apocalypse910
Active Member
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- 272
I have two seriously ill geckos and could desperately use some advice. I've tried posting on gecko talk, however, the forums there aren't quite as active and I could really use some advice.
I have five leopard geckos - an adult breeding pair, and three of their babies. I've been feeding a mix of superworms and crickets to all my geckos. I'll admit that I really screwed up and got lazy about gutloading. Every meal, without exception, has been dusted in a mix of calcium powder and vitamin powder (about a 5-1 ratio).
About a month and a half ago one of my juvenile males (1 yr roughly) stopped eating and developed severe swelling on one side of his face. I took him to the vet and she prescribed oral antibiotics.
He got worse, the swelling stayed the same, and his hind legs became weak. We took him back to the vet, she did x-rays and dignosed him with MBD. She gave him an injection in the office and sent me home with antibiotic eye ointment and calcium Neo-cal.
The same day I noticed that his clutch-mate (housed separately) suddenly could not open one of his eyes fully. He had no swelling, weakness, tremors etc at this time. I started giving both geckos the neo-cal daily.
After a few days the first gecko's swelling started to go down but his weakness continued. The second gecko rapidly developed the same symptoms as the first despite being on daily calcium - the side of his face swelled massively and he became weak and unresponsive.
For the last month I've been giving both eye-ointment daily. The neo-cal ran out and I started giving both geckos repta-boost mixed with fluker's liquid calcium daily. The second gecko improved rapidly - his facial swelling went away and he seemed completely normal for a few days.
After about a week (same routine) the swelling came back even worse and he developed eye infections as well. He seems strong when I pick him up but he is unable to open either eye and does not really move around except when disturbed. Both geckos seem to have secondary infections and neither are improving at all.
I went back to the vet - she lanced the facial swelling and noted several other possible abscesses. She was out of neo-cal but told me to continue with the fluker's liquid calcium. I recieved more oral antibiotics. She seemed to think the first gecko was going to be ok and raised the possibility of euthanizing the second (who honestly seems in better shape to me).
It breaks my heart to know that my husbandry mistakes have caused my geckos to suffer like this. I also don't want to put them through any more - but I also don't want to give up on them if there is still a chance of recovery.
I am wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to help them. I am also wondering if calcium is the whole picture as the second gecko had virtually no symptoms and worsened, got better, and worsened again once on a solid calcium regimen.
I've started making sure I gutload everything for at least two days before feeding. I've also switched from oyster-shell calcium to the zoo med calcium carbonate powder. I am not 100% certain whether the vitamin mix I was using had d3 (was using two and can't remember which I mixed in) but they are getting at least some from the repta-boost now. The bottom line is that i think there is more at play than just the gut-loading.
Anyone have some knowledge to share. Does this sound like a simple calcium deficiency or is there something else going on? Am I doing the right thing by continuing to treat or am I just making them suffer unnecessarily? Is there anything I can do beyond just giving them repta-boost and calcuim and hoping for the best?
Thanks - and sorry for the long post.
I have five leopard geckos - an adult breeding pair, and three of their babies. I've been feeding a mix of superworms and crickets to all my geckos. I'll admit that I really screwed up and got lazy about gutloading. Every meal, without exception, has been dusted in a mix of calcium powder and vitamin powder (about a 5-1 ratio).
About a month and a half ago one of my juvenile males (1 yr roughly) stopped eating and developed severe swelling on one side of his face. I took him to the vet and she prescribed oral antibiotics.
He got worse, the swelling stayed the same, and his hind legs became weak. We took him back to the vet, she did x-rays and dignosed him with MBD. She gave him an injection in the office and sent me home with antibiotic eye ointment and calcium Neo-cal.
The same day I noticed that his clutch-mate (housed separately) suddenly could not open one of his eyes fully. He had no swelling, weakness, tremors etc at this time. I started giving both geckos the neo-cal daily.
After a few days the first gecko's swelling started to go down but his weakness continued. The second gecko rapidly developed the same symptoms as the first despite being on daily calcium - the side of his face swelled massively and he became weak and unresponsive.
For the last month I've been giving both eye-ointment daily. The neo-cal ran out and I started giving both geckos repta-boost mixed with fluker's liquid calcium daily. The second gecko improved rapidly - his facial swelling went away and he seemed completely normal for a few days.
After about a week (same routine) the swelling came back even worse and he developed eye infections as well. He seems strong when I pick him up but he is unable to open either eye and does not really move around except when disturbed. Both geckos seem to have secondary infections and neither are improving at all.
I went back to the vet - she lanced the facial swelling and noted several other possible abscesses. She was out of neo-cal but told me to continue with the fluker's liquid calcium. I recieved more oral antibiotics. She seemed to think the first gecko was going to be ok and raised the possibility of euthanizing the second (who honestly seems in better shape to me).
It breaks my heart to know that my husbandry mistakes have caused my geckos to suffer like this. I also don't want to put them through any more - but I also don't want to give up on them if there is still a chance of recovery.
I am wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to help them. I am also wondering if calcium is the whole picture as the second gecko had virtually no symptoms and worsened, got better, and worsened again once on a solid calcium regimen.
I've started making sure I gutload everything for at least two days before feeding. I've also switched from oyster-shell calcium to the zoo med calcium carbonate powder. I am not 100% certain whether the vitamin mix I was using had d3 (was using two and can't remember which I mixed in) but they are getting at least some from the repta-boost now. The bottom line is that i think there is more at play than just the gut-loading.
Anyone have some knowledge to share. Does this sound like a simple calcium deficiency or is there something else going on? Am I doing the right thing by continuing to treat or am I just making them suffer unnecessarily? Is there anything I can do beyond just giving them repta-boost and calcuim and hoping for the best?
Thanks - and sorry for the long post.