Sorry I Ramble sometimes. What I am trying to say is that internal parasites of the zooalogical or multicelled group should all but be nill in todays captive bred society of geckos. If your leo never ate anything from birth but farm raised (supposed parasite free meals) then it should never contact parasitic or digestion tract problems. Crypto and such yes if introduced but they usually don't come loaded for bear like that. There just seems to be alot of non eating, malnurished geckos. They can't all be parasitic. Medicating these animals for such only adds to stress. Think of it this way in nature probally 1 out of 100 baby leos reach juvenille stage to gain their spots. We can hatch 98% fertile clutches through humidity control and temp regulation. Some of these babys aint gonna be character. The unfortunate problem child leos that have eating problems later in my oppinion in nature would have died egg at 2 weeks. Mortality rate and just plain freakish death and such is quite common in large breeding opperations. It takes a strong will to cull for the better of the specie. Especially if you can actually make a buck at it. Most pet store leo's come from a local breeder, they are thrown in with a strange group from their controlled lives and if they are weak at all stress alone does them in. They simply meltdown. No I am not trolling I have just raised enouph leo's to see their personal nature.
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"Why is it we treat the earth as if we have a spare in the trunk"