Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm thinking MBD - her spine is taking on a curved shape, and several kinks are developing in her tail - she's a little under a year old now. She detests her calcium supplements - spits out the insects when they have the powder on them, and only after they've wiggled around quite a bit (and shaken off most of their powder) does she eat.... I've been adding it to her water, but that just makes her leave her water alone... We use Miner-All. Any tips - oral calcum/mineral supplents? Advice on weather I can reverse at least some of the damage? (she is still growing quite a bit)
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The Homestead is...
1:4 leopard geckos, R.I.P. Rosie
1:1 African Fat Tail Geckos, 2 eggs!
1:1 Bearded Dragons
3:8 Chickens, a variety of breeds - roos leaving, sorry guys!
1:1 Rabbits, a mut and a English lop
1:0 Golden Retrievers
as well as....
Roaches, Mealies...etc.

I would suggest a vet visit, they can give her a shot of calcium, as well as some liquid calcium drops. A drop on her nose will cause her to instinctively lick the drop, you will likely have to give her a few drops several times a day, and the shot will help a lot.
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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

It does sound like MBD, but it is questionable whether it can be reversed or not. Get your vet to prescribe some Neocalglucon (liquid calcium) and give it to her just like suggested. It is a sweet syrup, and all of my geckos LOVE it! If you need help finding a vet in your area, email me.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

She is still eating,drinking, and prowling around (with the whole spitting her food out issue) so I'll ge the liquie calcium syrup, and supplement her several times a day - I also put her under 12 hour UVB and raised her temps a slight bit so she can process it a bit more efficiently.... She's never been a hardy lizard though - one of the reasons I held her back last year (when she hatched) was to see if her growth would pick up and she would eat better before I gave her to a new owner- could this be linked to a genetic condition?
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The Homestead is...
1:4 leopard geckos, R.I.P. Rosie
1:1 African Fat Tail Geckos, 2 eggs!
1:1 Bearded Dragons
3:8 Chickens, a variety of breeds - roos leaving, sorry guys!
1:1 Rabbits, a mut and a English lop
1:0 Golden Retrievers
as well as....
Roaches, Mealies...etc.

Seriously though...You'll have to pay attention to the other leos from the same parents and compare. However, if she just doesn't like the taste of the mineral supplement, my guess is that it's not genetic.

You might also try adding extra calcium to your gutload to see if you can sneak some in that way...kind of like hiding spinach in the meatloaf. This may help a bit until you can get her to the vet because it's something you can do now.

Also, have you tried switching brands? Maybe Mineral tastes bad to her but Jurasic cal and Reptivite doesn't...who knows.

All of the suggestions given have bee very good. I doubt it is a genetic trait... sounds more like a metabolic disorder. When giving liquid calcium, you would only need to administer about 0.5ml once a day until you feel confident that the problem is no longer progressing, then once or twice a week after that.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

You recommened the neocalglucon for the calcium problem, but where did you get it? My vet said they don't make it by the name anymore, so when I needed a liquid calcium I had to special order something similiar to it from my pharmacy. Do you just have some extra, or do you have it out there and we just don't here? I know my vet wouldn't make that up, because she said she used it all the time before. So confused am I.

-Kristen

Hmmm. My vet gave me a prescription that I had filled at Rite Aid and kept in the refrigerator for quite awhile. Then, the last time I got some, he just gave me a huge bottle of it. Is there something your vet can recommend that is similar? I know the generic name for it is Calcium glubionate.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

You would not believe the trouble I had even finding a liquid calcium supplement of any kind. Some pharmacy people are rude!! I ended up getting a product called Liquid Solutions. It's Calcium citrate and carbonate, and also some D-3. I know the neocalglucon comes in huge bottles so I was wondering if you've just had it a while. But I looked everywhere for the neocalglucon, or anything under the generic name (for my poor sickie Gimpy) You'd be surprised how clueless some pharmacists are.

-Kristen

Hi

AAA Reptile Supplies has - Calcium Lactate with NO D3 in it.

Take Care, TLB

It may be just fine, but I am not sure how lactose/lactic acid affects reptiles since they are not mammals.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

I never thought about that. Hmm, interesting. Maybe if they had the right stuff for me to begin with! Well on the upside the sicky one is doing great, so maybe it's not so bad. I wish they sold stuff like this online so I could just buy it. Oh well. Thanks!

-Kristen

While I was at the feed store/veterinary supply (United Kennel) a few weeks ago, I decided to take a look at everything they had in the way of meds and dewormers. They do carry a bottle of injectable calcium with a similar name to what Marcia recommends near the other meds. It is supposed to be for cattle but it might be worth looking into.

Well, I did a search online, and found calcium lactate. The interesting thing is that the catalog number is "CP-NEO". Perhaps NeoCalglucon is the same product????

www.aaareptilesupply.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CP-NEO&Category_Code=B
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

I have a gecko with a twisty spine like you described. She hatched out normally except her tial came to a sudden end as if someone had chopped off the last quarter inch. As she grew her spine started curving. It reminds me of the sculiosis(sp?) in people. In her case it's definately not MBD. It seems to have stopped progressing now that she's stopped growing. I would definately not consider breeding her. But, her quality of life seems great and she doesn't seem to realize she has a problem
-Alice