Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female is getting REALLY thin, her tail is super thin and I see sunk in skin between her leg and her hip. I don't have enough money for a vet. she won't eat any thing. I have seen her eat a couple of wax worm but that's it. PLEASE help, what could be the problem???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not very experienced in this area, but I have had three geckos which experienced theses symptoms. First of all, do you have bark for your bedding? Personally if you do I would suggest that you change it immediately because it often containst mites- small creatures that if they get inside your gecko they will eat it from the inside out. (recently that was the cause of the loss of my twpo latest geckos) Also, it might have a virus. Now the viruses I don't know much about, but I will give you all the info I know on it. As far as I know the most common virus out there currently attacks their fat stores and eventually takes away fat and nutrients from any place it can. Most of the time it will be dormant after the first few struggles but if they have it it will always be with that animal. One thing I will suggest, is going to the store and buying some gerber baby peaches, the mushed up kind. It is very high in nutrients, although you may have to force feed it by putting just a small dab of it on its tounge in the morning and at night it greatly helped some of my previous geckos. One other thing I would have too ask is have you had any other gecko/coldblooded animals in that cage that were ever sick? If so I would suggest that you first bleack the cage with a bleach solution (1 cup bleach to every 3 cups water) and then rinse it out thoroughly. That will kill any germs/mites/viruses that may be in the cage. Well if you have any more questions e-mail me at goldenwingedwolf@hotmail.com ok? if there's anything else ai can do I'd love to help!

One... learn what mites actually do.(For Mites are an external parasite that feeds on the blood of your reptile... Even internal parasites don't "eat your reptile from the inside out"

Two: 1 cup bleach to every 3?? Way too strong for even that purpose.. its 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. So 1 cup bleach would be to 10 cups of water.

Peach baby food? For crested geckos and day geckos maybe.. For leo's who are primarily insectivorious.. try Turkey baby food watered down or thinned with Vanilla ensure and add a bit of vitamin powder. Drop it onto the gecko's nose and see if he'll lick it off.
Also, change to a paper towel substrate for now.. so you can monitor bowel movements and possible regurges of food. Keep the temps at about 88-90 at the hot end and 76-79 at the cool end. Pick up some waxworms and crickets.,. gutload the crickets before you feed them.. possibly pinch off their jumping legs as well to make them easier to catch.
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

ACK! very sorry! I was just at the pet shop earlier and I learned some of those things but I don't know about the bby food. The man I talked to still said it was good for them......well thanks for the info and i'll try and not rush to conclusions.....

First thing you realize in the reptile hobby is Never EVER listen to a pet store owner or employee.. unless (and even this can't be relied on totally either) they specialize in reptiles and amphibs. Pet stores are infamous for giving false information. Take my experience when I was starting out. I purchased what was supposed to be a burmese python, I was told an adult could live in a 100 gallon tank for its entire life. I knew that was wrong when I bought her. However, as the months went by and she got bigger and more agressive instead of less.. things went downhill and I ended up having to find a home for her. 2 days later, the man I gave her to writes me back and tells me Rhya wasn't a Burmese pythin but instead was an African Rock Python. I called the pet store to relay that info and they said they didn't know what I was talking about. She came from the breeder as a Burmese... So much for pet store knowledge eh?
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

If you can get a good stool sample, most herp vets won't make you pay for an office call. You just take in the poop, not the gecko. The test is not very expensive, and the medicine is not that expensive either. I have 3 Leos that lost weight like you are describing. I took one of them to my vet yesterday and had the stool checked. Since I had the gecko with me, he weighed her to determine the best dosage of medicine, so if you don't make the appointment and don't take the gecko in, I do recommend weighing her and having that info with you. Since I paid for a visit I can't say how much the check was, but when I did just a check w/out bringing in the lizard in the past it was only $5 or $6 for the check. I got enough medicine to treat 3 Leos at yesterdays appt for under $6. So you might be able to get your diagnosis and medicine for only $10 or $12 which isn't so bad and well worth it. Mine didn't have Crypto or Coccidia, they had an excess of one celled protozoa (I think that's what he called them). The medicine has a long name, can't remember it but could post it later when I have more time. It's kept in the fridge and they get one drop a day for 5 days, then repeat in 3 weeks. Mine will eat waxies if you put them in front of them, they won't eat crickets or mealies and won't eat the waxies if you put them in the food dish, only if you put them in front. One will only eat out of my hand. My vet said they should be fine. Good luck with your baby, I hope you are able to save him/her. Worth a call to your vets for the cost of just doing the sample w/out an appt. Might be within your price range after all.

I don't know if it's a state-by-state regulation or what, but not all vets will dispense medications without seeing the animal first. Unfortunately, not all fecal checks/meds are inexpensive, either--depends on where you are. I'm in California, and when I recently took my tortoise in, it cost me $41.50 for the office visit, $22.00 for the fecal check, and $16 for 6 doses of Panacur...which is why I'm going to learn how to do my own fecal floats, lol. I think you can figure that those are top prices, though--I can't imagine it would be any more than that.

I'm not trying to be discouraging, just wanted to let you know that the situation varies depending on what area you're in.
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Sohni
(aka Jeannie, but other people have similar names, too confusing, so I switched)
0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa (Bella)
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake (Bess)
1.1 Rubber Boas (Esther & Isaiah)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (George)
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise (Moxie)
2.0 Adopted DSH Cats (Amos & Silas)
1.0 Rescued English Springer Spaniel (Jimmy)
and...
2.0 Kids (Riley & Noah) w/ 0.0.1 California King
Snake (Rex), 1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa (Lucas), 0.1
Leopard Gecko (Geico)
1.0 Husband (no pets, just us, lol)

I paid $40 for a visit, $38 for the fecal smear and floatation, and then $9 for the medication. All this for a vet who was going off of a care sheet.

I did manage to get the name of a good vet recommended by some people at the reptile show, and he only charges $25 for the visit and $25-$30 for the fecal.

I'll eventually try to learn to do my own floatations once I can buy a good microscope.
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chickabowwow

3.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 3 eggs a' cookin'

I'll appreciate my vet that much more now! Technically I only paid $5.75 for the meds, and nothing for the stool checking. The visit was $35 but I could have just brought in the sample if I'd wanted and not paid the office call. I'm sure I would have been billed for the stool check had I not had the office call, but like I said before they don't charge too much for that. I've paid over $1,000 in vet bills in the past year so maybe I was just due for a break.

I'm in CA too and vets won't do a fecal without the office visit. And it's more like 50-60 here for the visit.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos