Sick Gecko

[xtreme1k]

My daughters leopard gecko is very lethargic and is having trouble breathing. His stomach appears to be bloated and he is having alot of trouble walking. We seen him eat a meal worm but he is very weak.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I hate to take him to a vet that probably knows nothing about lizards so I am asking you all, because I know there are some Vets on here who WILL know about them!

Thanks, "Zoink" is part of the family and we want to make him well fast!

[JLC]

I'm afraid we don't have any actual vets as members (that I'm aware of!) We do have a couple of vet techs that know their stuff pretty well, but no one can diagnose a sick animal over the Internet...much less treat it.


Here's some links you can try though. They will help you find vets that DO know how to treat reptiles:

http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist

Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!!

[chimpkin]

What type of substrate do you use? The symptoms could mean a lot of things but a common problem is impaction from the digestion of the substrate. Walnut pieces, reptile bark and even sand can be a problem.

[luvmypython]

That is my gecko and my dad posted up for me before I joined the site. We do use walnut peices because that is what we were told to use. Is there anything we can do to make him well without having to go to the vet? If not will he make it?
Thanks!

[Jay_Bunny]

Never use walnut shells. As I was reading the first post the symptoms sounded oddly familiar. Then I realized that my bearded dragon had those symptoms when we had him on walnut shells and he got impacted.

Impactions can be deadly to a lizard, as it was to mine.

[jglass38]

Crushed walnut is probably the worst substrate that can be used. Aside from the fact that it can cause impaction, the most dangerous part is that it has jagged edges that can do internal damage to the animal. I would suggest switching to paper towel or newspaper for now and getting it to a vet. It does sound a lot like impaction but only a herp vet can tell you for sure. Best of luck!

[LGL]

Sounds like impaction to me too. Definitely get him off the crushed walnut! Keep us updated on how he's doing.