Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a baby leopard gecko in the beginning of January, so i'd imagine he's about 3 months old now. Just last week I noticed he wasn't walking good. His 1 or 2 back legs wouldn't really move and he drags himself around. He stopped eating and drinking all week because he couldn't really get to his dishes. I never knew this before, but the whole time i've had him he's never been fed vitamins. And i've also only given him crickets 2 or 3 times. I feed him waxworms all the time (i didnt know they were bad to feed to him everyday) and i also found out that mealworms shells make it hard for the gecko to digest.
Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with him?! Please help!

First off, I cannot stress enough that proper research is a necessary before obtaining any animal. With that said, your gecko's condition sounds like MBD(Metabolic Bone Disease), which is caused by a lack of Calcium in their diet. Mealworms aren't harmful for your Leopard Geckos, but a younger Leo should be started with pinhead crickets and/or baby mealworms(Freshly molted ones work best).

Remember to gutload the prey at least 24 hours prior to feeding, dust the prey with Calcium every other day and to leave a dish of Calcium in the cage with your gecko at all times. Vitamin/mineral is a must have as well, dust the prey with this every two-three days.. A good brand is Miner-Al. For Calcium, T-Rex brand works great(No phospherous is best and Vitamin D3 included). Vitamin D3 aids in the absorbtion of Calcium, so it's pretty important.

Good luck, keep us updated and could you also tell us about your gecko's cage setup(Tank/Cage size, heating methods, what hides and how many, etc)? Thanks and take care.
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-Britney

2.4.1 Leopard Geckos: Ron, Raine, Dream, Tango, Go-Go, Johnneh and Salleh.
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon: Lil' Little.

Thanks so much for replying to my message so quickly! To tell you a little about Arnold's (my baby leopard gecko) tank...it's a 10 gallon tank, i've got the green carpet stuff, one hide box (its a log that he can go under), a food and water dish, and i have an under the tank heater on the one side. His tank never seems to get above 78 degrees (and that's on a good day, usually its at like 73). I've been told this is not warm enough and i should get him a lamp above the tank. I don't know what kind to get though. Also, the vitamins that i bought for him last week are "Zoo Med's Reptivite Reptile Vitamins". Do you know if they're good?
Also, my big question is, if i keep giving Arnold these vitamins, will he get better? Will it be soon?

Get a 40watt red bulb,that should be enought to get the temps right.You also need a humid hide,its an enclosed plastic hide that has a hole cut in one side and damp moss inside,I use a small green tupperware dish for mine.this will keep your leo from having problems when he sheds.

You must start using calcium for your leo,vitamins alone won't be enough,dust his crickets everyday and if possible take him to a vet.Unfortunatly once a leo has symptoms as bad as yours does,it usually needs vet help and possible calcium injections.

Thanks so much for the feedback. The vitamins that I did buy say they have calcium in them. It also says it has vitamins A, D-3, E, C, B1, B2, and many others. Should I still buy a vitamin that is strictly calcium? Also, he didn't eat or drink for the past week because he couldn't get to his dishes, so I had my neighbor come over and he force fed him a cricket with vitamins sprinkled on it and some water with vitamins in it through a syringe. I can't force feed him because I get too upset, so yesterday I tried putting some crickets in the tank and he tried to get them but kept missing and he got tired really easily. So I ripped the crickets legs off so they couldn't hop around, then Arnold was able to eat them and he ate 2. Should I just keep doing it that way and rip their legs off so he can eat them?

Yes you need just plain calcium,even if the vits have calcium in them its not enough to do your guy any good,he is suffering from a sever lack of calcium.when you do get calcium make sure it is phosphoruse free,I like T-Rex bone aid or rep-cal fine ground.remember that too many vitamins are just as bad as not enough,so don't give them more then twice a week.

Force feeding is usually a bad idea.You can get some chicken baby food,mix it up with a little vanilla ensure,some pedialyte and a little calcium,you want it thin but not liquidy like water,feed this with an eye-dropper or syringe,just drop some on the leos mouth and he should lick it off,you can give him water like this too.If he will take crickets that have the legs ripped off then great,give him all he wants just make sure to dust all his bugs with calcium.

it is most likely the lack of calcium as every one else has said but also impaction can cause back leg paralysis. you should take your gecko to the vet to determine the problem. is your gecko going to the bathroom?
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brandy

Hi,
No, my gecko is not going to the bathroom...he hasn't for almost 2 weeks now. But he wasn't eating for a week also. But he's been eating since sunday and he still hasn't gone. Do you think he's "constipated"?

Okay, impaction is another possibility now.. Is he hasn't used the bathroom in about two weeks then you've got a problem on your hands. I've thankfully never had to deal with this problem, so I'm not too smart on the best ways to help it, but I hear that smearing a small amount of Mineral Oil on their lips and letting them lick it off will help whatever the intestinal bloackage is to pass through. Also, you should give his lower body a warm soak for a few minutes.. This usually helps them pass the bloackage as well. The best thing you can do though is take him to a vet and make sure this is the problem(But, it really sounds like both impaction and lack of calcium). So, head to the vet, let him analyze the symptoms your gecko has and then find out just what is the problem here(A vet who specializes in reptiles would be best). MBD would also cause the gecko's legs to become almost like gelly, they would be limp and very soft.. Is this how his legs are? I've never had to deal with impaction or MBD, but this is where research and talking to other people who've encountered this problem come in handy.

I'm sure some other people can give you some great advice for your situation(People who've experienced this problem), but getting your gecko to a vet for proper examinination is the number one priority here. Good luck!
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-Britney

2.4.1 Leopard Geckos: Ron, Raine, Dream, Tango, Go-Go, Johnneh and Salleh.
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon: Lil' Little.

Your leo needs to go to the vet asap, please do not delay, it could cost him his life.

Having said that...yes you definately want to up the temps in your tank. They should be around 85-90degrees on the hot side. Adding a heat bulb (buy a clamp lamp from wall mart and use a regular household bulb. Make sure your temperature reading is acurate, if you are using a stick-on-dial thermometer, or a stick-on-strip thermometer then they could be misreading as much as 20degrees. You need to use a digital thermometer to get an acurate reading, these can be purchased at wal-mart for about 6$. The indoor/outdoor ones work well as they have a "probe" you can fasten in the tank to get a quick acurate reading of any part of the tank.

You want to be giving him a straight calcium supplement, leave some in a dish 3x a week for him to lick and dust his crickets with it every time you feed. (as he gets older you willn eed to cut back on the amount of calcium) Only use the Vitimin powder with D3 2x weekly as too much D3 can be really bad.

As someone mentioned above you will want to add a humid hide, and i think probably another dry hide just for variety.

If he is eating crickets will the legs off continue to feed him this way, if he is eating then there is no need to force feed.

It is strange he might be impacted since he is on carpet, but it sounds like he is becasuse of the lack of fecal matter. Give him some warm water soaks to try and alleviate the impaction.

If he does poop, bring the fecal to the vet within 24 hours to have a parasite check run. Not that parasites would cause him to not use his back legs, but its a good thing to do anyway.

Your leo will not get better until his husbandry has been corrected. And he will not get better without help from a vetrinarian. Find a good reptile vt in your area and set up an appointment asap. Make sure to tell the vet on the phone the leo has not pooped in two weeks, this should get you an appointment on the same day. Correct his husbandry while you are waiting for the appointment.

Good luck
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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

Hey everyone,
Ok, so my leo is now starting to walk better! I just noticed this today. Should I still take him to the vet? Or see if he keeps getting better and better on his own? He still has not gone to the bathroom though. I tried putting him in a tupperware container and giving him a little warm soak, but number 1, i don't think I had the water warm enough, number 2 he seemed very scared in there and didnt like it, and number 3, he's also had some skin that never shed on his toes, so I was trying to get that off too. I can't get it off, and he doesn't like when I'm trying to pull his toes. What should I do about that?
Also, the tip of his tail has been red for the past couple of weeks too. What do you think that could be?

And to answer the one question Britney had asked, no his legs don't feel like jelly and they don't seem limp, so I don't know?

Thanks so much for everyone's feedback, keep it coming! You're all making my little Arnold get back to health!