Crestie rescue

[purplemuffin]

My mom's friend had a gecko, but didn't take care of him right and gave him to me. He was being fed the Fluker's crested gecko diet(pellets..really?) and was in a bone dry dirty tank. His feet can't stick to anything(I'll show that in a video) and he's extremely thin. I'm going to weigh him tonight.

Pics:









I'd love some help to get him back to perfect health. I already bought repashy and have cleaned his enclosure/covered up the top. Just want to know what I can do to keep him comfortable and healthy. He looks so sad!

[aldebono]

I have honestly seen worse. I think he will have no problem making a full recovery!

[DooLittle]

Aww, poor skinny little guy. He looks like he will be beautiful once in good health though. Good luck with him. I don't keep cresties, so I am no help.

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[Royal Hijinx]

Yeah, just get him some Repashy and maybe a dusted crick once or twice a week and he should bounce back.

[purplemuffin]

Yeah, I know he's not in the worst condition in the world(if he was extremely extremely unhealthy I would for sure be handing him off to a much more experienced crestie owner), but for such a sweet gecko it's still sad to see! I feel I can get him back on track soon enough. Already got someone who will give me some repashy until the stuff I ordered comes in. I'm hoping he'll start feeling more active soon enough.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

For the first few weeks I'd add some extra calcium into the CGD as well as spend 10-15 minutes with him in the direct sunlight. I had a crested that came in horrible shape, within 2 months it has almost doubled in weight and looks beautiful by following these tips. Once you notice it is eating the crested gecko diet (you see poop) I would then start offering some gut loaded heavily dusted crickets or roaches. I would also fill your setup to the brim with fake foliage, the extra security really seems to help them recover faster. I'd just use a tub with paper towels as substrate (so you can notice if it's pooping) and tons of foliage/climbing things. It may not look the best but you can always change the setup once it fully recovers if you'd like and it's very affordable.

Crested geckos are a very hardy species and yours should have no problems bouncing back. Congrats on the new addition!

[purplemuffin]

Have been bumping the calcium and giving him some sunlight.

Unfortunately, I think it's vet time. After giving him some space for a while(stress+sick is not a very good mix, and his only problem appeared to be his weight/dehydration), I checked out his legs the other day and one seems to have a severe problem.

Here is his 'good' front leg:



Here is the weird one:



and a full body shot:




He has shed since he was in his care so his colors are looking lovely. It was a perfect shed, no stuck pieces, so I'm happy about that. He seems more alert, no longer just lays his head down 24/7, he looks around, seems to move about the cage, But he slides around on his wrists rather than his 'hands', and that's also keeping him from climbing despite having shed and gotten his stickiness back.

He actually bit me today so I know he's at least got some fire in him. The leg worries me greatly because three things come to mind--

The first thought I had was MBD. He had a terrible diet and obviously bad nutrition would start to affect his body. He was fed nothing but fluker's pellets sparingly for a year and a half and undusted, ungutloaded crickets. Very little calcium present there, and during an important growing stage of his life.

The next thought was related--if he was developing MBD, he could have fallen or jumped and due to his weaker bones, fractured a leg. Could have healed weirdly and thus the weird bend/bump.

The final worry is due to the severe dehydration. Having had dirty water when I got him and in all likelihood having had dirty water for a long period of time in their home, coupled with the gecko never being in a humid environment(no spraying, no substrate, all dry as their air conditioned home), I worry he could even have developed gout. It's a rare thing but I've seen it happen in crested geckos before, so the thought is there.

I'm mostly suspicious it's MBD, but I'm trying to think of any possibility.

So, to the vet on Monday it is.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

It never hurts to take them to the vet. My thoughts upon seeing the picture was MBD as well. I'm glad he seems to be improving for you, good luck and a let us know how the vet visit goes!

[purplemuffin]

Definitely will update you on what the vet says. Right now I'm trying to figure out all the questions I'm going to ask when I get there. I definitely want to check for parasites(hopefully if we get rid of any of those he will gain weight a bit faster) and I am sure we'll end up getting an xray done. Just want to make sure I have everything covered.

[purplemuffin]

Picked up a gram scale today. He's down to 16 grams now, so the vet trip couldn't come any sooner. He had taken a pretty big poop just before though, so that might have affected it somewhat. Right after being weighed he went straight to his food and gobbled a bunch up. Maybe he could sense I was upset at his weight!

Vet is tomorrow. Wish us luck!