Just rescued a marbled gecko, need tips for rehab. (duw)

[tora]

So I went into pets barn today to get some cricket water, and of course had to check out the animals. Then I see this poor little marbled gecko in a tank with another at least twice it's size. The poor guy is all skin and bone and missing a toe, I couldn't just leave him. I've seen some malnourished animals, but this really made me upset. His eyes were still bright though, so I have hope for him.

Anyway, anyone got tips on how to rehab geckos?

 

[txrepgirl]

Re: Just rescued a marbled gecko, need tips for rehab.

I wish I could help you . But I wanted to ask you if you could please post some pictures of him. Thank you and good luck with him . Please keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[tora]

Re: Just rescued a marbled gecko, need tips for rehab.

I tried to get good pics, his little hip bones stick way out. :cry:
I'm going to pick up some fruity baby food or something tomorrow.

 

[Guest]

I can't believe that they took such poor care of the little one! People make me so angry sometimes Glad that you were able to take it in, and good luck with rehabing it.

 

[Beazer]

Well, I can say, from their point as well. Marbled geckos, tokays, bananas, and whitelines (aka skunks) are all the geckos that are cheap. They are the most likely to come in sickly and most of the time there really isnt too much you can do for them when they are far gone. Though we would still try. Also, they are very communal (spelling?) species so they typically wont attack each other unless they are bite sized.

As for the gecko's help. You really want to focus on hydrating it, so do not give it tap water. Give it bottled water. Also, invest in some pedialite (spelling?). Get the none flavored kind and just put it on the tip of the nose if you can so it can lap it up (some people mix it with the water). If you have a vet, it may be better for it to have some sort of saline injection w/vitamins.

As far as the cage goes, keep it on moist (not soaked) paper towels. and give it some vertical climbing stuff it can blend in with like a piece of driftwood or something, and make sure you have the fake plants with the suction cups (the ficus ones are awese) at the top of the cage.

After it starts eating and is hydrated, I would focus on de-worming it.

They really are just one of those animals that are imported by the thousands and are easy to find and really cheap (anywhere from $3-$8 wholesale) so they typically come in, in crappy condition and therse really not much a petshop can do. Not to mention the parasite loads they come in with. If people want to rescue animals like this, sounds harsh, but unless its given to you free, just dont buy them. Its kind of a double edged sword :/. Just remember, stuff like that isnt always due to the petshop "taking poor care".

Best of luck to you. And if you have any questions ask away.


-Jon DeLong