Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! A couple months ago my cats ripped a hole open in the top of my viper gecko cage, and one of my females got out (I have 2 females and one male in a 15 breeder). We couldn't find her for a couple weeks. When we did she was thin and dehydrated, but alive and active still. I put her back in the tank and made sure to feed them several smaller meals, dusted the crickets almost every time, and misted down the glass a few times a week so she could drink. At first she seemed to be getting better. She gained a little weight pretty quickly, and hasn't lost that weight yet, but she's still thin. Her hip bones stick out a lot. Her tail is about half as big as her tankmate's tails. I've watched her, and she does try to get the crickets, she's just having trouble actually grabbing them. It's been about a month with no sign of improvement. I'll try to get some pictures up. Is there anything I can do? Thanks so much!!

I would do a couple of things:

In order for her to get the crickets, I would handicap the cricket. I have rehabilitated geckos that were given to me and pretty bad off. I got a shallow dish and clipped the crickets legs off....ALL of them! It sounds bad but its what it took for them to get a easy meal! Once they were getting back on track, I would just pinch the big back legs off. Once they were nearly at 100%, I would not handicap the crickets at all.

If you want to go the less brutal route, get some slower moving prey. Gut load some mealies. For rehab purposes, I have used wax worms just to get weight on but you really need to be careful with those. They are more fatty than nutritious and should not be used as the staple... (yadda yadda yadda)
Its really important though that she gets the nutrients in her condition.

You might not agree with this because of the trouble but I would also set her up in another enclosure by herself. She is weaker than her cage mates and she may be not as likely to be as ravenous as she should be during feeding. There is a picking order in every colony. Right now, I'd be willing to bet in her condition that she is the lower guy on the totum. I would keep her by her lonesome until she was 110% better. You will have her recover faster by herself. She will have next to no possible stress in her own cage.

Hope this helps,
Severa

Unfortunately I posted this too late, she died this morning. However, my first egg hatched today, and I have what looks like a healthy baby gecko! So I used the materials that I bought to set up a hospital tank for the sick one and instead set it up for a baby.

Sorta a side note, but does anyone know of any good breeders for these guys?

That sucks really bad! Glad you got a babie to hatch. Have you found a breeder yet?

Luc Cauthorn