Help, just added the pictures. Vet isn’t answering!!
Published on: January 08, 2025 • By: Jadabergeron · In Forum: Reptiles & Exotics
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Author
Topic
Jadabergeron
Participant
January 08, 2025 at 01:09am
Hello we got our leopard gecko Leo on December 27th, we are giving him time to adjust and settle in, but he doesn't do much at all, mainly all he's doing is sleeping and staying in his sleeping hide, walks around his tank maybe 2 times out the day, he comes out the eat if I put the worms in front of him. This is what he's looking like, my question is, does he look like he's sick or something? Need to know if it's to bring him in sooner?
Hello and thankyou for your question and picture. Now I am going to tell you a secret. Vets are obliged to treat any animal that shows up in front of us, but the fact is that not many leopard geckoes show up in front of most vets. Most small-animal vets know mountains of things about dogs and cats but when it comes to geckoes, they sat through five lectures at uni once and might not have met a gecko since. Thus, you need a vet who is interested in treating reptiles and has done the extra training. You can find out who they are by calling local vet receptionists and checking vets' publicity material (who is you local exotics expert)? It is worth travelling to see one. More to follow
This little chap doesn't look symmetrical to me and a vet who knows reptiles would carry out triage (phone triage) to see how big an emergency it is. Most issues with lizards relate to their housing; lizards need very specific cinditions to thrive; temperature, humidity and so on. They also have very specific dietary needs and I wonder if these are being met. Even following pet shop reccommendations (the advice given tends to be quite bad at times) frequently isn't enough. Different lizards need different amounts of vitamin D, uv light, dietary supplementation and so on. Please please contact a specialist for further advice as an emergency.
Finally, two more things: 1) if this is a housing / husbandry issue, it may well have started before you took posession of your pet. Ask your vet about this. 2) if you type 'gecko' into our blog search bar, you will find some appropriate articles. Best of luck