Help with Sick Geckos, Please.

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tignish99

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I am posting this for a friend with the hopes that someone could help, as I know members here also have geckos. Here is her post. There has not been much response from the gecko forum, but here is the link to her original post http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/95247.htm#post769994. Below is a summary:
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Hi everyone,
I really need some help with these two guys and the geckoforum isn't super active.
A Petstore gave me these two little guys yesterday evening. They did not think they would make it, but I've seen lots of babies bounce back from horrible conditions and I'm giving it a shot.

Here's all the info that I've got on their history and current set up. I will also post pictures at the end of my post.

No idea on age, previous temperatures, or how long they've been in this condition.
As far as I can tell they were fed a diet of medium-large crickets. There was an infrared bulb and a UVB coil bulb in their previous enclosure, and no thermometers.

Currently they're in a 40 gallon breeder, on newspaper and tile, they've got 2 humid hides and then another hide situated kind of in the middle of the tank. I've got them under a 100w infrared bulb, and the digital probe is on the floor directly under the light. It's holding stead between 89-92. They both had a short soak in warm water last night.
One of them seems to be a bit worse off than the other, though they are both still very underweight.

I offered them wax worms last night, both from my hand and wiggling on the floor in front of them, but no go.
They also would not drink any water from the dropper.
I'm going to pick up some mealworms today for them to try, and I've been reccomended to try out this slurry. http://www.goldengategeckos.com/info.html
I'll also be picking up some pedialyte, both for the slurry and to add to their baths.

I have no seen any poop from either of them yet.

I'm looking for any tips/advice that can help these little guys pull through. I'm also wondering if I should purchase a UTH, and how safe the UTH will be since the tank is currently sitting on the floor. I don't have anything that I can raise it up on right now.

Also, what do I need to control the UTH if I get one, and will the digital thermometer probe measure the floor temp?
If it won't harm them, I'm more comfortable purchasing a higher wattage infrared bulb to get the temperatures higher. Of course I'll do whatever is necessary, but I'd much rather go with a bulb than the UTH.

Thank you so much for any help you can give me. We're really rootin for these guys.
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Here is a post with pictures on a bearded dragon forum.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=193901

If anyone has any advice, please pipe in. These guys are very ill and she fears she may lose them. Thank you.
 

Amanda1

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Wow, they don't look good at all. I would have said Reptaid, or a Reptaid/pedialyte mix, but she said they wouldn't take any...

40 gallons is pretty big for them, they're so small and sick so I would think they should conserve their energy, maybe switch to something smaller? And I would keep them separated. If she uses a UTH, she'll just need to attach a thermostat to make sure it doesn't get too hot.

Good luck with these guys, and keep us updated.
 

tignish99

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Amanda1 said:
Wow, they don't look good at all. I would have said Reptaid, or a Reptaid/pedialyte mix, but she said they wouldn't take any...

40 gallons is pretty big for them, they're so small and sick so I would think they should conserve their energy, maybe switch to something smaller? And I would keep them separated. If she uses a UTH, she'll just need to attach a thermostat to make sure it doesn't get too hot.

Good luck with these guys, and keep us updated.

Thank you. She does not have a smaller tank. This was an emergency situation just just sort of happened last night while she was at the pet store. She did try to block off a location, but one of them kept getting pas the barriers.
 

wiccan_chicken

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The smaller one looks worse off. I'd reccomend she get some very small crickets as well to feel the leo that is eating. This way they are digesting more than just waxworms, as the exo shells can be hard to digest.

What kind of substrate were they on at the pet store? If it was anything loose, the baby might have a compaction causing it to not eat.

My advice is to see if there is a compaction, the baby's belly will look darker or even be the color of what it was on (My leo was on pink calci sand when I got her, so her belly was bright pink) So look for that first, then find how to deal with it. After that all you can do is soak them in warm water once a day to help encourage them to hydrate.

Sounds like you are doing your best for these guys. Their tails look so small and sad... Good luck! Just keep doing what you are doing.
 

tignish99

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I just received an email that unfortunately, one of the little guys did not make it. :( The other one seems to be on the mend and hopefully he will fully recover.
 

lisa127

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I would get a smaller enclosure as well. If she can't afford a small tank, a small Rubbermaid container will work as well. Set the screen top across the top of that if need be. Also, if she is using heat bulbs, make sure they are the blue/purple night glo ones and not white daytime light. Really, a tank that big is not good for small, unwell geckos.
 
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