Seizures??

[stewbie2]

My daughter has a (appx 4 mth old) leopard gecko. Last night, he was walking around, then all of a sudden screeched, and started seizing (??). His mouth was open, and he just started twitching violently. It stopped after about 2 minutes, then he remained lethargic and practically immobile for the remainder of the night. This morning, I checked on him, and he was still in the same place. Moments later, he again screeched, but this time, seized for appx 15 minutes. His whole body twitched for about 3 minutes, then his tail just thrashed around wildly for the remainder of the time. He pulled himself half-way into his little cave, and has been there for a few hours now. I've reached in to pet him, and he just sits there--barely moves.

Background: Overhead UV lights (day/night), reptipad floor, dusted crickets 1x a week, mealworms every night, always fresh water.

I realize that this cannot possibly be good. However, it breaks my heart to think that the little guy, since he seems to be practically immobile, will die of starvation or dehydration. Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?

Thanks.

[Homegrownscales]

Does the ca you are using have d3 in it? You have UVB light on him? If you do take it off. They don't need UVB. It sounds like he is hypo calcimic. Too little calcium or d3. He should only be getting it 2-3 times a week. Maybe 3 for a female breeder. For the other feedings i use crush tums. That's why they are made containing d3 and also not. Any flavor it doesn't matter but all of my leos get it in a dish in their cage. I dust with d3 ca 2x weekly and the other 1-2 feedings gets dusted with tums.

[stewbie2]

He has the Day white light Spot and the Night black heat bulb (Zilla desert kit). He gets the calcium dust 1x a week on his crickets.

I just checked--barely breathing and barely moves when i touch him.

If he IS hypercalcemic...is it too late to fix it? Also, does it generally show itself all-of-a-sudden like that?

This is horrible. I feel sick. My little girl is going to be horribly upset. She LOVES Steve.

[Homegrownscales]

I would also call a vet immediately. They may be able to boost his ca levels with a intramuscular ca shot.

[stewbie2]

I would also call a vet immediately. They may be able to boost his ca levels with a intramuscular ca shot.

I also feel the need to state that we got him from a chain...which I NOW know is NOT the way to go.

[Homegrownscales]

If he is and it has gotten to that pint the Im shot may help. But seizures is not good. This is something that probably would have been noticed if you knew the signs of beginning mbd. Shaking when walking, legs twitching, bowed legs, or other skeleton deformities, kinks in the tail, lethargy, non appetite. I'm sure there's a few I'm missing. But hypercalcemia is usually noticeable and when it goes untreated seizures and death. How old is he? Baby, sub adult, adult? At adult stage they're bones are done growing so you may notice soft bones, even rubber jaw, shaking, and then once theyve used the ca from their own body that induces a seizure.

[stewbie2]

If he is and it has gotten to that pint the Im shot may help. But seizures is not good. This is something that probably would have been noticed if you knew the signs of beginning mbd. Shaking when walking, legs twitching, bowed legs, or other skeleton deformities, kinks in the tail, lethargy, non appetite. I'm sure there's a few I'm missing. But hypercalcemia is usually noticeable and when it goes untreated seizures and death. How old is he? Baby, sub adult, adult? At adult stage they're bones are done growing so you may notice soft bones, even rubber jaw, shaking, and then once theyve used the ca from their own body that induces a seizure.

That's the thing...NO SIGNS. Perfectly happy little guy--he's a baby. We purchased him at the end of Feb. Nice, fat tail. Running around his cage after crickets. In fact, he was stalking one when the first seizure happened. He's been eating about 5 mealworms a night, and a dozen small crickets a week. No lethargy, twitches, or such. It just seems so sudden.

[Homegrownscales]

Getting from a chain no is not the way to go. But after he was in your care it didn't matter anymore. The new owners responsibility is to research to make sure they are doing everything correctly. Petstores tell you what you "should" do. Or give a "care sheet" 99% of the time they are wrong. Please dont take offense to the last few sentences. Best thing you can do is get this guy to a vet. Tell what you have said here. And say the thought on this was hypercalcemia. If he was only getting ca 1x a week that's just not enough. Especially If there was no d3. Hopefully they can do the IM shot and they'll probably recommend more of them if they do. And then if he is ok you need a thing of tums, and calcium with d3. What keeps these guys healthy is a combination of many things. Petstores generally don't have the best options. But the animal if on the right combo will thrive.

[stewbie2]

Getting from a chain no is not the way to go. But after he was in your care it didn't matter anymore. The new owners responsibility is to research to make sure they are doing everything correctly. Petstores tell you what you "should" do. Or give a "care sheet" 99% of the time they are wrong. Please dont take offense to the last few sentences. Best thing you can do is get this guy to a vet. Tell what you have said here. And say the thought on this was hypercalcemia. If he was only getting ca 1x a week that's just not enough. Especially If there was no d3. Hopefully they can do the IM shot and they'll probably recommend more of them if they do. And then if he is ok you need a thing of tums, and calcium with d3. What keeps these guys healthy is a combination of many things. Petstores generally don't have the best options. But the animal if on the right combo will thrive.

Absolutely no offense taken; I appreciate your honesty. I checked, and his calcium does have D3 in it. But as you said, and i now know, he wasn't getting enough. I'm going to try to find a herp vet around here...is there anything i can do in the meantime?

[Homegrownscales]

You could try mixing a little bit of the ca with pedialyte sucking it up into a syringe and drop feeding it to him. At this point he will most likely need an IM shot though.