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Could she be retarded? a little long

Priest Jan 30, 2004 12:36 PM

For a week, week and a half my thermometer was broken (and I didn’t realise). I didn’t notice because my house was starting to get really cold, so when the thermometer said it was just under 80 degrees, I thought I should get a stronger light bulb. After about a week or so, I got my new baby beardie, and for some reason (thankfully) I put the new thermometer in my gecko tank for an hour or so. It was somewhere around 120!!!! I quickly changed the light bulb back to the old on and got it back down to 88-90 in the day (hot side) and 82ish at night. My Leo spent an hour or so ever 3-4 days on the cool side, but that’s it. Anyway, to get to my point, since the incident she hasn’t been eating much, and has lost some tail fat. Her wait/tail is hovering at about 40-45g and staying the same size, but she still is barely eating. Crickets run by her all the time and she ignores most of them. She eats very little aside from the worm or 2 I put in front of her. I’m wondering if I could have done some brain damage to her. She doesn’t seem interested in food (although she is fairly active) and there are times where I can quickly wave my hand in front of her face without her reacting at all.

Sorry for rambling, and thanks for any opinions/insight I can get :D

Joe

P.S. I have decided to take her to the vet if her wait, tail fat, activity, eating habbits get any worse than they are now; but if she stays the same and shows signs of improvement soon, I’ll take her. I'll also be getting a fecal done on her and my Beardie, just to be safe.

Replies (3)

llyncilla Jan 30, 2004 08:41 PM

I can't give too much of an opinion on why she's seeming to be sickly, but I can tell you some other signs of brain damage. One of my girls recently began to exhibit neurologic problems for reasons we haven't figured out yet, so I can give you a run down on how she acts and looks:

1) she misses her food a lot.
2) one pupil is constantly more dilated/less dilated than the other.
3) when she gets stressed, she twists her head to the side of her body and opens her mouth, as if she were trying to bite under her leg. Sometimes she'll scuttle around like this for a while, bakwards and sideways sort of like a crab.
4)her balance is off when she walks-- she'll totter a bit, and seems generally unsteady.
5)sometimes she'll walk in circles, again when stressed.
6)once she was unable to right herself.

If your gecko is brain damaged, I'd think it would be pretty obvious. Watch for the symptoms of neuro problems; also, take a look at http://www.drgecko.com/neurology.htm and http://www.drgecko.com/postureab.htm.

I would suggest you see if she's dehydrated. It sounds like she feels like hell, and this could be part of why. Pinch her gently on her stomach-- if it doesn't spring back almost immediatly, she's dehydrated. You'll need to rehydrate her; to do this you can soak her for 15 minutes in lukewarm water up to her belly once or twice a day or provide her with her daily needs for fluids orally by dripping water on the tip of her mouth for her to lick up. Check out http://www.anapsid.org/fluids.html to figure out her daily fluid needs. Also take a look at this: http://www.drgecko.com/dehydration.htm. Really, though, from temp. that high she's probably severly dehydrated, and you should probably take her to a good vet for immediate treatment.

Good luck and let us know how she does!

Priest Jan 31, 2004 12:19 AM

She does miss her food a lot, where as when she was younger she couldn't miss. Her temp has been normal for over a week now and I have seen her drink. I'll try to feed her some more and most likely take her to the vet when I get the fecal done. Thanks a lot :D

Any more info from ppl is still welcome

llyncilla Jan 31, 2004 01:24 AM

Did you test her for dehydration? That alone could explain her other behaviors, and just because you saw her drink doesn't mean that she isn't.

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