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HELP!!!! SAVED THIS GECKO!!!! NEED ADVICE!!!!

dsheldon Jan 15, 2006 11:46 PM

I just adopted this gecko from someone who couldn't take care of it anymore. Actually 2 geckos from her. Here is my problem....This gecko is so underweight it scares me. Please give me any advice on how to help her gain weight. She said at one time she was larger but suddenly lost weight. Now she is very unhealthy. Please help. The other one has burns on her feet and one of her toes is raw and bright red. How should I treat the burns as well? I have worked all tonight getting most of the leftover shed off as well. For more info as well the little one is very active.

Here are the pictures: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=544445975&security=tkTsmZ
Link

Replies (8)

Lucien Jan 16, 2006 01:29 AM

Well, your first thing should be to make sure she's well hydrated... since I can't see the pic to see how big she may be... I'm going to encourage you to put just a bit of warm water in a small tupperware bowl and place her in it for a while on a heating pad so she has high humidity for about 45 minutes or so... This will help rehydrate her.. which is more important than food to an animal. Do this for 2 days and then see if she's interested in moving food.. crickets or mealworms are fine... If not... here's a recipe of mine that I've found has saved a lot of my rescue geckos.. (I run a small out of home reptile rescue)

One jar of Turkey baby food
1 can of Vanilla ensure or unflavored pedialyte
A 4 inch ribbon of Jumpstart (available online from herpsupplies.com for under $11 including shipping)
2 centrum tablets crushed up and added to the mix...

You want to take the baby food and thin it down with the vanilla ensure/pedialite until its an easy consistency to pull in and out of a syringe... add the rest of the ingridients and mix thoroughly... add more ensure if it thickens too much... Save out a 6 CC portion (with a 10 CC syringe.. available at most farm supply or vets offices.. or even local drugstore) Put the rest of the mix into an ice cube tray and freeze for later use...

You want to give the baby adequate heat... try to use an undertank heater instead of lights and give her a very dark, very humid hide area.. Keep her on papertowel so you can monitor feces production. The baby food mixture should be given 3 times a day... 3 ML (3 CC) at a time... drop small droplets onto her nose and see if she'll lick it off... if not gently open her mouth and squirt it into the side so she can swallow it without gagging or inhaling the food. Keep a dish of vitamin coated mealies in the tank at all times... after a few days of this regiment.. see if she'll eat live food... if not continue for another week or so...

Right now though the most important thing is hydration.. not food... without being properly hydrated she cannot process food...

Of 10 rescued geckos, I've lost only one, mostly due to using this mixture.. the one I lost came to me with a 4 year case history of severe MBD. She couldn't even swallow or catch her own food.

After getting her hydrated I would also recommend a vet visit for her... just to make certain she's not suffered any organ damage..

-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

dsheldon Jan 16, 2006 08:59 AM

Just click the link in my original post and you should see the pictures.

Lucien Jan 16, 2006 01:30 PM

Sorry... that link doesn't work.. I even tried copy/pasting..So the advice I gave stands as of this moment...
-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

dsheldon Jan 16, 2006 03:46 PM

Here is the link to a picture.

http://image50.webshots.com/150/4/95/17/544449517dUyeGQ_ph.jpg
Image

Lucien Jan 17, 2006 01:16 PM

That leo needs IMMEDIATE veterinary care... She has no fat reserves, she's dehydrated, thin, wasted and probably very weak.. My previous advice stands as well as get her to a qualified herp vet ASAP...Or else you're going to have one very dead gecko on your hands...

This is what a young leo should look like.. yours doesn't even have a drop of fat in its tail.. you can see every bone in her...

-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

dsheldon Jan 17, 2006 01:33 PM

Thanks for all your advice. Is there any hope for this little girl? Shes 1 year old supposedly and only 13g. What can the vet do for her do you know?

Lucien Jan 18, 2006 01:17 PM

They can give her sub-q fluids..(under the skin) to help with the dehydration problems... shots of calcium, magnesium, Vit. B12 and B6 to stimulate her immune system... and her appetite... and the baby food mixture I told you about is essential for a gecko that low in weight and in that bad a shape.. proper temps and humidity are also very important... Treat her like she is a baby and keep the humidity up in her enclosure... 65% or more... I run a rescue so I've saved geckos that look like that but it took a lot of time and hard work to bring them back around... What she needs most right now are fluids and heat... humidity and easily digested calories...
-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

Minuet Jan 20, 2006 11:58 AM

Hi,

I was wondering how this gecko is doing? It's been 5 days since the first post.

I hope she is getting better.

Min

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