Did a good thing last night

drewlowe · 08-28-03, 11:33 AM

Boy am i tired, so this thread may be a little incoherent.

I was up late last night helping a girl that bought a gecko from a "petstore" in december. Everything the petstore told her was wrong. They said it was a fat tailed leopard gecko. She had it on calcium sand. She was dusting the crix. with crix. food. She ran a regular lightbulb at all times. cause they told her to. no suplments. no misting, several things wrong. Only one hide and they told her they have to have a food dish and they eat veggies. So i was telling her about all kinds of husbandry and whatnot. Then she thought it was going to die so i decieded to go over to her house and take a look. Well i don't know too much about fat tails but i know they are similar to leos. I'm going to do a little research on that for her. It looks exactly like a leo except it has bigger eyes. I sexed it for her it was a girl showed her how to tell whether or not it was a girl or boy. Then i was checking the gecko over she had some skin on one of her toes that i got off. then i opened her mouth and notice nasty dried skin stuck in her gums (best way i can describe it). Looked as if it was there for several months. the gecko had skin on both sides. so i removed the skin which the leo rarely moved and was very easy to work with once she relized i was trying to help her. I'm worried about infection should i have her put anything on this geckos mouth or will it heal on its own. I had her dump out the calci-sand and put down paper towels. told her about calcium no phospherous and herptivitimin she's supposed to pick that up. told her everything they eat and(she feed her waxworms for close to 2 months strait) told her not to that they were treats. The poops in the cage were very small told her i was going to my vet sat. and if she wanted she could drop off a fresh fecal in the morning to me and the money and i would have it tested for parasites she said she would drop it off. I'm printing her off a care sheet also. I also invited her to come to my house to see the setups i have and to check out my leos. She said when she first got it the tail was real big but now the tail is kinda small not too much alarm but it does need some attition. I'm worried tho poor girl may be impacted a little cause i couldn't get a good look at the poops cause they were all covered with the sand. I told her to pay attention to them to see if they got any better or if there was sand in the fecals.

Ok enough of my incoherent babble, sorry you had to try and decipher my spelling and grammer but i was at her house until midnight going over everything. then i had to be up in the morning to come to work. If someone can point me to a good page and pics on fat tails that would be nice. or are there fattails that look very similar to leos with bigger eyes. Thanks for any more additional help.

Jamie.

NEED SLEEP...

Neo · 08-28-03, 02:49 PM

wow, its a good thing u got to have a talk w/ her.. that "pet store" must've been pretty 'tired' too.. fat tail leopard gecko.. yes.. i found a caresheet at www.geckofreak.com and it says that fat tails have big dark eyes.. hmm for pics i'd go to google.com and click on images and type in fat tail gecko.. fat tails and leos are both from the genus eublpharis so look for details i guess.. g/l

drewlowe · 08-28-03, 04:02 PM

Ok question, Ive seen pics of fat tailed geckos and of course i know what leos look like LOL. Ok the gecko in question looks like a leopard gecko the patterns and such but she has huge eyes like a fat tailed gecko. Is there a possibility somehow that this is a mix between leo and fat tailed. I didn't think it was possible, but i could be wrong. Maybe next time i go i will take a pic and see what you guys and girls all say. Until then is it possible?????????

Repti · 08-28-03, 04:24 PM

I think you are juste talking of a leo with big eyes!! I don't think that a mix between the two sp is possible.

Clownfishie · 08-29-03, 11:54 PM

If it's got spots, it's a leopard gecko

Fat tails keep their banding/striping, and are completely different in coloration -- tan with brown bands is the most common. Chances are you've just got a leo with big eyes -- some have bigger eyes than others

Icefire · 08-30-03, 11:17 AM

yeah, I got 2 fat tail my self
Fat tail gecko are like leo gecko (body form) EXCEPT
they have Brown and tan band all over the body and keep them
until they die
They eat the same thing, have same temperature requierement but may need just 1-2 degre more.
they can't be mixed with leo (breeding) or fetus death with result
so if the color are something else than brown/tan banding, it's
a leos, and fat tail are more a mith... I got leos with bigger tail than fat tail I'll take a picture of my couple tonight and paste it here

drewlowe · 08-30-03, 11:48 AM

Thanks all, It just looks like fat tail eyes on a leo body. I belive it is a leo. Next time i go there i'll take the dig. cam with me and get a pic.

TheRedDragon · 08-30-03, 11:26 PM

Good for you drewlowe, I thank people like you all the time for giving people the PROPER education on herps. I have yet to see anything about a pet store giving accurate care info to a first time herp owner. I really wish that pet stores would hire people in the reptile department that actually KNOW what they're talking about rather than these myth herpers that they currently employ. I'm so glad that you had the patience to educate this girl, and I hope the best for the gecko's recovery.