Wellllll I'm a big softy.......

trailblazer295 · 09-29-15, 05:44 PM

Today started out innocent enough. Feeding day for my snakes. Swung by the reptile store on my way home to pick up food and a new bag of cypress. Of course have to do the rounds and browse what they have in the tanks. See if anything is new etc. I notice a tank by the front cash "leopard gecko for adoption, free". I'm thinking that's weird why would a reptile store be just giving away reptiles. Guy told me "yeah that came in last night he is thin" We he offered me to hold him. He wasn't kidding about thin. He told me "oh you could take him, you like things to be perfect and a challenge". I seem to have a rep at that store for being OCD....no idea why...

.. I had done research into leopards in the past before I got snakes and almost bought one but in the end had snakes instead. But I felt so bad looking at this almost adult sized (length wise) lizard and how skinny he was. I'm not at all a lizard size expert but the skin hanging off his arms even to my dim brain thought "that's not good". I asked a few questions in terms of feeding in general and then feeding for this guy as he didn't appear in any condition to go cricket hunting. Well I felt so bad for what the little guy/girl has gone through. While holding it was very calm just sort of hung out and walked around a bit. Never tried to bite me or get away. So not having a cage for a leopard gecko I bought the 10g setup he was in and brought him home. Upon getting home I discovered the UTH the previous owner was using was in the CENTER of the tank. (sign #1 why he was in bad shape), so I let it run, peel it off move it to one end and tape it down with foil tape. It came off better then I thought actually. Go about sanitizing decor. I plugged the UTH in curious how hot it would get (I haven't had a glass terrarium also he was still in the travel container during all this) Within about 15-20min while cleaning the rest of the cage and a temp probe on the glass under the wood chips the temp hit 94f and still climbing. So not only was this thing centered, it was too hot period with a "gradient" of too hot and less hot. (sign #2 why) I stole one of my Rancos of my boas cage as 2 on a 24x24 is overkill but I had them anyway. Set that up to 88f inside the hot hide. I filled his water dish and put him in his newly resetup home. I snapped one pic before putting him inside as he has been through a lot of stress the past few days. Being moved twice on top of being in poor health to begin with. I hope the little guy/girl pulls through. The guy told me he was a white snow leopard??? I'm not sure if I heard right. I just felt bad for the condition he was in and not thinking or caring for that matter what morph he was.

So this is my new addition and his home as it sits now. I'm sure I'll tweak things with time but it's better than before anyway. I'm sure I'll have more questions because this is my first lizard so just flying from the seat of my pants somewhat. Please take it easy on me and my seemingly dumb questions as I didn't really have the time to fully research or have all the equipment etc. I might be missing some stuff that can be added later.

On a positive note Mushu ate after a 5 week hunger strike.

Disclaimer: I do not have big hands which emphasizes how skinny he is.

Side note: I just noticed he is only looking at me through one eye. The other is just a slit. He stopped moving in the last pic and stood there for a bit with his eyes mostly closed to slits. I shut the lights off and left the room.

Albert Clark · 09-30-15, 09:48 AM

Kudos to you t295! Great job and pickup. I know that gecko has a new lease on life thanks to you.

**Aaron_S** · 09-30-15, 11:32 AM

He just seems underweight. I inspected him when it came in. Hopefully it eats soon as that should fix most of it's problems.

They eye thing could simply be due to stress. Don't worry so much right now about it, just take a once over to make sure it's clear of shed or any other debris.

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 11:50 AM

Okay thanks, Adrian didn't know much about him. He wasn't in when it came in. Glad someone checked him out that knows what to look for.

**Aaron_S** · 09-30-15, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

Okay thanks, Adrian didn't know much about him. He wasn't in when it came in. Glad someone checked him out that knows what to look for.

Yeah I happened to stop by the night before for a couple items.

He seems okay other than underfed but I'm not a vet and can't check anything on the inside. Was/is a alert and active. Both good signs.

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 12:47 PM

He is in whatever shape he is. Could be too late but never know. Have to wait and see. He did walk around my arms after awhile.

Sasha2 · 09-30-15, 01:59 PM

Just keep him far away from your other reptiles. Crypto causes that kind of thinness.There was a big rash of that around here back when I raised leos and it was a real concern.
Not eating, continued wasting away sometime regurge.Plus if I remember correctly a green belly or might have been green stool(could be wrong here its been awhile).

BTW I would pull the back legs off the crickets so he can eat more and larger cricks to put on weight..
Personally I would put him in a shoebox size tub with papertowel so you can see his feces and he doesnt ingest any sand(which is debatable but in his condition not worth the risk)

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 02:11 PM

I'll move the tank when i get home. I didn't think of that. He is on aspen chips not sand. I don't know the history of how he got here or why. Just he was given up. I'll check his belly when I get home.

reptiledude987 · 09-30-15, 04:38 PM

He is thin but Ive seen thinner that have pulled thru just fine. Hopefully now with good care you will be able to turn him around. Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 05:10 PM

So good news update this time. So I've moved his tank from reptile room to my room. Took him out of the tank while I added a humid hide, calci dish and moved things around a bit. I had him in the travel container for it. So now the good points 1 he had both eyes open to look at me when I picked him up even though he was in the hot hide at the time so Aaron might be right about stress 2 He was frisker today when I picked him up, wiggled when I was putting him back in his cage and his movements were much faster then yesterday and had some power behind it as he was trying to wiggle himself free of my hands. So he still has some life in him. 3 didn't really notice a green belly per say under the light but then again I don't know what I'm looking for. Despite not eating he was in better shape than 24hrs ago. A nights sleep in a properly heated hide seems to have done a lot for him. I've put 2 powdered wax worms in his dish. He went near the dish when I put him back but then went back into his hot hide. They can't escape it anyway so I'll leave him be. I'm happy he appears better today, seems to be a strong little guy. Looking forward to what he looks like healthy and plump.

Here is his new digs.

**Aaron_S** · 09-30-15, 05:41 PM

Hopefully he starts eating soon. Once he's healthy you'll find that the leos love eating and go for their dish right away when you drop in some worms.

Stick to the soft worms for now, wax, silks, tomato horns and then crickets.

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 05:42 PM

I've got wax and meal but adrian suggested wax first so started with those.

Sasha2 · 09-30-15, 06:56 PM

Like I said Im not sure about the belly being green but the thinness and not eating is a bit scary. He could be impacted too. I hope its just lack of care and he will get to eating soon I hate seeing them so skinny and fragile.
I really liked having leos, they are always smiling.

**EL Ziggy** · 09-30-15, 07:08 PM

Great job on the rescue Blaze. I'm confident you'll have him in tip top shape in no time.

trailblazer295 · 09-30-15, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasha2

Like I said Im not sure about the belly being green but the thinness and not eating is a bit scary. He could be impacted too. I hope its just lack of care and he will get to eating soon I hate seeing them so skinny and fragile.
I really liked having leos, they are always smiling.

Why he is this size is an unknown. People that dropped it off didn't really tell much of a story. Time will tell how eager he is to eat. He seemed to have strength wiggling in my hand when he was going back in his tank. So he has some fight left in him.