Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so I have been battleing parasites in my two baby leo's for a few weeks now. Here is what has been happening so far:

I got two really sweet baby patternless leo's from petco (ew! I know!) at first they were great, fat and happy and eating like pigs. Then one of them began to lose his appetite and i noticed some weight loss. I seperated them immediately and paid extra attention to the little one, hoping that it was only stress that was causing him to not eat. But unfortunately he just continued to lose weight and refuse food. Shortly after i noticed the larger one lose his appetite and lose weight as well. I immediately took them both to the vet to find out that they have worms. They had their first deworming and i was reschedualed for a second dose two weeks later. During those two weeks there was more weight loss and no improvement.

At their second vet appointment they were weighed in at 3 and 5grams respectively and given their second deworming. Due to the fact that they werent eating the vet gave me Neogalclucon since they aren't getting any calcium and he says he is worried about bone problems where they are so young. They are getting a small oral dose of Neocal every day. He also gave me a formula to force feed them daily.

I have been giving them their Neocal but have been hesitant to force feed them because i know its so traumatic but they are really tiny...Im not sure if i should force feed or not?

Its been two weeks and their third deworming is today at 12. They haven't eaten anything on their own in the past two weeks and dont seem to be showing any improvment.

Im really worried, im getting bummed out and im begining to think i might actually lose them. The vet said the smaller one has a bit of fluid in his stomach from where the worms have messed up his stomach and intestinal lining...has anyone every heard of that before? and if so, is it possible for them to survive through that?

Does anyone have any imput or advice? What could I be doing differntly? Should I give them pedialyte? Has anyone had leo's in this similar situation before and if so, did they survive? I'd love to hear some positive stories. How long can it take before they show improvement?

Just general information so everyone knows:

Each leo is housed in a 20gallon long tank. They have indoor/outdoor carpet as a substrate. Their warm spots are 90degrees. Their lights are on a timer that turns on at 9am and off at 9pm. They both have two hides and a water dish.

Here are some pictures of them when i first got them...you would barely recognize them now......

-----
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

ok...I just got back from the vet

He says not to dispair yet, he said he has seen many animals turn around ater the third deworming. He does, however, want to up the force feeding to once or twice a day...does this sound like too much???
-----
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

I'm really sorry to hear about these little guys. Yes I think force-feeding them once /twice a day is a good idea. They MUST get some food in them to get their strength and weight back up. Since they probably only eat a tiny amount each time you feed them, twice a day seems like a good idea. Worms are not their problem nany more, now they are fighting the after effects of the worms and of becoming emaciated.

Try this: buy some milk thistle at a health food /herbal organic food type store. They sell it powdered, in capsules for people to take. open a capsule and mix a little with the formula you feed them. they can't overdose on milk thistle so dont worry about an exact amount, but if each gecko gets about as much as the size of a sesame seed of milk thistle per day that is good.

Milk thistle works wonders in helping a really run-down animal get their system back up and working after a long or serious illness. It cleanes their bodies of toxins and also gives them back their appetites. It also makes them THIRSTY so be SURE to have water in their water dishes at all times if you do the milk thistle thing. I have seen it save leo lives. good luck to them and you

Thank you so much. I have never heard of that before but i am definately willing to try anything that might help my little leo's. I will go buy some tonight!
-----
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

DO! its not cheap. Buy the straight milk thistle, not a combo of herbs with milk thistle in it.

Milk thistle is one of the most important ingredients in Marcia's (Golden Gate Geckos) Leo "slurry". But since you already have a formula from the vet I think you should use that instead of making Marcia's whole recipe, and add the milk thistle to your formula.

don't you run the risk of further dehydrating the little guy? I worry about adding another non-normally ingested food product, or herb, to an already VERY stressed system.
-----

1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost
3 eggs a-cookin'

It is safe. I have done this many times.