Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We had noticed a few days ago that our male cat gecko was looking on the skinny side. We decided to move him into a little hospital tank so we could monitor his food intake better. His original tank is a planted 30 gallon that he shares with a female. When we went to get him out today he was very sleepy so his eyes were half closed but we noticed a very funny white spot on one of his eyes. I've never seen anything like that before, I'm very worried now. We can get him into the vet tomorrow, but I'd like some opinions before hand. On the plus side he looks a bit fatter now and hopefully he'll eat some waxworms today.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

There isn't too much information about Cat Geckoes Aeluroscalabotes felinus) on the net; however, the link below indicates that they are often infested with parasites & dehydrated, when they are imported. The eye problem can be bacterial, fungal & sometimes parasitic in origin; this could best be determined by a vet &/or pathology lab.
Goodluck on resolving these problems.
Link

I should have mentioned, these guys are five years LTC. Of course now you have me depressed about what I'm facing if I should lose this male and have to find another one. SIGH...
He goes to the vet today, but I'm worried he's going to be sleepy. The crack of doom couldn't make him open his eyes when he's sleepy.
He didn't eat any waxworms yesterday, I think now that I'm going to help him out by dripping an a/d mixture on his nose. If he does have an infection he'll need to be well fed to fight it off. I should be able to get him into the vet today.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Even LTC's can have the bacteria, fungi or parasites within their bodies and due to some form of stress (in this case-possibly through competition), the immune system breaks down. It's good that the gecko is going to the vet today, as your other Cat Gecko(es) may also have a predisposition to the same patholog(ies). The gecko should be quarantined into a sterile environment w/ hides & papertowel substrate, water (dripped onto nose/mouth)-for hydration, etc. In the interim, you may consider bumping-up the temperature in the caging by 5-10 degrees F. to stimulate an immune system response. Provide similar husbandry re: low-level lighting, humidity, but with warmer temps.

I would refrain from feeding waxworms, as they are fattening & not too nutritious. The liquid "A/D" diet would be best in small quantities as you stated. Also, keep the gecko hydrated as much as possible. I hope the problems get resolved & if you don't mind, please post an update.

Goodluck.

That's exactly what I did, he's in his own cozy enclosure right now. He was housed with my female, who seems ok for the moment. I could see her outcompeting him for food and he's not going back in the main cage until he's nice and plump.
I'll try the water thing, if I can wake him up. I'm pretty sure the main way they get water is licking up water droplets, so I'll try and keep his tank well misted.
The temperature thing... the highest temperature I've seen anyone recommend keeping these guys at is 75f, I guess they can function quite well at 65f. So I guess I'll have to figure out a way to get his little tank to 80f. My vet always recommends a 5 degree increase too. I think anything hotter might stress him out too much. I'm going to ask him for some A/D too.
I used worms because I thought cricket hopping around his little tank might bother him. I guess I could... ick... de-leg them, unless you think superworms or something would be a better idea. I don't usually do worms. I wonder if he'd eat a pygmy mouse pinkie?

>>Even LTC's can have the bacteria, fungi or parasites within their bodies and due to some form of stress (in this case-possibly through competition), the immune system breaks down. It's good that the gecko is going to the vet today, as your other Cat Gecko(es) may also have a predisposition to the same patholog(ies). The gecko should be quarantined into a sterile environment w/ hides & papertowel substrate, water (dripped onto nose/mouth)-for hydration, etc. In the interim, you may consider bumping-up the temperature in the caging by 5-10 degrees F. to stimulate an immune system response. Provide similar husbandry re: low-level lighting, humidity, but with warmer temps.
>>
>>I would refrain from feeding waxworms, as they are fattening & not too nutritious. The liquid "A/D" diet would be best in small quantities as you stated. Also, keep the gecko hydrated as much as possible. I hope the problems get resolved & if you don't mind, please post an update.
>>
>>Goodluck.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I'd suggest staying away from feeding any immature mammalian prey; they all tend to have high fat content-(which equals slower digestive rates). I've provided a link below for therapeutic feeding of insectivorous reptiles. I would suggest using parasite-free gut-loaded crickets/roaches in the linked recipe. I'm not familiar with the A/D liquid diets, but be cautious of high amts. of Vit.A & D3. Beta carotene is preferable.
Again, Goodluck @ the Vet.
Link

Those temperatures are for the eggs, not the geckos. The guy I got them from, who has bred them, said to keep them at 'room temperature', but I don't know what their preferred optimal temperature really is.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I'm not sure which area (city) of Malaysia they're native to, but if you find it out, you can probably do a search on the year-round weather for that area.
Link

Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, Sarawak and Sabah. I found this on a website, but they may be in other parts Asia. Weather can be checked in these areas throughout the year & an average temp./humidity distribution can be calculated for your caging set-up.

We just got back from the vet, he's got periocular sinusitis. His head's swelled up a bit. The white spot was mucus. He's got eye drops and oral baytril because he's too small to inject. I picked up some A/D too. Our car broke down on the way home ^_^; .

I could have sworn that cats lived at higher elevations which is why I was keeping them at lower temperatures, but I don't have any hard data.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Keeping him hydrated is easy, he happily licks up misted water droplets. Feeding him is something else, his tiny nose is so pointy that the food runs right off. Prying his mouth open for the baytril is also very difficult, two of us could barely manage today. If anyone has mouth-prying tips for fragile little lizards we'd appreciate them. It's a lot easier with snakes!
The female is not only healthily plump, she's getting a potbellied look that resulted in eggs last time it happened. We can hope!
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Not to discourage you but when you look up climate info you also have to take into account on how that particular animal uses its surroudings as well. Take rattle snakes for exampel they "mostly" come from simi desert areas but you never see them during the hot of the day temps around 110-120. temps that high would kill them after enough time has passed. How they do live though is they find shelter from the exteam temps. Just some food for thought

Yeah... Now I'm really confused. It's ok, that happens a lot. I actually just do what the guy I got them from told me to, because he'd had them for years. There's a small light on the tank for the plants. They usually sleep on the side away from it, but there's more cover there too. I'd probably know more about what temperature they liked if I could ever observe them when they were awake, but that's the breaks.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I don't have much experance with geckos but all the advise I can offer is:
1) make shure that you give them a very good tempature gradient..
2Let them deside for them selves... You can also talk with breeders too.
3Keep in mind that breeders are atleast doing enough right to get their animals to mate and breed sucessfully.
4Don't settle with one persons ideas, get all the in put you can and then deside for your self... or better yet experiment with the info and let the geckos choose for them selves..
5Don't get frusteraed and also share what you do learn with others so they can do the same..

1. Done
2. a. Done b. what breeders? have you seen them? do you know where they live? i will shake them upside down until i get their information!
3. see answer b. above
4. check, i've actually given advice to one or two other keepers. wish there were more...

>>I don't have much experance with geckos but all the advise I can offer is:
>>1) make shure that you give them a very good tempature gradient..
>>2Let them deside for them selves... You can also talk with breeders too.
>>3Keep in mind that breeders are atleast doing enough right to get their animals to mate and breed sucessfully.
>>4Don't settle with one persons ideas, get all the in put you can and then deside for your self... or better yet experiment with the info and let the geckos choose for them selves..
>>5Don't get frusteraed and also share what you do learn with others so they can do the same..
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?