Reptile & Amphibian Forums

On Monday night, I received a telephone call to come pick up 2 Leos that the previous owner was going to "put outside" (I live in CT and it was about 40 or so). I went and got them and brought them home. They were in a 10 gallon tank, with one hide, a grapevine, plastic container top that should have had water but was bone dry, a 100 watt bulb for light/heat, and the worst part, dusty, old bark! The tank was disgusting and full of large crickets and rotten potatoes. So I cleaned everything out, disinfected, laid paper towels down, got them a new water dish and 2 new hides, added a few dusted crickets and some calcium, an UTH and replaced the regular bulb with an infrared bulb.
Last night I was watching them, and noticed that they seem to crawl on their front legs rather than stand. The legs appear to be bent in at the elbows. I know that I saw something on here about a similar situation. Apart from taking them to my vet (which I already plan to do) does anyone have any suggestions? Does not enough calcium in their diet cause this? From what I saw, the crickets were just fed potato. Also, I have no plans to integrate them with the other Leos I already have; can the tank they are in be in the same room? Or should they be completely separate for the 3 month quarantine?
Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!

First off, I'm glad you saved those leo's from their previous owners. You truly are one of a kind!

Second, just take them to the vet. I don't know anything else to help you out with.

Maybe they do lack in calcium and vitamins. I'd suggest giving them vitamins and calcium dusted crickets, mealworms and wax worms.

Anything to help them gain weight and strength.

I think that maybe in a different room might be good. As long as you sanatize your hands inbetween animals you should be fine in the same room.
-----
2 mali uro's-Ares and Apollo
2 saharan uro's-Orion and Iris
2 bearded dragon-Hades and Draco
1 leo gecko-Kalypso
1 tokaye gecko-Sid Vicious
1 tarantula-Peter Parker
1 dog-cheeka
1 zebra finch-beeps
1 african gray parrot-keya
1 red headed parrot-pancho
And some fish

I would not put them in the same room and also make sure you sanitize your hand very good in between handling them.

The bending at the elbows is most likely MBD. That is caused from not getting enought calcium. Try some mealworms along with the crickets and make sure you gutload them well. I would keep them in a separate room than the other leos. Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Put in a cap from like a gatorade in filled with calcium and like everyone else said feed them dusted food.If they are adults try silkworms and butterworms. If they are juvies just try butterworms. Both are very high in calcium.
-----
My Leo's
1.0.0 Normal
0.1.0 Tremper Albino
My Beardie
0.0.1 Red x Gold

I'm glad you recused them. All of my suggestions for the pets were posted on here, but I have a few other tips.

I feed my crickets human grade food, they love dehyrated vegs. The only problem with the dehyrated foods is that they need water, and we all know crickets are bad swimmers. A good thing to do is to get a small dish and fill it with water soaked cotten balls. Even if you feed your crickets food high in water this is a smart idea. Most pet stores do not give their crickets enough water and I noticed that since I have used the cotton water dish the first thing the crickets do in when I put them in their holding cage is get a drink.

I also wanted to say that mealworms are not that healthy for your pet, so anyone useing them should make sure they are usuing some other big as well. (my gecko refuses to eat worms so I am stuck with jumpies all the time. Because of this I use extra special dust that is a meal replacement dust. I works for all the nutrients you fat-tail needs. (i'm puting a picture encase any of you are interested)

My gecko, who is technically a African Fat-tailed gecko, was a bit hesitant the first time I tried the new dust ( it smells a little fruiter) but it didn't effect his diet at all. It did put weight on him really well, he was under weight for awhile.

One last tip to any pet owners is to store your crickets in a seperate containter as your gecko. I learned awhile ago that some people do not do this. It is important, not only are crickets messy little bugers, they can bite. The crickets could bite your gecko while it's sleeping or anytime and the bite wound can get infected.

Also, I dunno what size crickets you people normally use, but I use mediums. I've heard that sometimes even the adult geckos can choke on the females and or get their throats empailed by the egg layers. Besides that, they chirp, alot.

Good Luck with your littel guys, I hope they learn to walk again. This T-Rex Leopard gecko dust (in the pink cap) works wonders for malnurished or just normal leopard geckos and their couson breeds, I love the stuff.

(SANDFIRE SUPER FOODS; Leopard Gecko Dust by T-Rex, Insect Cricket Balencer, All-in-One Super Food Includes all foods, vitamins, and minerals, Completes the nutritional value of feeder insects. All natural human grade food ingredients.)