Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I posted yesterday with no response so I'm trying again. I made the mistake of thinking babies would find and eat calcium like the adults do, without dusting their food.

Now several babies, mostly in the 12-18 gram range, are showing some signs of calcium deficiency. The front legs are fat, kind of like Popeye's arms. They are weak. Some of those have wrists that seem to turn in.

About a week ago I started adding calcium directly into the mealworm dish. I'm giving affected babies a liquid calcium supplement. They hate the taste.

Yesterday and today I'm giving them a little StonyField Farms Organic Yoghurt with live cultures. One of the cultures has inulin which is supposed to help them absorb more calcium.

Is there anything else I can do to help them recover? A couple seem to be getting worse still. For anyone else out there please learn from my mistake! Dust the prey of young leopard geckos, especially hatchlings.

Be sure your calcium has D3 in it to help the babies absorb the calcium.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.10 Tokays
1.4.10 Leos(13 albino)
1.2.0 AFT's(amel male)
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

The liquid Calcium supplement does have D3 in it. Thanks for reminding me to check. They sure don't like the taste though. Its surprising how expressive leopard geckos can be, since they don't seem to hafe the fine muscle control in their faces that dogs and cats do.

Hi

Call the vets office and tell them the situation and what you are doing for them and ask for the vet.s opinion. He will probably say to bring them in.

Thanks for the suggestion. If I don't see immediate results I'll be calling him. I'll be seeing him in a few days anyway about another animal (unrelated).

Make sure the gutload you are providing your mealworms is high in calcium as well. This can boost their calcium content much more than dusting will. Don't use any veggies that are too high in oxalates (spinach, for example) because that will bind the calcium.
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chickabowwow

3.2.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 1 more egg a' cookin'

Xelda, thanks for that excellent suggestion about high calcium gut-loading. I use carrots mainly for the mealworms, occasionally other veggies. No spinach or chard for now, at least until they are back to normal. And I do hope for a full recovery. Guess I'll be praying for them.