Greetings fellow leo owners,
I got a juvenile leopard gecko in December - not sure how old he was, but probably a couple of months old.
I noticed within a couple of weeks that he did not always eat his mealworms. When I first got him he was very interested in eating, but within a week or two this waned. He has never seemed to be losing weight and his tail has stayed fat. Regardless, I got worried, started reading and eventually got him some vanilla ensure. He took this... and did seem to regain interest in mealworms. His stools have stayed the same throughout. I also noticed that he seems to "move funny"... not to walk quite right. Trying not to be an over-worried new owner, I've simply kept on watching him and feeding ensure when he didn't eat the worms.
Worrying more about his funny walking, I decided to make a trip out to a pet store that I know has Leos - and a staff who loves them. Sure enough, they walk very differently than my gecko ever has... though I feel that his walking has gotten worse. I took him to this store with me today to have the manager (a former leo breeder) take a look at him. He said it's MBD and that I need to take him to the vet.
I plan to do this later in the week - apparently this good vet is rather far.
My concern: is there something I could have done to cause this? The manager/breeder seemed to say that this was the breeder's fault - that this happened when he was forming in his egg, both in the mother and after he was laid. I do gut-load my worms and I do have calcium in a dish in the tank. But I'm worried about whether I caused this. I am also worried about how much treatment will actually help. I will have him treated - regardless - but I was told that this disease will dramatically shorten his lifespan and I'm just heartbroken.
Anyone dealt with this before? Is there such thing as a full recovery? What can I/should I expect?
His jaw is fine... this is simply a problem with his front legs and feet along with lethargy.
Thanks for any input you can offer.
