Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need help! I have two adult leos about 1 year old each. I got them from Petco and I've had them for 5 months now. I think that they need a better home then what I can provide for them. Please Read on...

They are seriously under weight and really really skidish. I feel really bad that they have gotten this way, but I have done all in my power that I know how to help them. Mostly without any positive results. I've read 4 different books. I read this forum everyday looking for new advice. I've asked questions, but my two leos are not improving. I haven't seem them eat in a week. I've done just about everything to try to help them out.

I'm begining to think that my novice experience is not going to help them and that they may pass away if I keep them in my care for too long. That is why I'm looking to give them to a better home. Somebody who has enough experience to bring them back to a healty state. I will ship them for free to anybody that is really willing to try to help them. I think that this is the best way to make them healthier. I would like people's opinions on this subject. Should I give them to a better home? Will they survive shipping? Is there still hope. I'm a rookie Leo owner and I only want what's best for these two leos.

Meet Conan & Red Sonja....

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Here is Conan...

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Here is Red Sonja...

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

have you taken them to a vet? what did they say? I may be able to help out w/rehabilitation, but am not prepared to take on any more permanently (I now have 10) please email me to discuss details.
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Pastel/Jungle Leopard gecko from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino Hypo (Cloud)
0.3 Normal/Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Goldie (now w/SD), Freckles, Pepper)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.0.2 Corn Snakes (MIA)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

I have a vet appiontment on Monday (Dec 20). That was the earliest I can get one with an exotic pets specialist. I'm assuming that Conan & Red Sonja have some sort of parasites that is causing the lack of eating. I have been making sure that they get dusted food and fresh water every other day. They have calcium at all times. And the perfect heat gradient. A wet and dry hide on the warm side. And a dry hide on the cool side. They are together in a 20G long, but they are always together in the same hide sleeping on top of each other. They always stay together and I have not once seen them nip at each other, So I'm assuming any stress is related to me and not each other. I clean their tank once a week.

It's the rehabilitation proccess that I probably wont be good at seeing as how these are my first reptiles.

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Fred & Wilma)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

They're just young. I've had my gecko for months now and he's the same size as your guys. They're not underweight, they're just babies. All young geckos are skiddish, they're not used to people. My adult female gecko is skiddish, too. She won't let anyone near her.

I've got to disagree here. Those leos are seriously under weight, even juvies should have fatter tails / bodies than those two.

It does sound like they are receiving excellent care. They probably have a parasites or some type of infection that is causing the anorexia. Hopefully, the vet can figure it out. They are not deathly thin yet, so if the problem is treatable, I think they have a decent chance of recovering.

-Alice

My juvi is maybe 4 months, tops. His body looks the same, but I can't say anything about his tail - he lost it before I got him and it's regrowing slowly.

Those two leos are just beginning to exhibit dramatic loss of body weight. And, from the looks of it they've used up all the reserves in their tails and have used up most of their body fat. If you look the tails seem to have wrinkles running down the length of them. This is a mark of dramatic weight loss.

-Alice

I didn't notice that before. It's kind of hard to notice, actually. Their bodies don't really look terribly thin, but the tails look troublesome.

She is only 9 weeks old in these pictures. You can see a big difference. Healthy growing leopard geckos have a fuller body and grow much more quickly than sick ones.

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chickabowwow

My gecko has a slim body, but I was told by breeders it's not unusual. He eats fine, every week, and his tail has grown back. To me though, only the tails look unhealthy.

People who breed leopard geckos. Feeding weekly is not enough for babies.
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chickabowwow

Mine is four months. I feed him 10 crickets every week. That's what I was suggested to feed him, and sometimes I'll add an extra one or two if he eats them quickly.

I feel like I'm talking to a wall here, so I'm not even going to try to argue anymore.
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chickabowwow

I'm not arguing with you. I appreciate your advice. I was just saying that this is what I've fed him. If you want to give me advice on what I *should* feed him, I would appreciate that, too. You don't have to get snappy. :/ Geeze.

hmm everybody told me to feed my leo's about every other day...i was aslo told how many crickets to feed them and what size...basically.......

3-4 medium sized crickets per 6 month old leo or 10-12 smalls

5-6 small crickets per 6- month old leo's

i've fed my younger leo's medium sized crickets but they seem to have a difficult time eating them so i don't do that anymore

if i'm wrong..i appologize, but this is all info that i've been told by people on here as well as local breeders in local shops

c-ya ;D

-S1N

S1N:

Well, I'm not sure about every other day for young beardies... because they really need to start their nutrition off right. When I got my leo as a young juvie, she ate about 12 small crickets /OR 6 medium crickets /OR 12-23 mealworms a night, depending on what I decided to feed and her attitude with food.

Don't have to apologize in being wrong... I guess it also depends on your leo. My leo LOVED to eat and didn't care about what I fed... I just gave her as much as she could eat in 10 minutes and take out the rest. Then she'd either hang out on the warm side or walk around trying to climb out of the glass

VEGA:

Yeah, 4 months old shouldn't look as skinny as the pics that were posted. Keep in mind, the pictures posted are of leopard geckos that are 1 year old (adults) and, agreeing with xelda, they are very malnourished. Look at the tail, no fat at all. You have a leo with a regenerated tail, correct? Well, that leo lost all of its fat when it dropped its tail and needs to get it back. So, you might want to up your feeding, especially for a 4 month old if you want it to be healthy. If it drops its tail again and keeps it that skinny, chances are - the leo can die quickly. Increase feeding once a day to about 8 small crickets or 5-6 medium crickets (depending on the size of your leos head). If she eats all of them, offer a couple more. If she stops eating, remove the excess. As you can see, in one day she can eat as much as you feed in a week - and that's why her tail is still skinny - she's not getting enough fat and nutrients for storage in her tail. You might want to try offering mealworms as well OR 1-2 wax worms as a treat - ONCE a week though... or else she'll become addicted to it... but, ONCE a week may help her get some fat back into her skinny tail. Good luck
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Cookie Monster)
1.0.0 Crested Gecko (Vas-D)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Lenny & Carl)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)

Well I usually have meal worms with calcium powder always available in the tank, but I rarely see my gecko eat them. I offer 10 large over the span of a week, because he doesn't seem to eat much. Mind you, I just got him in September, and he was hibernating in the store (might be a little early, but I've never dealt with juvis before), so they said around 10 a week would tide him over until the spring. But thank you. I'll up his food intake when he comes out of hybernation.

Vega,
I have to ask, just how long have you been browsing this forum? Anything you read or anyone you talk to is going to tell you 10 crickets a week is NOT enough. I know it was already discussed but you should have known how to care for the Leo before getting it. And if you are part of this forum why haven't you learned even the simplest thing? I never really comment here, just read, but after reading your opinion on the Leos and your weekly feeding practices, I shudder to think you even own one.

Jay,
Get the fecal done. It could be something as simple as hookworms to treat. They still have a great chance. Your set up is amazing.Good luck!!

Shannan
www.leopardgeckosinc.com

I haven't been "browsing the forum". I came here five days ago and posted about an illness in my adult gecko that I could not identify, and I didn't want to transport her to the vet that was over 2 hours away when it's so cold.

I only read a few messages of what were posted, and commented on a few. This board was actually only th second I commented on. This is the first time I've owned a juvi. I have two adult geckos, and I've only owned them for two years.

As I said in the other post about my juvi "Well I usually have meal worms with calcium powder always available in the tank, but I rarely see my gecko eat them. I offer 10 large over the span of a week, because he doesn't seem to eat much. Mind you, I just got him in September, and he was hibernating in the store, so they said around 10 a week would tide him over until the spring."

I go by what I'm told. I just got advice from someone on the board, so when my gecko starts showing more of an interest in food I'll up his intake. Sorry I listened to someone I thought might know more than me. And actually, you're the second person to say "You're not feeding him enough" but yet you offered no advice. Thank you for wasting your time. Have a nice day.

You need to increase your feeding to what was recommeneded previously. Oh and Leos do not Hibernate. They will brumate if you allow the temps in their tanks to fall too low. They probably are too cold if they appear to be "hibernating" They should have a temp variance in the viv of high end 90-95 and low end around 80. There are some excellent care sheets provided by breeders on both this site and Fauna. just make sure they actually know what they are talking about by comparing as many care sheets as you can find, also invest in a book or two and talk to a herp vet, not just any vet, and not the infamous "pet store guy"
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Cheryl

His tank is between 80 and 85 only. It's a 10 gallon aqaurium heated by overhead lighting. Though he's still sluggish, and he's not eating. It's not that the food isn't offered, it's that he's not interested in actually eating. I give him 10 large crickets over the course of a week, which is normally what he manages to eat. Most of the time I'm throwing out a dead cricket or two. Meal worms and calcium powder are in his tank at all times, but he shows no interest. I'm starting to think my gecko was sick, and that was the pet store worker's excuse for his diet. I'm going to get him a larger tank soon, maybe heating it more will increase his appeal towards food. The local pet stores only carry one type of gecko care book, which is the same company that produces all their care books, and are not at all detailed, so I'll probably have to turn to buying from the internet. But thank you for your help.

I'm sure I've told you this before, but I'll say it again. It needs to be about 90 degrees on the warm side and 80 degrees on the cool side. He probably does not have as much of an appetite because your temps are not warm enough. If the temps are not warm enough, he's going to have indigestion. It's as simple as that. You don't need to invest in a larger tank. Just try changing your heat source to an undertank heater to boost the temperature. Just make sure you attach it to a rheostat or thermostat though to prevent it from overheating.
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chickabowwow

What kind of substrate would be good to use with an under-tank heater? Right now I have him on a tank carpet.

Tank carpet should work. I just use paper towels. You need to make sure you have a rheostat or thermostat to control the temps though because UTHs have a tendency to get dangerously hot. And you only need the UTH to cover about 1/4 or 1/3 of the tank.
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chickabowwow

I might have to go online then. The reason I hesitated is because the petstores near me (PetsMart and PetCo (

Well that got cut off. x.x; The Petco is where I bought my gecko, and I don't want to shop there because of the advice I was already given. They only sell three sizes of UTH, and the smallest one would take up more than half of my 10 gallon tank. So you know any places on the the internet that sell *reliable* under tank heaters for a 10 gallon tank?

I bought one for my large geckos, but they have a 4 foot long, so I didn't have to really worry about the size. For them I use sand as a substrate, but my young gecko (from what I've read) is too small to be put on sand just yet.

For 10 gallon tanks, I use Zoomed's mini UTH that's made for 5 gallon tanks. I have seven 10 gallon tanks that work fine that way.

These are the cheapest places I've ordered supplies from: petguys.com and reptiledirect.com

Petguys is much faster at shipping orders.
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chickabowwow

Okay. Thank you.

Speaking of extensive care sheet... cough cough...
(in case it doesn't make sense, see last line of my signature)
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Also you refered to removing dead crickets. Are you leaving the crickets in the cage overnight, or all the time? If you are they are probably causing your baby too much stress as well. The crickets should be taken out after about 15-30 min if he has shown no interest. Otherwise they crawl all over him and may even try to feed off him. Ever see what hungry crix do to a piece of potatoe? If you have been leaving them in, I would suggest not even offering crix for about a week to give him time to calm down. You can take a meal worm and toss it down right outside his hide door, where he can see it. Toss it just hard enough to make it thunk when it hits to get his attention. It will start crawling soon and should trigger his hunting instinct. Again if he has not taken it after about 15 min put it back in the bowl. One more thing, is the bowl you keep the mealies in clear so he can see them moving around in there? You could also move it closer so he does not have to get so far from his secure hiding place to eat. Keep us posted.
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Cheryl

I was only removing dead crickets. I was leaving them in there until they either die or he eats them. I thought that by leaving them in there he would be able to eat them whenever he feels able. He's in a 10 gallon tank, so the bowl is right next to his favorite hide. It's a small bottle top, shallow enough for him to look into, but high enough so the worms can't crawl out of it.

Sometimes I'll drop a cricket in, and even if he hasn't eaten in a day or two, he won't be interested. The cricket (I put cricket food pellets in a bottle cap on the other side of the tank) sometimes will live in there for a week before he gets it. I didn't know that crickets could harm him. But what should I do? Everyone is telling me I'm not feeding him enough when he's not interested in eating. I thought he was hibernating, because my large geckos tend to eat less in the winter. (Though they're in a four foot long tank in the middle of my living room, so I'm thinking that the temperature change in the open room might be cooling the tank because in the summer my tank is around 82-93 and now it's around 78-87.) I've only had my little gecko for almost three months, and since I got him, I was told that he was just hybernating. It's not like he's skin and bones. He has a lot of fat around his armpits (which from reading the forum means a good sign?) and his tail, which was a nub when I got him (he lost it in the pet store), has grown over an inch. I don't know if that's too slow recovery for geckos, but it is regrowing. So that's a good sign, right?

I clicked the link and it came to a broken PDF file.

>>I clicked the link and it came to a broken PDF file.

That would explain the extremely high number of 404 errors I've been seeing lately.... although the link works for me. :Shrugs: Anyone else having a problem with the link or could it be a problem with vega's acrobat reader?

Were you getting my custom 404 error page where it says milwaukee reptiles across the top or was it something else?

Try:
www.milwaukeereptiles.com/CareSheets/LeopardGeckoCare.pdf
or
www.milwaukeereptiles.com/LeopardGeckoCare.pdf

If it still doesn't work let me know and I'll send you the PDF by E-mail. If it really doesn't work I can send the original word document I wrote it with (If i can find it).
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

All that appeared was a red "x" in the upper righthand corner. (the same image you get for broken images).

>>All that appeared was a red "x" in the upper righthand corner. (the same image you get for broken images).

That sounds more like a problem with your acrobat reader. Download the latest version and it should work OK. If you want me to, I can e-mail the word doc on monday (again, assuming I can find it)
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Are you Kidding??????? they are not fine.

Those leo's are seriously malnorished, all their tail fat has been used up and it looks like the body reserves are going too, and if they are a year old that is really sad, concidering they look in the 15-20 gram range.

If yours looks that bad then you have a problem too.

Pic of What a healty leopard should look like, and these two girls are only 6 and 7 months old.

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Sarah H

www.fototime.com/inv/500FFD9910FF842
[email]ghia12345@aol.com[email]

My juvi is maybe 4 months, tops. His body looks the same, but I can't say anything about his tail - he lost it before I got him and it's regrowing slowly. I might be able to get a picture of him if I get my camera set up.

The leos in the pics above are suposed to be a year old.
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Sarah H

www.fototime.com/inv/500FFD9910FF842
[email]ghia12345@aol.com[email]

"About one year old"... Well, yeah I see your point. I also neglected to notice the tail wrinkles from significant weightloss.

I'm assuming that they are a year old. The size they were when I first got them suggested that they were about 4 months old. I'm pretty sure that they are no older then a year.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

What do you feed them? What do their entire diets consist of? What do you clean their tanks with, and what is in their tank itself?

FOOD:
I feed them crickets and mealies. Everything is dusted and gut loaded. I keep the crix in a tupperware container with kale and "Flockers" cricket quencher and gut load formula. The mealies are keep in a container with kale and crix quencher also. I keep the mealies in the fridge.

TANK:
The leos are on ceramic wall tiles that I clean at least once a week. They have a water bowl, mealie bowl and calcium bowl (Repti-Cal). All the bowls are set into the tiles so they can get to what's inside them easily. I keep the warm end between 88 - 90 degrees and the cool end around 80. I Have a thermostate to control the temp and a temp gun to make sure the surfaces aren't too hot.

HIDES:
I have a large hide on the cool side and a smaller wet and dry hide on the warm side.

CLEANING:
I clean the tiles with regular dish detergant that I make sure I wash off entirly. I have extra tiles so I can swap in clean ones with out having to wash the dirt ones at the time of cleaning.

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

That is a great looking setup for those 2. I never considered setting the bowl down into the tile. Don't feel bad, I don't think anyone would set up something that nice just to kill off animals in it.
Mine is picky I have to switch from crickets to mealworms to silkies every week or he stops eating for some reason. He is also really nervous too even though I try to hold him every day. Mine stopped eating like that too once, and after he got some Panacur he was eating in 2 days again. You could try giving them some meat baby food in an eyedropper, just put it on its lips and it will lick it off, at least then they will have some food in them till they eat on their own.
But it would probably be best to keep them cause shipping or even switching houses would stress them more. They notice stuff like a new room.
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Tim W.

It's obvious that you've invested a lot of TLC into your two leos, so I'd hate to see you to give them up. Shipping leopard geckos in that shape especially at this time of year is not a good idea.

Where are you located? Have you checked herpvetconnection.com for any vets that can schedule you sooner? You may be surprised at how easy it is to solve the problem with just a couple of fecal tests and medication. For the time-being though, you should be cleaning their set-up everyday. This is imperative if you want to prevent your leos from re-infecting themselves with parasites. It's even a good idea to keep them housed separately in temporary set-ups with disposable substrate.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
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chickabowwow

I'm in Boston. I'll look at herpvetconnection.com for more herp vets to try to get an earlier appiontment.

I think that the stress of a constantly changing environment may be partially to blame for their current state. As I learned more and I realized that I was doing things wrong like using sand, not a varied enough heat gradient, not enough calcium, etc.. etc.. As I learn the how to keep leos properly I made the neccassary changes. But now I'm worried that the constant changes, which I thought were for the better, have contributed to there bad health.

The pic below is the setup I built. This was before I put the leos in there and before I sank down the food bowls.

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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Do you have any plans for that rack?! I would LOVE to get one with shelves that slide out like that. The only place I've ever seen one is Petco... and it's what they use for display.

I think it makes it easy to clean, access, but pushed back to reduce space (like a rack), but looks like a wonderful peice of furnature.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

I didn't write down all the plans. I started off by modeling the cabinet in a 3D program with accurate measurements. That was a start for me. Once I got the cabinet built I just kind of assembled the drawers, wiring, rails and sliders on the fly. If you want, I can compile a list of parts I used to build it. Most everything came from Home Depot and Petco.

Here are some more pictures...
www.jasonchildress.com/Leos/
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Yeah anything you can give me would be helpful... whenever you get around to it... make sure you take care of those leos first!

A parts list, a screenshot of the cabinet drawing, whatever. Something to get me started.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

I am sorry but you could have taken care of this, iMO.
you have waited 5 months to acually make a vet appointment for them?
A simple $25 dollar fecal test and some meds may have been all that was needed. Why let them get in such bad shape.

Another thing, shipping unhealthy reptiles is not recomended.
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Sarah H

www.fototime.com/inv/500FFD9910FF842
[email]ghia12345@aol.com[email]

They started getting thin about three months ago. I tried many things that I saw suggested on this forum, hoping that the changes would improve them, and they did start to improve, gain more weight and eat more. It appeared as if they were going to get better. But they started to decline really fast again in the past 2-3 weeks.

I guess the reason why I didn't take them to a vet sooner was becuase I didn't know what was going on. Like I said, I'm a novice when it comes to reptiles and I didn't know what I was looking at. If I did know better I would have taken them in. But I'm trying now to be a good leo owner.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

I'm sorry, but I also have to agree. In 2-3 weeks, I don't think their tails can go from healthy to that thin. Last year, my first leo got sick and stopped eating. A month later, her tail was still fat... maybe lost a tiny bit of it's big size.

But, I also understand what you are going through as I freaked out with my first-ever leo. Your set up looks like you don't want to let them go. I also freaked out and gave my leo to a guy who knew how to care for her. And now what? I missed my leo a lot (starting a week after she was gone until now) and, if I had the guy's email, I'd ask him how she's doing AND if he still wanted her (LOL). You can ask xelda! I tell her all the time I miss my leo... LOL

Learning from my 1st experience made me different. Now, if ANY of my lizards or future lizards got sick - I'll do the whole vet-run and make sure I buy the medication necessary to help them if there's worms or parasites etc etc. You'll miss these guys a lot.

So, if I were to care for them for you and bring them back up to normal, I would keep in touch with you.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Cookie Monster)
1.0.0 Crested Gecko (Vas-D)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Lenny & Carl)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)

(click on my screenname) I tried to send you a private message but it wouldn't let me.
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0.3.0 Dogs - Delaney, Darcie, Mali
2.1.0 Cats - Dante, Diesel, Dixie
2.0.0 Cockatiels - Toast, Waffles
2.0.0 White's Treefrogs - Splish, Splash
1.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Joey, Phoebe, Rachael
3.0.0 Crested Geckos - Stubbie Mike, Chandler, Ross
0.0.3 House Geckos - Emma, Jack, Ben
1.0.0 Chinchilla - Poncho
3.0.0 Guinea Pigs - Rodney, Reese, Ray

Not to mention the plethera of fish:
5.1.0 Bettas
0.0.1 Goldfish
55 Gallon Community
29 Gallon African Cichlid
20 Gallon Marine
1.1.0 Ocellaris Clown - Jack, Diane
0.0.1. Neon Blue Goby - Cecilia

1.0.0 Boyfriend - Michael

I just turned on the private message option. You should be able to send it now.
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- Jason

LEOS:
1.1 Hypos (Conan & Red Sonja)
0.0.2 Juvies (Dremel & Ryobi)

CATS:
2.0 Maine Coons (Sam & Tye)

FIANCÉE:
0.1 Tall Blonde (Christine)

Done check your email when you get a chance.
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0.3.0 Dogs - Delaney, Darcie, Mali
2.1.0 Cats - Dante, Diesel, Dixie
2.0.0 Cockatiels - Toast, Waffles
2.0.0 White's Treefrogs - Splish, Splash
1.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Joey, Phoebe, Rachael
3.0.0 Crested Geckos - Stubbie Mike, Chandler, Ross
0.0.3 House Geckos - Emma, Jack, Ben
1.0.0 Chinchilla - Poncho
3.0.0 Guinea Pigs - Rodney, Reese, Ray

Not to mention the plethera of fish:
5.1.0 Bettas
0.0.1 Goldfish
55 Gallon Community
29 Gallon African Cichlid
20 Gallon Marine
1.1.0 Ocellaris Clown - Jack, Diane
0.0.1. Neon Blue Goby - Cecilia

1.0.0 Boyfriend - Michael

First, I wanted to say that I'm happy you seem to want what's best for the leos in this situation.

That being said, shipping them is not a good idea. The stress of moving can cause them to refuse food for a few days, which I don't think they'll be able to handle. You should see the vet ASAP for a fecal, since it's likely a parasite problem of some kind.

They're to a point now where it's best to try to fix it yourself.

They do have a very nice looking set up!
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Jaydog, it is very obvious by the set up you created and your willingness to give them up to save them, that you really love these babies. We all make mistakes. Heck I turned my daughter orange when she was a baby by feeding her too much beta carotine(sp?) You may have waited too long to get a vet appt, you have already admitted and corrected that. You have an appt with a exotic specialist I believe you stated earlier. If you work closly with that vet you will have no problem pulling them through. You will have learned alot, and you will be that much fonder of your pets when this is all over. Don't give up now. Shipping would probably be too stressful and probably cost them their lives. Anyone that tells you different is greedy and trying to get great Leos for free, if they survive the shipping! You can do this! I have faith that you can and you will be successful. And I will put you and your Leos on my prayer list too. That means I will pray for you every time you cross my mind until you let me know things are better. Oh and try one more thing. Sit quitly in the room for a few min. when it is dark with the cage lid open. Then toss a mealie hard enough to make it go thunk just outside the hide door, then back off and sit still again. Make sure the mealie has been warmed a little, and choose a lively ove, that way it should start to crawl around almost immediatly. That may trigger the hunting instinct.
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Cheryl