help!

i got a leopard gecko baby today off a dealer but the problem is the tail is thin and it look weak with little movement.. its been afew hours since i got it home and it ate a cricket... it has a hide box, water dish, calcium powder, a free running cricket and a little bowl of mealworms.. how could i help him and bring him back to health?

Can you post a pic of the little fella?

Just in general though, babies are thin and don't have fat tails yet.
He is probably very stressed right now too. I'd take the 'free roaming' cricket out (it can actually nibble on the gecko and add to the stress) and just leave the mealies in the dish. Try to leave him alone, only bother him when you have to, let him settle in for a week at least with no handling.

What are his temperatures, how are you measuring them (type of thermometer) and how are you heating him? What type of substrate are you using?

Babies all look skinny. That he ate a cricket is a good sign that nothing is wrong. He has calcium which I believe is better left available in a dish than by dusting crickets. Give him a nice variety of meal worms and crickets and watch him grow.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u283/tingshian/g.jpg


http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...ngshian/g1.jpg




hes really THIN and weak i nid help urgently he doesnt seems to like mealie .. would it be safe if i put a little cricket in? Urgent helppp!!!!

im currently keeping him in a tank with no substances for the moment and will decorate it nicely when hes back to health. and the room temperature is average around 30degree as im in the tropical country please help :tears::tears::tears::tears::tears::tears:

Yeah his tail is thin I'd feed him some crickets but remember no larger than the space between his eyes.

In all honesty, he looks pretty bad. He's really thin, too thin.

He's also dehydrated.

See if whoever you got him from will take him back and then get one from someone else.

its beyond any hope? :O :tears: :( :(

he drank some water and seems to be active today :) im trying to get him to eat.. i hope he's alright :weirdface

I'd like to think it's not beyond hope but he is in rough shape. Even though Leo's are hardy little guys babies are fragile.
It's great that he ate a bit and is drinking. All you can really do for him is offer food and water and hope for the best. 30 celsius is a bit cool still, can you boost it up a bit on one end (33 c)? He could do with a warmer spot I think.
I do hope he comes around for you and pulls through.
Do you have herp vets where you are? Maybe get a fecal float done, he may be carrying a large parasite load too.

update: he's out of the hide box and walking around and ''climbing the wall'' how much cricket should he eat everyday? he got abit lump at the stomach from tat cricket he ate yesterday and poo-ed.. things seems abit more optimistic :weirdface

It isn't "beyond hope" but if you are an inexperienced leopard gecko keeper it might be a bit difficult. Have you kept leos before? To fatten him up, waxworms are great for that but provide very little nutrients, but you can give him a couple of those a week. You can go out and get some baby food like chicken or something and mix it with a bit of calcium and put a couple drops on his nose for him to lick up. that always seemed to work for me to get thin babies up to par with the rest. What's your set up like? you should have a warm side and a cool side. hides on each side and a humid hide on the warm side(at least thats where I prefer to put mine) :) if you can post a pic of his enclosure that would be great

he's currently trying to catch food but misses how can i help him? =)

he just ate a big cricket :O if this continues i hope that he would be able to recover fast :P don u all think so? :cool: im v glad he ate 2crickets and drank water hes gonna get well i hope :weirdface

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Originally Posted by samzz

he just ate a big cricket :O if this continues i hope that he would be able to recover fast :P don u all think so? :cool: im v glad he ate 2crickets and drank water hes gonna get well i hope :weirdface

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No bigger than the space in between his eyes I hope!

Try giving him slower moving prey. I don't really recommend crickets. See if you can get your hands on some small waxworms or extra small pheonix worms to fatten him up again. Keep feeding him mealworms.

Make his cage a little warmer too.

As i am putting the tank beside the window.. the left side of the tank will be warm during the morning and the cricket he ate its around the same size of the space in between his eyes :weirdface I also added a tray of meal worms in his enclosure but he seems to be more interested in crickets.. i broke the hind legs of the cricket to slower them down too.. my little gecko is now sleeping.. not thirsty nor hungry.. lets hope he would feed again tmr.. :confused: :confused::confused: :confused::confused: will he be back to health if this goes on? (feeding reguarly)

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Originally Posted by samzz

As i am putting the tank beside the window.. the left side of the tank will be warm during the morning and the cricket he ate its around the same size of the space in between his eyes :weirdface I also added a tray of meal worms in his enclosure but he seems to be more interested in crickets.. i broke the hind legs of the cricket to slower them down too.. my little gecko is now sleeping.. not thirsty nor hungry.. lets hope he would feed again tmr.. :confused: :confused::confused: :confused::confused: will he be back to health if this goes on? (feeding reguarly)

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Don't put it beside a window that gets a lot of sunlight! The inside of the tank can heat up to very high temperatures (think like the inside of a car).

What are you using as a heating device? I would recommend getting an Under Tank Heater (UTH) if you can - if not, a heat lamp will do. Just put it on one side of the tank and leave the cool side at room temperature.

He does look thin and dehydrated but it's good that he's eating and drinking. Make sure you are gut-loading and dusting your insects so he's getting all the vitamins/minerals he needs. Calcium is crucial! A moist hide might also help with getting him hydrated.

Good luck

yea i saw him sleeping with front legs facing back should be a sign of weak bones :( i dusted his food hope that helps :oops:

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Originally Posted by samzz

yea i saw him sleeping with front legs facing back should be a sign of weak bones :( i dusted his food hope that helps :oops:

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Nope, sleeping that way is normal.

If his bones in his arms and legs look warped then he might already have MBD.

But make sure you continue to dust with calcium and vitamins throughout his entire life.

oh... okay! :P i realised that the average temperature is only about 30 so i added a bulb for him anyway.. he poop and the poo seems abit watery.. is it alright? he's currently under the bulb hopefully theres enough heat and i will monitor the temperature to around 33degree will update his conditions!

o sorry for multiple posts he ate a cricket for today and drank alot of water i got a very important question and that is '' having only one middle size or big size cricket per day is enough?'' i thought that they should consume afew per day???

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Originally Posted by samzz

o sorry for multiple posts he ate a cricket for today and drank alot of water i got a very important question and that is '' having only one middle size or big size cricket per day is enough?'' i thought that they should consume afew per day???

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You should offer more than one. It depends on the appetite of the animal, though, some eat more than others.

i always make sure theres 4 cricket in the tank and all crickets and left with only 2 legs to handicap them as hes weak he just ate one more while im typing :salute: :D

Don't leave the crickets in there all the time, take them back out after about 1/2 hour or so. You can offer them a few times a day but they can stress the gecko out just running around in there and they will nibble on him as well. Crickets should not be left in the tank for a long time, doing so can cause more harm than good.

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Originally Posted by Clementine_3

Don't leave the crickets in there all the time, take them back out after about 1/2 hour or so. You can offer them a few times a day but they can stress the gecko out just running around in there and they will nibble on him as well. Crickets should not be left in the tank for a long time, doing so can cause more harm than good.

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This is very true. Crickets can bite your gecko and cause him immense stress, like Clementine said. I've seen some nasty sores caused by crickets being perpetually housed with a leo.

:O:O alright i will remove them but most of the time i see the crickets sleeping lol yea theres one left in the tank :D meaning he ate one today!:gj: hes having a better appetite.... by the way his poop got the shell of the cricket is tat normal?

I have had good luck with the baby food/calcium thing. I added a little pedialyte as well to rehydrate my gecko. Can you post a picture of his poop? Watery doesn't sound good. I hope this guy is in QT faaaar away from any other reptiles you have.

The gecko doesn't look good at all. I am glad he seems to be responding though, and hopefully he will make a full come around. What substrate are you using?

his poop is back to normal i guess not watery anymore and is sometimes have the shell of the cricket he ate? is this alright? :oops:

his poop is back to normal i guess not really watery anymore but it has the shape of the cricket he ate? is this alright? does that means that he did not digest the food or its partially digested? :( the cricket was medium in size though...



http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...gshian/xxx.jpg



http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...gshian/jpg.jpg


heres the latest picture of him

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...gshian/new.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...shian/new1.jpg


is he better? or looking the same? kinda worried

he pooped again its still have the shape of cricket :confused: :tears::tears:

I am not too worried about the poop but am very concerned about his belly. He probably has parasites and it looks like he may have had an internal bleed. I seriously think he should be seen by a herp vet if you have any near you. At the very least fecal float is needed.

Well, the poop doesn't look too bad, but it is kinda hard to tell. If the gecko is eating crickets that are too big, that would be the reason for the partially digested cricket shells in his poop.

I don't have any experience with internal parasites or bleeding... A trip to the vet would answer those questions. You said you got this guy from a breeder? I hope you didn't pay anything for him, as it may cost you more to try and save him.

the black lump in his stomach u mean? thats his cricket :P his appetite is better and the possibility of having parasites will be real low as the breeder's adult and its facility is clean.. but will consult the vet if things get worst meanwhile i just feed him and wait for it to grow? im kinda of happy that he seems abit healthier though not fat...

btw.. partially digested food is alright? cos i cant get any smaller cricket at the moment so i will have to let it eat medium/larger cricket.. its alright? :confused::confused:

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Originally Posted by samzz

btw.. partially digested food is alright? cos i cant get any smaller cricket at the moment so i will have to let it eat medium/larger cricket.. its alright? :confused::confused:

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I don't feel that partially digested food is alright. Since you have raised his temperatures then it may improve. Keep an eye on him.

I keep my leos about 35/36 C on the hot side. They thermoregulate as needed.

He still could have parasites. Many reptiles do but when their immune systems are repressed it can become an issue. Watch him closely for now, but I still feel he should see a vet for an evaluation and fecal float. (A herp vet, not just a general vet.)

:salute: okay will monitor it :) pump up the temp and see if can bring to vet aright =)

im sorry to say that he passed away this morning :tears::tears::tears::tears::tears: he left peacefully after he ate last night... he was well and was gaining back his health when he left me...:tears::tears: </3 i will miss him.. :(

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Originally Posted by samzz

im sorry to say that he passed away this morning :tears::tears::tears::tears::tears: he left peacefully after he ate last night... he was well and was gaining back his health when he left me...:tears::tears: </3 i will miss him.. :(

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I'm sorry to hear that, hon...sometimes things like this happen unexpectedly. :( You did good for him but the odds were against the poor thing. I hope this doesn't put you off of leopard geckos because they are great little critters. Next time, if you are able to, purchase a healthy one from a breeder or maybe find one that's a bit more well established. My condolences.

I'm sorry that he didn't pull through but sometimes they just can't, no matter how hard we try.
This is obviously not the update I wanted to see, but I sort of thought it was the update that I would see. He was in bad shape when you got him.
Do try with another, healthy Leo, they are great pets...silly little things.

nvm though... R.I.P my little buddy.. love him always... :weirdface wont give up on this hobby though the ppl gonna replace me a subadult one