Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I brought in 3 sick geckos to the vet. 1 was new to me which I think brought the illness. They slowed down or stopped eating and have really bad diarrea(runny and clear like water with a small amount of light brown matter). I took them to the vet which insisted that I get a UV to help their imune systems. She ended up saying the 1 new one had something in his poop and # 2 she didnt see any and #3 she said she couldnt get a sample. I brought in samples but she insisted she needed "fresh" samples to look at. She then gave me METRONIDAZOLE to give them .05ml once a day for 14-30days. All of them incase the other 2 had the same thing. Then she said she wanted to send out poop (the samples I gave her) to test and be safe and make sure they dont have crypto. Is this vet crazy? Also I have another gecko which is a female that I think is gravid. I read some where that you cant give them METRONIDAZOLE. How would they treat her? Thanks for the info.

Hey, I'm really sorry to hear about your geckos being sick. When you got your new one did you quarantine it or did she go in with the others right away? Also how experienced is your vet with reptiles. My origional vet wanted to "send out" fecal samples because he had no idea what to do with reptiles. Try looking for a vet experienced in herps, or at least in exotic animals. I hope everything works out and they get better! Good Luck!

Emily
-----
2.4.11 leopard geckos (Nelson, Zander, Zoe, Baby, Houdini, Munch, & lots of babies)
1.1 ferrets (Oliver and Delilah)
1. budgie (Max)
0.0.1 Ring neck Parakeet (Kiwi)
1.1 German Shepards (Jake and Abigail)

www.freewebs.com/thespottedgecko
**updated 9-14-04**

wow that's a whole lot of disrespect, try getting a phD before you call a vet crazy.

There's nothing wrong with what the vet did, you need fresh samples because if there are bacteria/worms they need to be alive and they only live in moist environments. I've talked to a vet before and he said the float samples of all animals all get sent to the same labs to get tested, at least in Canada. Not all vets have expansive laboratories in their offices in the mall complex.
Your new leo is the likely cause and quarantine should of been done.
Sorry if this was "snarky" but dealing with kids all day that dont' show any respect to adults.

I am sure you deal with children everyday but I am an adult. When I vet ques. me why I have a wet box in the tanks and tells me my adults dont need them I think they are not experienced in leopard geckos. Please dont reply unless you are willing to give me information that will help my animals get better. Thank you.

What you probably have are worms. Your vet gave you Panacur so he probably thought the same thing. I don't think he needs to keep your leos until they ALL poop for him. If one has then then they probably all do. Just give them the medicine then repeat it as directed.

Next time quarantine for a few months. You night not be so lucky next time. :0
-----
Rick-Geckoland USA

Well its possible. Listen to what the vet says, Most of the time they know what they are doing. They probably went to collage for more than four years to take care of a bunch of lizards, So I dont think that they would lie to you.
-----
I have a new leo named Mr.Crowley. He lives in a 20 gallon long tank all by himself. Here is a picture of him if you go to the url below...
http://www.sighost.us/members/theozzmaster/mr.crowley.jpg

Panacur might be safe enough to administer to gravid females, but Flagyl has more of a risk factor. Is your gravid female showing any symptoms? Has she come into contact with the other leos? You may want to get a fecal test done for her just to confirm if she's carrying anything. Flagyl is used to treat bacterial and protozoal infections (not worms), and both can cause problems when her body is going through the stress of egg-laying.

I'm also wondering about the dosage of Flagyl that was prescribed. With herps, it's normally administered once, with a follow-up in 3-4 days. That would mean a larger dosage each time you administer it, but it's less stressful on the geckos.

How fresh were the samples you brought to the vet? You have to make sure the poop doesn't dry out, or else it won't do you any good. When you have a sample, seal it up in a Ziploc bag, maybe stick it in a little empty yogurt container (for sanitary reasons), and keep it in the fridge. Aim to get the sample tested within 24 hours of it being pooped.

Anyway, it just sounds like your vet is trying to get all the bases covered. It's better to know for sure that crypto isn't the problem than to wonder about it. Nothing wrong with that. If I were you, I'd see if the leos respond to the Flagyl treatment first. If they don't show improvement, then that's when you may want to test for crypto.

In my opinion it's not necessary to utilize UV, but it would help to increase the temperature of the enclosure. Bump up the warm side to the lower 90s, but make sure they're able to hide all along the thermal gradient. Make sure they feel secure as well. Stress will only work against their immune system.

And last but not least, you should keep them on paper towels so that you can replace the substrate every time they poop. You have to make sure to keep their cages clean so they don't re-infect themselves during treatment.
-----
chickabowwow

My female has not had direct contact with the infected one but I don't use rubber gloves when I clean their tanks and feed them. I am sure it is still possible she could have gotten it. She isnt eating normally and also has loose poop.

The dosage she told me to give was .03-.05 depending on weight once a day for 14-30 days.

When I asked the vet about the poop. She said to collect some(fresh as possible) and put it in foil and a zip lock and refrigerate it but I would asume that if you could get a fresh sample that would be the best. One of them she didnt get a sample for but also didnt try to test what I brought she just said to medicate her.

I am glad she knew about crypto and the testing for it but wasnt able to explain much to me about it. I asked if my gravid female could have crypto and she said no cause if they have crypto they wont have enough nuritment for eggs. Is this true? Well they are being tested for crypto and we will wait and see I guess.

I moved them all to disposable large tupperwear that I can wash in the dishwasher to try and clean them(the dishwasher has some kind of cycle where it heats the stuff up to a tempture that is supposed to kill everything on them like restaurants and hotels use). They have paper towels,heatpads,hides and water dishes but this way I thought they would stay super germ free. Do you think this is stressfull on them? I have 2 tupperwears for each gecko and change them once a day.

Could they have gotten their bacterial or protozoal infections from crickets? How possible is that? I am almost sure they got it from the new guy but he never came in contact with the others and it took them about 2 months to even start showing any signs of anything.

I also have other animals in the house can crypto be passed to cats, dogs, or sugar gliders?

I appreciate all the info you gave me this is the first time I have ever had to deal with something like this.

I just got a call back saying the test on the 3 geckos was all negative. Now my next question is I know the test isnt 100% but how likely is it that they will all show up negative? Thanks again!!!