Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi today I just adopted a very sick leopard gecko, they told me he hadn't been eating and his legs were all weak and messed up. When I got him he really can't walk all that well, he looks very weak and tired (doesn't look like much muscle mass and he sort of walked on his wrists). He is aproximately two years old probably but I guess he has been doing this ever since they had him. When I received him today I put a heating pad under the tank, a heat bulb on one have and gave him fresh water, he seems to be doing a little better since the previous owners somewhat neglected him. They said he had a calcium deficiancy, which could possibly be true. When I tried feeding him some crickets he grabbed like two of them, ate and then didn't eat anymore. Just curious if their is anything else I can do. Conditions seem ideal in the tank, I just hope I got to him soon enough.

Well yes of course he has a calcium problem, he has MBD and you really need to put a cap full of just calcium in his tank, dust calcium supplements on his food, about every 2 servings, and take him to the vets.

If I place a cap of calcium in his tank will he just eat it? or should I put it in the water?

just the cap. when ur gecko needs the calcium he will fined it and lick it out. dont put it in water. i put my non D3 calc in with my mealworms(just a light dusting). and he seems to do ok with that. but i dunno if thats the right way to do it. so just use the seprate cap.
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1.0.1 Green Anole(tedo, bubbles)
0.0.1 Tremper Albino Leo gecko (Brut)
1.0.0 Small Dog( Cho lu la)

0.1.0 Beachy Girl Friend

Yes, make sure you put some calcium in the tank. This will help alot! If he seems dedydrated you probably need to give him some pedialyte which can also make his chance of survival
greater. Here's a recipe I've used quite a few times:

1 quart of water
2-4 teaspoons of sugar (or 1-2 teaspoons of fructose)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

You could also add some calcium to this just to be sure he's getting some. I also recommend getting a vet appointment as soon as possible. Good luck!
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

this gecko seems to have a serious case of MBD and should be given twice the amount of calcium until it shows improvement, keep a dish of PURE calcium where he can easily get to it, you may even need to place it right in front of him, dust all if his food with calcium WITH vitamin D3 this aids in the absorbsion of calcium, it also would not hurt to get a UV light, this will aid it in calcium absorbtion also, but if your dusting with vitamin D3 its not necessary, keep one side of his take at about 88*f-90*f and the other side in the mid 70's, if he can not at on his own you will have to hand feed, just gently rub the cricket ot mealworm on the side of his mouth and if he takes it, continue feeding until he spits one out, make sure all food is gutloaded properly prior to feeding, you can feed any crickets or mealworms, carrots, potatos, sweet potatos, dandelion greens, collard greens, this will give the food items much more nutrients(sp?) that will be very beneficial in aiding this gecko back to health, if you need any more help and the people here are not able to answer your questions, feel free to contact me anytime at Hazerdhacker@aol.com
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Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

alright I will do that, btw, how long til I start seeing results to make sure I'm doing it correctly?