Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a horrible person I guess, I will be taking my leos back to their original owner as I obviously don't know how to care for them, nor have the funds at the moment to give them proper medical attention.

I am sorry for wasting everyones time in this forum, it was nice while it lasted.

don't think like that. if you are getting rid of your leo's simply because you feel that someone else can do a better job at giving them a proper home then fine, or because you can't afford to give them what they need fine. but at least you admitted it. don't get down on yourself.

now if you feel it's because you don't know how to take care of them, then this is the place to ask the questions, to find out HOW to take care of them properly. go buy a book on leo's or rent one from the library. you can learn fairly easy. i knew nothing about leo's when i first got astrid, and she is fine. i even managed threw the forums help to nurse him back to health from impaction. if i can do it so can you.

good luck in whatever your choice abot your leo's is.

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1.0 Leo Gecko's *Astrid* - was told he was a her at first
0.0.1 Pictus Gecko *Raine* - too young to sex
1.1 Hollond Lop Bunnies *Panda, Oreo*

how did you nurse it back to health? what did it take to fix the impaction

first off i asked a lot of questions on here.
i removed food from astrid's tank for a couple days. if a leo is impacted and not making regular bathroom visits *lol* then if it eats a lot then it will become more impacted.

daily WARM baths. enough water in a rubermaid dish, but not so much that it goes over it's head. 30 minutes in warm water a day.

also i used a suringe and dropped water in the lips of my leo daily *not forcing it in it's mouth, that will cause stress* and it will lick off the water, and it does take awhile to get them to drink enough, but eventually it pays off. some say add oils into the water. now i found astrid has been going to the bathroom just fine. *also change substrate i would NEVER recommend sand*

it may not be what everyone would do , but astrid is just fine now, so it worked for me.

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1.0 Leo Gecko's *Astrid* - was told he was a her at first
0.0.1 Pictus Gecko *Raine* - too young to sex
1.1 Hollond Lop Bunnies *Panda, Oreo*

Why are you giving up on your leos. Please tell us what the problems are. Leos are not hard to take care of. They require time and attention, the materialistic side is not that expensive. They return so much more, and my only regret is not starting sooner. If it is not prying too much please tell us the problem(s). I am sure that we can help you. You seem to be getting a lot of enjoyment from your pets it would be ashame to see you lose that. If you just want to talk one on one you can send me an email at Lrs_x@hotmail.com.

Tim
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LEOs: 6.9.0
1.3 High Yellows-Barney,Betty,?,?
2.0 Hypo Tangerines-Bam-bam,Rex
0.3 SHCT's -Journey,Wiggy,Lil'bit
1.0 Rescued Normals -Shleprock
1.3Tremper Albinos Mr.Slate,?,?,?
1.0 Tang Tremp Albino - Rocky

Just read down the page a bit...

My baby leos aren't eating hardly anything...

Everyone tells me how long I should wait... and some say in another week my leos will pretty much be dead already, and some say wait a month or two...

And some people say I am ignoring the advice everyone is giving...

Ok, I have read some of what has been going on. First let me say that you can take what Marcia and Kelli say as Leopard Gecko gospel. What are you having trouble affording, if its food send me your address and I will get online right now and have the cricket ranch send you some pinheads, or mealies, your choice,to hold you over till payday.

Ok, I noticed on this post that some of your questions are about light and other husbandry problems. You aso stated that only one leo will eat, and that the others are skitish. Remember babies are very nervous and energetic.If you are constantly hovering over them or have a white light or daylight on them all the time this will effect their habits. You need to follow the heating and lighting intructions on here and basically leave them alone. I know this is a tall order because you are worried about them, but constant attention is not something that is going to help. They may need to be hand fed if they are so far gone you don't think they will make it another week. Marcia has an excellent mixture for sick leos. Also you might want to try some baby food fruit mixtures. Get an eye dropper/syringe and let them lick it from the tip, don't force feed them.

Hopefully you have purchased "The Leopard Gecko Manual" by Ron Tremper. If you have not you can perform searches on this forum to answer any and all your husbandry questions.

One thing Marcia & Kelli stated and I completely agree is that you do have a responsibiltity to your pets, they are living and breathing beings. You will also notice as your Leos get older they all have their own personalities, some are smarter than others, some are nicer than others just like people. You should always be able to take care of them properly both time and money wise. I actually have started a little leo fund that I put some money in each month, so that I can afford if something would happen to take my pets to the vet at anytime and all of them if that would be neccessary.

My gut tells me you are a good person and are trying to do what is right. don't give up I will help you anyway I can.

Tim
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LEOs: 6.9.0
1.3 High Yellows-Barney,Betty,?,?
2.0 Hypo Tangerines-Bam-bam,Rex
0.3 SHCT's -Journey,Wiggy,Lil'bit
1.0 Rescued Normals -Shleprock
1.3Tremper Albinos Mr.Slate,?,?,?
1.0 Tang Tremp Albino - Rocky

Thanks for the offer on the food, I can afford that fine, I just can't afford a $100 vet visit for them right now...

I was just wondering about the lighting, I didn't actually do it.

I can't hand feed because most run away, and if they don't they just kinda stand there and aren't interested in it. Where is that recipe for the food? Where can I get the syringe for them?

Yes I bought the manual and read it about 5 times. I also bought the urban gecko video, kinda moot now though, since it wont arrive for another week...

There is a good mixture in just a little ways down posted by JCreptile in the thread about the dark spot. You can get a feeding syringe at pet stores, and if you can't get one of those you can get a eye dropper in the Pharmacy of Walmart. If you can't find one by itself buy a bottle of infants gas drops or infant Motrin and there will be an eye dropper in that, just make sure you wash it well. Search posts on "not eating" for more info. You are defenitely not the first one this has happened too.

Tim
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LEOs: 6.9.0
1.3 High Yellows-Barney,Betty,?,?
2.0 Hypo Tangerines-Bam-bam,Rex
0.3 SHCT's -Journey,Wiggy,Lil'bit
1.0 Rescued Normals -Shleprock
1.3Tremper Albinos Mr.Slate,?,?,?
1.0 Tang Tremp Albino - Rocky

I apologize for going off on you... I rarely do that, and I always feel bad when I do. I would like to be helpful and supportive, and I understand your worry. I agree that there is quite a bit of conflicting information and advise, but the only thing I can suggest is to consider the source of that advise and use your own better judgement.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

When i got my leos they would not eat. It took about 3 weeks for two out of three of them to eat. One of them started eating within the first week. Mine didnt die. When i asked about this, i was told that it was normal. When i saw others ask this, they were told it was normal. So i try to give this advice, now most people are saying the opposite, and that they are sick if they dont eat in the first week. When you consider the source Paradisio, the other's advice is much better than mine, i was just repeating advice i had been given, so rule out mine. I apologize.

i have tried to follow the past post regarding your problems with your leos.

to my recollection, u were going to try smaller mealies....
did that work?

i am also concerned about where u got these leos from. i think you had questioned the health of the breeders stock. if u start with bad/sick/undernourished leos, then it is tough for an inexperienced keeper to be successful.

my advice to any new leo owner is this......
buy from a reputible breeder.
and buy a larger more established leo.
talk with the breeder, find out what the leo likes to eat, what are it's habits.
if it makes any difference, i consider myself a newbie when it comes to leos. even tho i have kept them and other reptiles for many years. i have learned so much since coming to this forum and still have lots more to learn.

if these leos are not healthy and have not been since u purchased, i suggest contacting the previous owner.

this doesn't mean u have to give up.
maybe u can get a refund and start over

sterilize everything!!!!
and start slow with one or two good healthy leos.

just my two cents.
good luck!
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.4.0 leopard geckos - raine, mango, noodle, jaws, & sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
1 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles,8.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com

n/p
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LEOs: 6.9.0
1.3 High Yellows-Barney,Betty,?,?
2.0 Hypo Tangerines-Bam-bam,Rex
0.3 SHCT's -Journey,Wiggy,Lil'bit
1.0 Rescued Normals -Shleprock
1.3Tremper Albinos Mr.Slate,?,?,?
1.0 Tang Tremp Albino - Rocky

Hi Paradisio

I would also like to apologize to you.

I didn't mean that you weren't taking other peoples advice when they were giving it to you, I was just thinking that with the advice they were giving you that your mind still didn't seem eased by it and to try and help relieve some of that worry/ pressure you are feeling about these great little guys, that maybe by going to the vet. that he could ease it for you.

That is all I had ment. I really didn't mean anything mean by it or to say you were bad in any way by not going to the vet. now. I'am just feeling really bad for you that you have to worry so much.

Don't give them up, we are all here for you and will continue to be here for you. We really do care about you and your geckos.

Take Care, TLB

The problem with keeping "exotics" is that information on them is not set in stone, what works for someone might be total BS to someone else (thus you're having problems with the answers you're getting to your questions).

Are you leo's "looking" sick? From what you tell me they're quite spunky little things (this is good), so I don't think they're sick, so the vet visit won't be necessary.

If they ARE looking sick, call the person you got them from and tell them "look this leo you sold me is sick, I want a refund", and if he/she says no, then report them. It's only been a week or so, so whatever "warranty" that person follows on his/her animals should still be in effect.

If you're still pulling your hair out, I'd try returning all but ONE leo. It's much easier to keep track of one than it is to keep track of three. This way you can get your husbandry practices down before attempting that many leos.

You can also reduce stress induced to your leos by being regular. So if you have to check up on them everyday, check on them at the same time (say 8PM), do your mealworm changing, cleaning, re-watering, etc, the same time everyday. This way you're leo's will fall into that cycle and expect you around that time instead of spazzing out when you decide to show up at 3PM lets say and they're not ready.

Another thing to do is put the tank somewhere dimly lit (i.e. don't put it right smack in the middle of the living room or next to a window that's always unshaded). A good place is the bedroom, it's quiet, if you pull the shades is dim, and there's not that much that goes around in the bedroom. Leo's only start exploring when they're bored (that includes looking for food).

Most importantly, hang in there, don't give up just because people are telling you that you're doing this wrong, and that wrong. If you have read up on the material and have a rough idea of what sounds right, you're on the right track.

-Lemur 6

I forgot you might've replied to my posts about mealworms but here are my "rebuttals" to your comments.

Yes, you should move your mealworms to the cooler side (don't put them directly on top of the UTH or right underneath the lamp). If the mealworms are too hot, they die. Around 80-85 degrees is pretty good to keep mealworms at, try to stay away from 90 deg.

The mealworms won't burrow into moist food items (the sorta gouge it away but won't actually crawl into it), so you can put pieces of carrot/potato/apple without much worry as long as you cut them big enough so it won't fit into your gecko's mouth (I cut my carrots in half lengthwise first and cut them into 1 inch long pieces, and potatoes I just quarter the little spuds that I don't eat).

I'll post pictures of good mealworms and bad mealworms later, since there's a stage where the mealworms become inactive (right before they pupate).

-Lemur 6