Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give as much background as possible.

I'm trying to get some opinions on this as I'm waiting to bring my leo to the vet (as in, I have an appointment), because I think this may not be a bacterial/parasitic problem.

I have 3 leos in a large (30 gal) setup (cage carpet substrate, they poop on toilet paper). Temps are fine, I have 2 digital thermometers, cage is cleaned religiously. The leos are fed crickets and mealworms, as many as they can eat every night, excess food is removed.

I'm this careful about it because I had a gecko die about...8 mos ago now. That gecko was fine, fine, fine, nice and fat, then suddenly stopped eating on its own and began having massive shedding problems. First came drastic weight loss, then shed problems. I spent a lot of time cleaning and feeding slurry. She seemed to be getting better, gaining a little weight, shed problems stopped, so I waited on the vet (stupid, stupid, STUPID) and she dropped dead. I was totally heartbroken because Honey was *my* gecko (I picked her out at a show, the other two are my husband's).

The husband and I went and bought another (adult) gecko who was nice and fat, big tail. She was quarrantined for 30 days, store guaranteed she was parasite free. In the meantime, the other two geckos (I don't know what they are, one is *purple* and the other is pink) were fine, no problems, very fat. New gecko was added to the cage, all was well, all of them eating, no problems.

Then, you guessed it, new gecko has drastic weight loss, (very quickly) will not eat. However, she eagerly drinks the slurry, I just have to stick the dropper in the tank and she drinks from it, 2-3 droppers full a night (I stop dripping when she shuts her mouth and turns away)

Other geckos continue to be fine...BUT. The pink male is in good shape, he looks like a healthy fat gecko. The purple female is HUGE. And not eggs huge, just FAT. I mean, obese. I'm actually worried because she's got so much fat on her, her tail is HUUUUUGE.

So what do you think? I didn't know about the hereditary kidney disease until I was reading through the forums today, but first gecko was from a breeder that I know inbred their leos (husband and I were kind of stupid when we first bought them) and second gecko came from a large chain pet store.

I don't know anything about Kidney Disease, so i can't help you there, but i'd love to learn more about it.

One thing i did want to add though, I wouldn't rule out parasites just because your other guys aren't sick. Animals can live with parasites in their system for years, and sometimes they only cause problems when the animals imune system is weakened by sickness or stress. Your new gecko could have been stressed when you put him in with the others and there fore possibly parasites either already in his system, or already in your other leos could have taken a told on him.

Just a thought.
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

That does make sense. Maybe the big female (who is very dominant) was causing stress on the new female, which depressed her immune system...

OK, I do know a little about kidney disease, having lost my little Peaches to this killer. I can say it is probably not the cause in this case. Generally it will cause problems well before the gecko is full grown, namely a general failure to thrive, anorexia, dehdration, etc. But I digress. MUCH more likely is the stress/ dominance issue. This new gecko had a short quarantine (30 days is an absolute minimum), probably no fecal test before moving her, and is now housed with a very large female and her mate. Talk about a third wheel! My suggestion is to seperate this one to her own cage again and re-evaluate the situation in a week or so. Good luck!
-----

1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe 100% het Rainwater 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)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

How could you diognose that your gecko had no parasite in just 30 days? Really the only ones you can see are some of the worms, like a tapeworm and thats mainly all you can see w/o a fecal tests. Even fecal tests aren't a definent way to know that your gecko really doens't have parasites so you really should have done the whole 90 day deal. Oh yeah and seperate your geckos IMMEDIATLY!