Rescued a leopard gecko - help?

[Cas]

When it rains it pours - I now have 3 rescued lizards, and I'm running out of room.....

Well, meet my newest rescue....

<img width="540" height="230" src="http://image.photoloft.com/opx-bin/OpxFIDISA.dll?s=cano&src=/Photoloft/Asset21/2003/07/11/10860/10860131_0_5236.fpx,0,0,1,1,500,230,FFFFFF"</img>

A lady came into the petstore where I work and asked if we could take a leopard gecko because her son doesn't play with it, and she can't always get food for it (because she feeds it only pinky mice - doesn't want crickets loose in the house *sigh*). So I told her to bring it in, and I'd take it home.

He (I believe it's a he) definitely needs to put on weight... his tail isn't totally skinny, but as you can see it's definitely not fat either (and this is a large adult gecko, not a hatchling). Is there anything special I should be doing besides offering dusted crickets and an occasional pinky mouse? (btw, we do not have waxworms here, and can only get mealworms occasionally). Should I maybe offer some pedialyte in its drinking water, or is that not necessary?

As you can see, he's barely got a single whole toe on him either... I'll bet he's never even seen a humid hide.

<img width="500" height="242" src="http://image.photoloft.com/opx-bin/OpxFIDISA.dll?s=cano&src=/Photoloft/Asset21/2003/07/11/10860/10860130_0_0995.fpx,0,0,1,1,500,242,FFFFFF"</img>

So, he joins the "someone's kids don't take care of me anymore" gang of lizards which now include him, a Sudan plated lizard, and a tiger ameiva.

Anyway, any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Dawn

[eyespy]

Get bloodwork if possible, with all the mice in his former diet he may very well be suffering from fatty liver disease and if so he needs a low protein, low fat, high fiber diet to avoid further strain on his liver.

If liver function tests are normal, than a varied insect diet with a fair amount of earthworms or waxworms to add extra fat to his menu should do nicely but if the liver is compromised that diet would only make things worse.

[Mike177]

aww. that poor thing. i rescued a lep from a pet-co not to long ago, how much dose he weigh? he dosent look too bad weight wise. a normal weight for an adult male leo is around 50 grams well anyway good luck!

[Cas]

Eyespy, thanks, I would never have thought of that.... I knew a diet of pinkies wasn't good for him, but wasn't aware of fatty liver disease. I'll see if any of the vets up here can and are willing to do that blood test (kinda in the middle of nowhere here with cat-dog only vets).

Mike177, I'm not sure on the weight.... I forgot to pack my balance scale when I moved. :p Want to get a good digital, but gods they're expensive....

Dawn

[Linds]

Dawn,
Glad the little guy has a new home. Its so sad to hear the stories of the kids that get tired of them... they aren't disposable:( Good luck with him :) On another note, I got a great digi scale from myweigh that is very cheap in comparison to similar scales. It was less than a $100 (shipped across the country too). Click <a href="http://www.myweigh.com/mediumscales_3001.html">here</a> to see the model I have and all its details ;)

[Clownfishie]

Well, he looks pretty good for a rescue... other than the missing toes :) Hopefully he wasn't adversely affected by his pinkies-only diet... If he doesn't seem to be dehydrated, pedialyte shouldn't be necessary as long as he's drinking on his own. If you manage to get bloodwork done and it comes back ok, just give him as varied of an insect diet as possible, and I'm sure he'll be fat and happy in no time :)

[Alicewave]

I agree with the others. If he's eating on his own OK just make sure to feed well gutloaded insects. For my gutload I use Fish food (you can look for one with a higher fiber ratio) wheat germ and carrots for moisture (I like em better than potato b/c they have more vitamins). You might also want to dust with Herptivite (multi vitamin) in addition to a calcium supplement.

[Cas]

Linds, that's exactly the scale I want!! I didn't know anywhere in Canada they were available before though... thanks for the link.... now I just need to have money again ;)

Alicewave, I buy crickets from the store and feed direct - fewer escapes that way. At the store, they're fed on fluker's cricket food (and cricket quencher). Of course, we're out of crickets until later this week, so I'm off to the live bait shop tomorrow. And, I'm already dusting - mostly with Rep-cal, but occasionally with herptivite too.

Dawn

[Alicewave]

You might try mealworms in addition. I find leos fatten up more quickly on Mealies than on crix. Also they are much easier to take care of and you don't run the risk of running out since you can buy a bunch and store them in the fridge for months.

[Samba]

All of the above is good advice, however, I would take him to the vet and have him checked for parasites... If this lady was only feeding him pinkies (and you didn't mention how often), I'd think this leo would be rather large... Just feed him as much as he wants to eat, and make sure he doesn't have worms. Are you planning on keeping this guy or adopting him out? Good luck with him, and keep us updated!

[drewlowe]

Yes samba is right i would really worry about worms specially if he was feed live pinkies. The best thing to do is take him to the vet and have a complete checkup and fecal done.

[peregrinefalcon]

Here is one that I rescued yesterday, she died last night. I figured she wasn't going to make it, I just wanted to give her a nice place to die without baby leos crawling all over her. Here's the link to the pics (and remember these were taken while she was still alive!!!):

http://groups.msn.com/theplatedlizardburrow/fourlinedplatedlizards.msnw

Adam