rapid weight loss in one of my juvies...please read

[crestedgeckogirly]

Hi...here's what's going on. I have been out of town the past 5 days...I just got back late last night.

I'd had someone feed my geckos while I was gone, but when I looked in my 'juvie' cage I noticed that one of my little ones has lost some serious weight. His/her arms are very skinny...rib cage protruding abnormally...and eyes somewhat sunken in.

AHHHH! I've never had this happen before...so, any suggestions would REALLY be appreciated. I would take him/her to the vet, but I really haven't found any reptile speacialists in my area. So, I'm thinking you guys might know more than any of the vets near me would.

So far I've made up a batch of CGD, calcium powder, turkey baby food, and pear together. I've gotten him/her to eat a little...but I'm just very concerned. I noticed the problem about a half hour ago when I got home from work. PLEASE, reply ASAP as I'm VERY concerned about this little one.

He/she doesn't seem interested in crickets right now...which is very unusual, b/c all the juvies in that cage are catching very well...and are always very quick to eat whenever I feed them.

I've seperated the little thing into a small critter keeper...I'll try to get it to eat every few hours since it's only eating a few licks at a time so far.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Crested Lady]

Alright, a few questions for you...

1.) What substrate is the gecko on?
2.) What age is the gecko?
3.) How long have you had this gecko?
4.) How long was it quarantined for?
5.) Look at the poo, does it appear normal or do you see signs of anything abnormal (worms, etc.)? Is there even poo to look at?

Here's an informative article on crested weight loss, however with this particular diagnosis... the weight loss occurs over a period of several weeks. (so it doesn't seem likely) http://www.neoscales.com/Entamoeba.htm

[crestedgeckogirly]

1.) What substrate is the gecko on?
2.) What age is the gecko?
3.) How long have you had this gecko?
4.) How long was it quarantined for?
5.) Look at the poo, does it appear normal or do you see signs of anything abnormal (worms, etc.)? Is there even poo to look at?


Yeah...I've read that article...I don't think that could be it...but I'm not ruling anything out right now.

1. It's on cage carpet.
2. It is approximately 10-12 weeks old
3. I have had it since mid-July
4. It was quarantined for 4 weeks
5. I don't have any poo to look at yet...it was in a cage with several other juvies, so, I won't know until it goes in the critter keeper I just put it in (paper towels as a substrate in it)

On a side note...I did notice a tiny bit of dried poop on it's behind...I was able to remove it easily w/a Q-tip and water. Didn't look like it was significant enough to block any more from 'exiting'.

After looking a bit on the internet I was able to find a reptile vet that was recommended in my area. I have an appointment for tomorrow morning. They got me in fairly quickly when I told them that he was lethargic as well as having significant weight loss.

Hopefully they'll be able to help the little guy. I hope he can hold out until morning.

Any advice in the mean time would be appreciated. Thanks for the quick reply CrestedLady.

I'll be sure to give an update when I return from the vet.

Thanks guys.

[Crested Lady]

Good luck with your vet visit and be sure to let us know what happens!

[Matthew Parks]

Eyes being sunken in is a late stage sign of severe dehydration. I would be focusing on getting fluids in to the gecko before you try to get food into him/her. Mix one part pedialyte with one part water and try to get it to lick some of it up or syringe one drop at a time into it's mouth being very careful not to shoot the fluid down the throat.

[crestedgeckogirly]

Thanks Matt. I will go to the store right now. He was drinking awhile ago when I first put him in the critter keeper...seemed pretty thirsty.

Thanks again.

Oh, btw...I looked at my weight records again and it appears as though he had began losing weight b/t 9-29 and 10-5. It was only 0.4 grams so I didn't think too much of it at the time since weight does fluctuate from week to week. I didn't weigh on the 12th b/c I was busy getting ready to go out of town, but when I did a quick visual check everyone seemed ok. I just weighed him before putting him in a seperate cage and he's gone down another 0.5 grams since 10-5...which means he's lost nearly a gram in the last 2-3 weeks. This is a loss of nearly 25% of his body weight (since he went from 4.5 grams to 3.6 grams). So, right now it is actually looking like it very well could be the pathogenic amoeba condition.

I'll be sure to ask the vet about it tomorrow...and see if I can get him started on Flagyl, as I think it might be the little guys best bet.

This is all a bit surprising though...none of my animals have been sick, and I bought this gecko from a HIGHLY reputable breeder.

Thanks again.

[crestedgeckogirly]

I ended up having some pedialyte in my cabinet for just such an emergency. I mixed the 1:1 ratio and gave it to him by eye dropper. He drank very willingly...so, at least that's good. I'm going to let him rest for awhile and then give him a little more before I go to bed. I'll probably give him more at some point during the night as well...and then again before taking him to the vet in the morning.

Thanks again Matt.

[RangerGrrl]

Yeah, I agree that he sounds dehydrated. It's good he drank some water, I hope you can get some electrolytes into him and that you can get a poo sample for the vet. Good luck with the vet visit; I hope he holds out until you can start healing him.

[Matthew Parks]

Keep us posted!

[crestedgeckogirly]

Well, the vet says he's got some sort of parasite. Apparently that has caused severe constipation.

If I can't get him to go to the bathroom he's not going to make it. So, I've been giving him the laxitive the vet gave me and soaking him in water.

I've already given him the Flagyl mixture that the vet prescriped. I'm going to have to give all of my cresteds the medicine. I'm just at a loss as to how they got this in the first place.

The vet said it could be transmitted through crickets, but that hasn't been proven (just a speculation).

Although the vet didn't even know the type of gecko he was, he seemed very knowledgeable in geckos (generally speaking). So, overall I was happy with him.

I still think this is all very strange. Just because I'm not sure where the little guy picked this up from. I quarantined the normal amount of time, and he seemed perfectly healthy. None of my animals have ever had any problems.

I just hope I can get the poor little thing to poop. The vet told me straight up that he didn't think he was going to make it.

If you guys know of anything else I can try to help his constipation please let me know. I'm going to lose him if I can't get him to go.

Thanks for all the support.

[Matthew Parks]

As far as I know cricket parasites are cricket parasites and can't be transferred to geckos.

Your vet prescribed Flagyl so I'm assuming the parasite is a protozoan, and not a "worm".

It seems to me that everything you describe is consistent with the entamoeba parasite, and if that is the case you should see some drastic improvement in the next 48 hours. Hopefully you caught it in time for the meds to be effective.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Crested Lady]

Good luck!!!

[RangerGrrl]

Aside from hydration, it seems like every critter I own poops if I put them in shallow water. I have never tried this with a gecko that can climb on the ceiling, though, so I don't know if it will work..... Good luck with the meds!

[max power]

welll i can say from experiance if he's not to far gone tomorrow youll see a big improvment.

[crestedgeckogirly]

He didn't make it. I just hope he didn't suffer.

[Crested Lady]

Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss! Are you going to take him/her in to the vet for an autopsy? I'm really sorry about your gecko, it's hard to lose a pet. :(

[Matthew Parks]

Sorry to hear that.

[max power]

sorry to hear that. i knew that might happen. i have seen it go that way with the ones i have treated

[Jillie]

Sorry for your loss :cry:

[Chao0104]

Sorry for your loss :( :cry:

[RangerGrrl]

I'm sorry that he didn't make it. I second the necropsy if you can. At the very least, you got to treat the others with him before they were weakened with illness.....

[crestedgeckogirly]

I already have medicine for my entire colony. So, everyone else should be fine. The vet gave me enough to treat all of them yesterday while I was there.

I would have autopsy, but the vet was pretty certain what it was. He took a fecal sample and saw ameoba (hence Flagyl) and worms. Poor little guy had both.

I've already spent a ton of money on the medicine to treat...so, unfortunately, I really don't have the money for an autopsy. However, if I didn't have a good idea of what happened I'd do it anyway to avoid having something happen to the rest of my cresteds. But, as it is, the medicine should take care of the problem.

Thanks for the condolences...I'm trying not to think about it.