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Not being experienced enough with leopard geckos I may just be assuming here, but I'm starting to really think that the Bell albino (Bellina) I've had for three weeks (got her at the Daytona show) might have Coccidia.

The whole time I've had her she hasn't eaten any crickets or mealworms. I thought she may have been eating packaged leo food, but it was just the ants taking it away. She was really skinny when I got her but has put on a tiny amount of weight only because of the liquid food and vitamins I give her. I've offered her all sizes of crickets, dusted and un-dusted, as well as mealworms (including ones that just shed). I've put them in feeder bowls and loose. She doesn't even consider the fact that bugs might be food, she only sees them as pests if they're around her.

When I bought her she was really weak and trembled when she walked. Now she's not so weak and only trembles sometimes... but she's still not eating.

Also, she's been having trouble with her sheds. When I bought her she had shed skin affixed to her toe and she lost the toe on the next shed. With that shed she lost a tiny bit on the tip of her tail, also (well, it's brown and obviously dead). The humidity in my room is very high and I liberally misted her tank before she shed so the floor was wet. My other leo has shed a few times and none of this has happened.

Also, this sick leo used to sit in her Pedialyte for hours. She's fond of the stuff.

Yesterday I went to give her some of the liquid diet I give her which is some Pedialyte mixed with Repti-Aid, bananas, turkey baby food, calcium, and multi-vitamin that I have pre-mixed and keep in the fridge. Well, yesterday she threw it up after me giving it to her. It may be because I gave it to her cool when I normally warm it up, but considering that she licks this stuff very slowly and she threw it up after the fact (I didn't give her a lot, either), I think it's more than just the stuff being cold.

Also, two nights ago I went to pick her up and she got really pissed and fake-bit me and then hissed and then made that sound they do when they're mad. She's never been like that before and I've noticed her to be testy lately.

I disinfected her entire tank (a quarantine 10-gallon) very scrupulously and made her an appointment with a vet for Friday. Hopefully I can keep feeding her the liquid diet and she'll have a stool for me so that I can take it to the vet.

Anyway, what are the chances this girl has Coccidia or even Crypto? I think the breeder is good and the people were all very knowledgable and honest with me, but I still figure that buying an animal at a show means that it may have been exposed to quite a lot. I'm really worried and want to know what you guys think.

The vet says that he's almost surely going to treat her with medication for Coccidia along with Flagyl and Panacur, even if she tests negative. I hope it doesn't cost me a fortune, but I hope more that she turns out okay. The vet is actually more expensive than some others but he seems to know what he's talking about and I don't feel like wasting money on a vet who doesn't.

Thanks in advance for reading and/or responding--I'm really worried and want to know what to do in this case or what to make sure the vet does.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

Your gecko may or may not have coccidia or crypto, that is something only a qualified vet can diagnose. Really the best thing you can do for her is get her to a vet asap, which sounds like what you are doing.

One more thing, if she looked skinny, was really weak and trembled when she walked, why did you purchase her? Was it because she was priced so cheap? I am not trying to be mean or anything so I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I was just curious if that was why you got her. Also, would you mind emailing me the name of the breeder you got her from?

Best of Luck-
Kelli
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Peace-
Kelli Hammack
H.I.S.S.
email me

I am so happy with him he is eating like a champ and is beautiful! I keep telling people (usually on the cham forum where I am more of a regular)
You get what you pay for. When you save money on an animal initially it usually ends up costing you a fortune at the vet.
People really need to do their homework and buy from a reputable breeder. One way to do this is ask lots of questions or ask to see photos of the animal and never buy one that looks sick or underweight. There are many healthy ones available. Don't support breeders that do not take care of their animals. Just MHO

Well, I only figured the breeder would be good because I had heard of the name (my mistake maybe).

The gecko was underweight but I thought it was from the trip (I bought her at a show). It was mostly her tail that looked so skinny, except that her head looked big when I took her home and looked at her and then looked at my other gecko. I did hold her before buying her, but she seemed tired, not weak. It was the early afternoon and most geckos I saw there looked tired, too.

Later on, on my long way home, I noticed she seemed very weak. But the car ride was bumpy and I was sure that she was tired so I reserved my judgement for later... then I found out she trembled when she walked and all the other stuff
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

Thanks for reading and replying.. and so fast!

Well, I bought her skinny, but it wasn't all that skinny. Her tail was thin but she had no protruding bones or anything of the sort... and she does look better now. I attributed her being a little thin to the fact that she was probably stressed from the trip to the show (the breeders had to be there a full day early, so it couldn't be easy on the animals).

She was a great price when I bought her, but I bought her because I thought the breeder was good because the card said Mark and Kim Bell and she's a Bell albino. The company is Reptile Industries Inc. and they're in Naples, Florida.

Anyway, all of their animals looked great at first shot and the people were very knowledgable. Also, my boyfriend was buying a snake from them and they were honest enough to tell him that some of the more expensive ones my boyfriend was interested in were not good for beginners and gave him recommendations for some Cal Kings and Cornsnakes that were much more affordable, anyway.

I don't want to give the breeder a bad name at all, but I'm not witholding any information, because I believe it's everyone's right to know any circumstance. I picked this gecko out of the rest because she was roughly the same size as my other gecko and she was awake (I figured it was a good sign).

Now, I may be naive when I say this, but I don't think that the breeder has anything to do with my gecko being sick. I think that if she has coccidia (which I'll alert everyone if she does) that she contracted it at the show. If it's something else, then it may be another situation altogether.

Anyway, again, thanks for your help and your opinions. I really appreciate it
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

You say she is having trouble with her sheds, does she have a moist hide with moss or wet paper towels in it? She needs one.

What are her warm side and cool side temps? Does she have undertank heat, not just a lamp? Lack of adequate belly warmth can cause geckos not to at or be able to digest their food.Are you giving her calcium supplement, and offerring a supplement with D3 occassionally?

Is there any foul odor coming from her enclosure?

What is her weight?

She needs a fecal, both a smear and a float. If those are negative, it could be bacterial, crypto, or one of the worms or protozoans that is not easily detectable on a fecal smear or float.

The most common- and thankfully most easily treated and cured- thing to afflict geckos is worms. Also, sometimes babies will eat too much and throw up due to that, even when they are not sick.

As for the chances of it having coccidia, who knows. If it really is a good breeder, I'd say chances of that are slim but you mention the gecko was thin and shaky when you bought it...I wouldn't sell a gecko in that condition, and I wouldn't trust a breeder who would. Of course definitions vary, I don't know how thin you mean by thin. Coccidia would not be the first thing I would suspect in a case like this, but you should test for it.

...less skinny now.

Yeah, she does have a humid hide which is where she always is. Since the humidity in my room tends to be in the 70s, I don't always mist it as long as it's somewhat moist. But I bought her with a problem on her toe from a shed (I didn't want to handle her too much so I didn't check her well at all) and she shed the other day. Before shedding, though, I really misted her tank well.

Anyway, her cool side is 75*F at night and 78*F during the day. The warm side is 95*F and that's where her humid hide is (as well as a dry warm part outside of the hide). I have calcium and some D3 in her liquid diet (not too much), but because she isn't eating bugs I haven't dusted or anything.

Her enclosure doesn't smell bad at all. When she was drinking a lot of Pedialyte and her liquid diet was more watery, she did produce runny stools, although they didn't smell. When I reduced the water/Pedialyte in her liquid diet she made normal stools.

I've never weighed her so I don't know her weight. I have a baby scale I've been trying to find but am having a hell of a time trying to locate it (in the garage.. or maybe the attic).

I talked to the vet and he does both direct (I think that's a smear, right? I'm pretty sure I heard direct smear before) and flotations. Other vets just did flotations and didn't really seem to know as much about what they said as this doctor. We talked on the phone for a good half hour before I even indicated that I was going to make an appointment with him and not someone else.

Okay, I'm glad you think (and the other posts to my thread, too) that it's unlikely she has Coccidia. I'm really, really hoping it's something easier to treat. The vet is going to treat for worms whether or not they come up on the fecals and I'm willing to pay what I need to.

Anyway, while she was skinny when I bought her it wasn't alarmingly so... and I don't want to blame the breeder until I get my results and contact them (I haven't).

Thanks for your reply and I really appreciate it. This has made me feel better and more hopeful... and this whole experience has just taught me to be more careful.
Link

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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

She is slim but young, young geckos tend to put their food in to growth rather than fat. She does not have the wrinkles in her tail that would indicate weight loss. If she is having solid stools I think it is highly highly unlikely she has coccidia. She might not even have worms. If she does have worms, I wouldn't blame the breeder as leos can pick those up anytime from crickets, and they are no big deal to treat.

First thing I would do is get a THERMOSTAT and fix the temps, 95 is too hot for the warm side, it should be 90°. If the warm side is too hot your gecko may not use it and that can cause digestive probs and lack of appetite.

You may find that when you fix the temps she starts eating.

Also, keep handling to the minimum neccessary to care for her, she is probably stressed out.

Thanks

Because the heat mat burns at the same temp all the time, I can lower the temp to 90*F by wrapping it a second or third time in paper towels. I just check and use trial and error to get the right temps, but she seems to like it warm like that. I'll still bring it down, though.

Right now she is having solid stools, although obviously very few. I'm glad that's a good sign! The problem is that she just started throwing up her food. I was only feeding her every second or third day and I leave her alone the rest of the time except to see the temps, clean, or change the water and she was always very calm and trusting. After throwing up and because I want to take a fresh stool to the vets Friday I've been feeding her every-other-day.

Lately, the past few days since she's been vomiting, she's been very cranky. Two nights ago when I fed her she felt it was time to go exploring. I'd put her on my hand and she'd crawl up me or whatever, but I decided it was time for her to go back into her cage. I took her on my hand to her tank and she got kind of nasty, making noises and refusing to get off of me. I gave her some more time out of the tank and the same thing happened again when I tried to get her back in... but she had enough fun for the day.

She's been so nice since I've had her that her behavior has really shocked me. I don't think she's feeling well at all, the poor girl, and I don't know what's wrong and can't wait to get this all figured out.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame