help! leachie loosing weight

[bleeding_sarcasm]

One of my female island e's is loosing weight and really skinny. Both of my females were showing signs of calcium deficiency [zig-zag tail] which might be leftover from when we got them, we supplament everything they eat with tri cal/multivitamin, and they are kept under uva/uvb flo lights, their temps are 72 ambient and 84 basking. We also ordered calcium glubionate and have been dosing them with that. She has gone from 94g on 8/16 to 75g today which is MAJOR weight loss, and i am seriously worried. shes about 2 years old, laid one dud clutch and has never been paired up with a boy. her hips dont look skinny at all, but she has a really lean body. We offer dusted crickets, and fruit mash also dusted, and occasionally pinks, which she doesnt take. we have flagyl and panacure available if anyone thinks we should dose them with that.

our other leachies are set up exactly the same and have been steadily gaining weight. she was always more underweight then the other female, but now she weighs less then the male when we got him. our other female who also has zig-zag tail, weve been dosing in exactly the same way, and shes now at 122g.

any help would be greatly apreaciated.

[petiolarissean]

Start give the gekko some Flagl to just be safe.Also seperate here from the other female just in case she is being picked on.Take a sample of here poop and have it analized immediately.Those 3 actions should cover every base.Don't go cheap on a loved one.Petiolariisean

[bleeding_sarcasm]

thanks for the info, they aren't in the same cage.. completely seperate..i will get a fecal done asap i was already about to do that and i will does her up with flagyl. I usually give a dose 2x and seperate it out by 10 days.

[ricky]

What did the eggs look like? Were they evenly coloured or were they blotchy? That could give you a clue as to whether or not she is crashing after laying, or if the problem exsisted before the eggs were layed. If the eggs were blotchy or not completely shelled calcium reserves were probably low before hand, if not, then the problem could be as recent as the production of that clutch. I know this isn't any kind of solution, but could give you a clue as to how severe the issue might be. At any rate, extra calcium and Flagyl are both good ideas. I would suggest extra mistings to maintain hydration. Good luck, I hope you can get to the bottom of the weight loss and zig zag tail, and that she makes a full recovery. Hang in there.
P.S.
Did she lay just the one clutch? I'm not sure if egg binding happens in Leachianus, but it may be worth investigating.

[bleeding_sarcasm]

The clutch was evenly colored white, and hard as rocks, we mist the cage down heavily [we have alot of live plants] daily, and there is also a clean water dish. The clutch was also dropped like.. 3 or 4 months ago, and this is a recent problem. I heard it was normal for female leachies to drop a dud at about a year and a half to two years, even tho they arent ready for breeding size yet. she doesnt have any eggs that i can feel. its like SCARRY how skinny she is. its like shes super lean bodyed and like her belly is indented, her bones dont feel rubbery or weak, and she definitely still has a mean bite. Ive been contemplating force feeding pinks. Its a struggle to get the seringe [sp?] with the calcium glubonate in.

i would be heart broken if she died. Im kindof living paycheck to paycheck right now, but i might need to invest in a vet visit. I really need to just pick up some poop and send it to alan for that free fecal before time runs out and he doesnt want anymore.

[ricky]

You might want do see a local vet so that you get the results of a fecal screen and can take action as soon as possible. Believe me, I know what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. I always make it a point to find and make an appointment with a good herp vet whenever I move to a new area so that I can buid a relationship with them so that in the event of an emergency they are more willing to work something out with me if money is tight. You should try talking to several vets in the bay area to see if any of them would be willing to let you pay the bill over a period of time. A little sweet talk can go a long way and vets are almost always animal lovers and will go out of there way to help if they can.

[bleeding_sarcasm]

thanks for the advice. Ill call our vet tomorrow.

[petiolarissean]

Treat the Leachiana every day for 14 days with Flagly.I have extra Flagly in the liqiud form if you need some.I feel for you.I'm disabled and know the true meaning of budget.Petiolarissean

[crestedgal]

I don't know if it would help any, but I've been using this tube of a "Booster" food for my runt crested that never eats enough and is about 1/3rd the size it should be. Seems to be working OK. I'm at work right now so I don't have the packaging with me but besides the carbs, it's got protein and fat in it as well as multivites. It comes in a tube. It's very thick. Has a tube attachment that you cut to the size of your lizards mouth so you can sort of force feed. I don't use this feature though, I just mix this with a little bit of babyfood to thin it a little (it's like Really thick) and then I hand feed it. Mine has been slowly gaining a little weight while on it- wasn't growing at all before while on anything else (CGD, babyfood with multivites, babyfood with chicken, it won't eat crickets). I took this one to the vet and all he suggested was to keep up hand feeding and approved this "Booster" as OK to use. Stools were negative but we treated just in case. This stuff was designed for lizards "off food". I could pick up a tube for you if you want and mail it to you. If your interested at all, I could give you more info from the package when I get home today.

I know the nutrition addition may just be a bandaid until you can determine the reason for the weight loss, but if you think it will help- I'll get it for you tomarrow- I'm off work.

Good luck!!

[Allen Repashy]

I wouldn't recommend that you prescribe a drug treatment program to anyone unless you are a qualified vet.... I know the intentions are good, but telling someone to treat daily for two weeks with a drug (especially with no dosage concentration) is a formula for disaster. Flagyl has a wide safe range, but the dosage for daily treatment is very different for every three days, which is what most vets prescribe..... Leave it to the pro's.... Allen