Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We've had a Leo for six months that we adore. He hadn't eaten for over three weeks so we took him to the vet yesterday along with a stool sample. The vet came from a referral from a family owned pet store who breed geckos, so we would have hoped he'd know how to treat. He basically said he couldn't find anything wrong and said that it's just common for geckos not to do well in captivity even if they're bred in captivity because they're wild animals and you really can't replicate their environment. He couldn't determine anything from the stool either because he said it was dried up and a fresh one was required, but since our gecko only poops at night not sure how we'd ever get that. He treated him for parasites but otherwise said there wasn't much he could do for him. We're very concerned and not sure what to do at this point. He weighs 31 grams. We got him at Pets Mart in December. He seemed healthy up to now except he has never bothered much with crickets and would only eat mealies. If the parasites are not the problem, is there anything else we can do? Any advice would be appreciated. He's drinking water and pooping every other night so we assume he's not impacted.

animals from Petsmart are often not healthy, even when they appear to be. diseases such as crypto lurk around, and often affect them. actually, im not sure if crypto is a disease, or what it is, im sure someone here does though. there is no way to know what killed your gecko now. geckos do exceptionally well in captivity, i don't know where your vet got that idea, unless it's a species other then leo, and even still, most species do very well. i don't know of any that don't. if you plan on getting another gecko, make sure to sterilize the old cage, and everything that gecko touched with a 10% bleach 90% water sollution. also, you may want to consider getting it straight from a breeder, they are much healthier.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

Yes, crypto is a disease. It stands for cryptosporiosis and if I remember correctly there is no cure, not for geckos at least. It can be transferred to human.

I believe cryptosporidiosis is actually a protozoan, like coccidia... Yes it is untreatable and can spread to humans. Roger Klingenberg has some very, very helpful information in his book "Understanding Reptile Parasites"... I could be wrong, but I've heard that its more common in snake colonies, but it has started an uprising as far as leos are concerned.

Laters,
Richie

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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

oops, i should read more thoroughly, i kinda just skimmed it.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

Some leos are just picky pains in the butt when it comes to eating. Try superworms mine really love them. I have never had a problem any I have raised eating. All my babies always eat good. I agree I think the pet store leo is more likely to have a stubborn streak more than likely because of a traumatic childhood. -Geeboo

That usually means that they're eating.

Is the leo still fa? Or has he been loosing weight?

As far as geckos not doing well in captivity. Leos in particular are VERY hardy reptiles. That's why they're been kept as pets for years and some of them have even lived to be 30 years old.

I've seen dogs do the same thing. It's just how animals are. They have their own personalities and each one is different. Maybe try changing the food a bit. Offer some appropriate sized superworms, or if you're feeding just mealworms, try some crickets. Silkworms are EXTREMELY healthy for a leo, so maybe try to get some of those. My male is picky and he loved his silkies.

Hmph, that's what the HSUS says when they try to get our pets taken away. If they breed in captivity, they are necessarily doing quite well. Reptiles that don't do well in captivity barely breed at all.

Thanks for all the helpful info.. I had a sense that the vet was out of his league so maybe was making excuses for the fact that he couldn't tell what was wrong. All the research I had done beforehand said Leos made very hardy pets. He doesn't seem to be losing any weight but we've been counting the mealies for almost three weeks when we first noticed the problem and other than a night we force fed with two he has eaten nothing, just drank. His environment was all the same except the only thing I thought of was it was about the time we started running the air conditioning. We keep our house at the same temp year round but maybe he's getting a draft or something. He's become such a part of our family we'll be devastated if he doesn't make it. But the moral of the story does seem to be to go with a breeder rather than the big pet stores. They don't seem to have much concern for the pets. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted.

Check temps if you using and UTH make sure it is working properly and at the right temp. this is easily done by getting a zoo med sticky thermometer ( i like zoo med cause they read fast and are easy to read) stick it to a ruler liek a childs school ruler break in half if you want so it's not so long and check temps everywhere in the cage at floor level. if your lizzard is pooping it is getting food whether it is coming from its tail or something is the question.

secondly if your expecting your leo to just eat out of a food dish you may have to high an expectation. there could be several reasons why your leo isn't eating out of its dish

1st the leo may not no there is food in the dish if the meal worms are moving and the dish is to tall for it to see into or it isn't clear it takes some geckos sometime to figure it out.

i would make sure your leo can see the food in the dish by using a clear shallow ash tray or for me a tostedios salsa top is perfecto!

2. you may have to just drop a mealworm in the tank in front of the leo so he can see it squirm around sometimes leos just won;t eat of a dish

3 i havea female that i bought from petco that is perfectly healthy she eats maybe 2 or 3 super worms everyother day and would rather let rickets eat her than her eat them. sometimes leos are just picky about what they want to eat.

4th NEVER buy a reptile from a pet store again. i am going to start movement one day called People against petstores selling reptiles.

my local petco on highway 20 in buford ga across from the Mall of ga if any one would like to call and express complaints please do.

has hatchling leos in a cage on aquarium gravel with feces all around and dishs of mealworms with dead rotting mealworms in the dishs. why because if the hatchling was even able to get his mouth open wide enough to eat these 2 inch mealworms they would most likely choke to death. i asked the manager if he knew anything about reptiles he said no that the guy over working over did know alot i said no he didn't and explained why i would never buy a reptile from them and why i intend to make sure no one else does. i also am boycoting petco who is the only people who cary my dog food. My malionios who is a wokring K-9 is only fed Diamond Green bag dog food. i will have to order my dog feed from now on unless i can get it at the feed store by i won;t step foot back in petco.

sorry for the rant
mat price

ps find a real herp vet