Jenn To The Rescue...Again (Now I Need Help lol)

[SerpentLust]

Scenario: Leopard gecko eats mealworms but can't seem to catch crickets and had no interest in them.

Problem: No matter how much food I give this gecko. He's very sickly and scrawny.

Bigger Problem: So my manager and the owner of the store says, "Freeze him".

Solution: I took him home. lol

Confession: I know next to diddly SH** about leopard gecko illnesses and their treatments.

Anyways, you guessed it. We had a sick leopard gecko at work and the owner wanted to put him down. I looked at Aaron and said, "If you have to F***ING do it, do it with me out of here. If you know what's wrong with him, let me try to fix him up"

So Aaron told me that he thinks it might have worms. So he gave me a bottle of "Rid Worm".

Problem is, I don't know how to administer it.

So I have this cute little sickly looking leopard gecko in my room now. I have these worm drops. I don't know how to administer them. I don't know how many doses to give. So I definately need help. It was either this or he meets his untimely death in a freezer. I figured I could at least try.

http://images.fandelem.com/images.php?id=14375
http://images.fandelem.com/images.php?id=14373

In other news, for an update. My store did something disgusting with this gecko while I was away for the weekend. I came to work this morning to see that the Ball Python (healthy and doing amazing) was put into a bigger aquarium which I was happy about. And the sickly leopard gecko was put into a smaller one and taken off sale.....then I realized what they did...

They literally took the leopard gecko and threw it in the old ball python enclosure without cleaning it. And did the same for the ball python. They just did a switch of animals without caring to clean them.

Needless to say after long strings of profanities came out of my mouth I cleaned them out and fixed everything up. Then I took it upon myself to clean out the rest of the reptile aquariums lol.

Other than that, work is going great. I have full authority over the reptile care now. The fish guys trust me for the reptile care and leave me be when I am walking around the herp room looking like I'm intent on fixing someones mistake. lol And I'm being PAYED to do this! Hahaha

Anyways, back to the leopard gecko. Help? lol

Jenn

[Rebecca]

Take it to a vet to get a fecal done. It'll cost alot but in the end worth it.

[Darlene]

I can't help you personally but I can tell you to e-mail or pm Drewlowe. She has loads of experience & access to a great vet. She is in the best position of anyone I can think of to help you. Good luck & keep us updated, please.

[Lisa]

I don't know anything about geckos or their illnesses except to take extream care and extra precautions about quarantining this animal, for all you know it could be something like crypto which can jump the species barrier. It's not usually fatal in humans unless you are already sick but it's a whole different story with geckos. only handle the guy with your hands, don't let him crawl over you, also disinfect after handling, feeding, treating, etc. it may only be a case of worms or it could be worse. Best of luck.

[spyderman]

Get a fecal done, charge it to that *** hole of a boss of yours & then tell him where to shove his job & all his animals....Oh & give him a gaboon viper to play with, just for good measure. Other than that, sorry, no experience with lizards.

[damzookeeper]

Definately talk to Jamie! I just recently got a gecko that looks absolutely healthy but the people I got her from said she was in a tank with a very sick gecko that got extrememly skinny and then they gassed it cuz they didn't know what else to do. This was a friend of my parnents friends gecko. I wasn't really interested cuz it was a normal but I didn't want to leave it there cuz if they couldn't get rid of it it too probably would have been gassed. So I guess you could call it a rescue. I'm still waiting for a fresh sample for a fecal. I just picked her up on Saturday night and it was impossible to bring a fecal in on Sunday or tonight, so probably tomorrow or Wednesday when ever I find a fresh one I'll be bringing it in. Because she was housed with the other she most likely has whatever that one had.
Jamie told me that it probably wasn't worms but to get a crypto test done as well. This is very important. A bit expensive but for a free gecko, you can't really complain much. :)
Good luck with him/her and keep us posted.

[drewlowe]

HI jenn i'm jamie. I'm currently going through a problem with my leos that sounds very similer to yours.

First off STRICT and i mean STRICT quarintine nothing that comes in contact with this leo should come in contact with any other animal at all. Next step go to a vet with a fresh (no older than 24 hours). also bring the leo in to be seen and asked to have it's stomach flush so they can send the contents off to a lab to be tested for "crypto". Also in the stool have them check for any kinds of parasites but let them be aware you think it could be COCCIDIA. Coccidia has a direct life cycle and can cause death in leos. strick cage cleaning and quarintine should be used during medication. If it shows they have coccidia then albon will likely be the medication given.

You may want the ball pyton checked for coccidia if the leo comes up positive. Since coccidia can be transfered from contaminated water and fecal matter. Since the pet store didn't do cage cleanings. That really bothers me specially knowing there was a sick animal in the cage prior.

This is just a comprised post if you would like to know more on my situation and see if it compares to yours or you would like to know more about coccidia and how to disenfect your cages to kill coccida spores please go look in the tread "confused" in the leopard gecko forums. Or if you have any other questions i will be happy to help in anyway let me know either by posting, pm, or email. Please keep me updated on your leo.

Oh i know this is off subject but my sick leo phoenix ate on her own last night for the first time in over a month. And she is on albon cause she was diagnoised with coccida.

[drewlowe]

also i forgot to mention but i'm sure you got the point with the whole quarintine thing but alway work on that leo last!!! and wash your hands before and after handling him/her.

[Siretsap]

The little black bottles rid worms don't work very well. In fact, I never heard someone tell me it worked at all!
Get it to the vet.

[SerpentLust]

By the time I got all these posts. The North Bay Animal Hospital was closed for the day. So I'll try tomorrow after work. I won't handle my snakes without washing my hands and if the gecko tests positive for coccida I'll tell the guys at the store.

I swear, I'm the only person who will spend money on animals that aren't even mine. lol The way I see it, this animal has a right to life as well as anything else, and frankly our manager and owner have no right saying its life should end because they aren't willing to put in the time and effort to properly care for everything.

This is why I'm going into Small Business Management. When I open MY store, it will have properly cared for animals. I'm sick of seeing this, I honestly am.

Jenn

[damzookeeper]

That sounds great Jenn. There are a few stores like you want to open in the future but imo they are far and few between! Would be great to have a few more. :)

Jamie, did the vet tell you albon makes them lose their appetite? I know when I used it on a dragon I got a couple years ago he told me the dragon would lose his appetite. He did cut down a bit but luckily he didn't lose it entirely so I didn't have to resort to force feeding. But I'm not sure if it is the same for leos. I would assume so but I could be wrong.

[Lisa]

They planned on freezing it anyways, the animal should belong to you as you're willing to spend time and money on vets

[sapphire_moon]

I hope it gets better, keep us updated!

[eyespy]

While you are waiting for the fecal exam and vet check, it's not a bad idea to drip a lot of water on its snout to get it to lap it up. Dehydration is quite likely when you're dealing with a scrawny little one who's too weak to chase down crix.

Another cheap insurance policy is to give probiotics (beneficial bacteria). Most drugstores and healthfood stores sell acidophilus capsules which you can open up and dust the food lightly with a pinch of the powder.

Parasites, infection and malnutrition all kill off the bacteria that normally lives in the large intestine and helps break down foods for the leo. If he should need antibiotics or anti-parasite meds, they can further reduce the gut flora population and it's not a bad idea to give probiotics whenever you are deworming a reptile.

Good luck and let us know how this poor little one makes out.

[drewlowe]

Jenn i wish you the best of luck with this little one. Please update us after you find out what your vet says.

Eyespy how would probotics work if say the leo wasn't eating at all (unless you were forcefeeding) but could you mix a little in with water and try to get them to drink it. If you did it this way would it have the same effects

dam zookeeper as far as i'm aware any eating right now is great news for me. 2 days after the meds i tried to feed her a pinkie she regurgatited it the next day(vet recommended that i get her to eat a pinkie). Then she got 3 mealies the next day kept those down 2 days later i could only get her to eat 2 meal worms she regurgatatite them in 3 hours. then sunday she finally ate some waxworms and has kept those down.

I have experince appitite loss with panacur. So i was expecting it with albon but so far she starting to show signs of improvement and if she wants to eat i'm going to let her.

[eyespy]

Yep, you can easily mix probiotics with water and drip some into the animal's mouth. As long as it makes it to the stomach the actual delivery system doesn't matter too much.

[TheRedDragon]

Originally posted by spyderman
Oh & give him a gaboon viper to play with, just for good measure.

Hah hah hah! I agree! He deserves no less! :D