Ava Update

[CountofCasualty]

Hmm. Has she fallen off anything high at all? I know dragons will flip around and walk bad with a physiological problem. So maybe that is an option. I'm not sure what can be done about something like that though...

 

[zandi202]

Nope. Hasn't fallen.

Paul scoured the internet and found nothing that fits what's going on with her. If it wasn't for her walk looking tipsy then I wouldn't be worried, but that does look too off to be right.

She does take little tumbles when she tries to climb us. Never a bad tumble, bit she always lands on her back weirdly. It's usually onto our side or couch and never a drop more than a couple of inches.

 

[ohmybandit]

I finally got to watch the video. Her walk is odd but again she doesn't seem too bothered by it. Was this a recent occurrence ?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Lonzo flipped over a few times over a year ago & that's when he lost his lung function, his right lung doesn't work. We're still not sure why he flipped over and he's not doing it anymore. I took everything that's higher than 2" out of his tank and he's mostly on blankets. He's been to the vet 3x for checkups since the beginning of the year, but for him, a lot of it is age, he's over 10 now and slowly slowing down.

As for Ava, I can see her strange walk but have no ideas about geckos. I know someone who runs a gecko sanctuary, so I can ask her to check out the video and give you some advice. I wish I could tell you more, but I've never had a leo, only dragons & my two geckos, that aren't the same as your leos. I'll see what Lauren has to say, but I think going to the vet is a good idea. Do they know anything about leos? You should find out, because otherwise it's a waste of money, right? She doesn't seem distressed and she's eating well and pooping. I'm also not sure about how an overrun of parasites affects Leos. So check with the emergency vet before you go in there. You need someone who really knows about leos and how they function.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I sent a facebook message to Lauren but she does run a gecko sanctuary, so might not get back to me for awhile. I'll get back to you. What I think, though, is you should find out if there is a reptile expert at this vet, to make sure there is someone knowledgeable there. We all know what it's like to get to a vet that has no idea what a reptile is all about. And let us know how she's doing!

 

[zandi202]

@Ohsmileb

No, she always walked like this except when she was a baby. Being our first, we didn't think much of it, stupidly. Then when I got Nissa, I still didn't think much of it because Nissa was a baby and after her 2'+ fall, she still moved around really well. Then we got Koth who is the same size as Ava. That's when I really NOTICED something was up.

@Deb
Thanks so much for checking this out and asking your friend, Lauren. The vet I am planning to go to a family friend works at. They have one vet there trained specifically for exotics. I haven't met her yet, by my friend said she's great. If, for whatever reason, she doesn't work out or I don't like her, I'll take my babies to the one Petco suggested.

Kristine knows my schedule and is calling to make appointment as soon as they open for me since I'm stuck at work. Unless miracle upon miracle we get in today, it won't be until sometime during the week and Paul will be gone (he's giving me enough money to pay for the appointment) and Kristine's coming as moral support.

Thanks everyone for checking this out for me!

 

[TheGeckoSanctuary]

I sent a facebook message to Lauren but she does run a gecko sanctuary, so might not get back to me for awhile. I'll get back to you. What I think, though, is you should find out if there is a reptile expert at this vet, to make sure there is someone knowledgeable there. We all know what it's like to get to a vet that has no idea what a reptile is all about. And let us know how she's doing!

I'm here

I agree that a vet visit with a qualified herp vet is the next step. Luckily, she doesn't seem to be in pain or disorientated so I wouldn't bring her to an emergency vet unless her condition gets significantly worse before your regular appointment.

While I also am on the fence about it being MBD I wouldn't rule it out entirely though it sounds she's getting the needed supplements in your care. MBD usually starts displaying as shaky movements and gets worse if not addressed. How often do you feed her? I would dust every meal with calcium powder w/D3 and once a week dust with a quality multi-vitamin. If you want to try liquid calcium, you can purchase some from beardeddragon.co. For the leopard geckos, I usually just drop it on their nose and wait for them to lick it off.

My worry is that it may be neurological. How old is she?

 

[zandi202]

We bought her at the pet store as a baby of two weeks old. She turned 8months today. As a baby she moved fine.

We feed her mealies and sometimes a small supper (head squished) every night and dust every worm.

We're taking her to the ER - the exotic vet is on vacation and I'm tol bervous to wait until Thirsday for her to come back.

 

[zandi202]

Also, haven't seen her shake at all. Just the bad walking.

 

[zandi202]

All right so we have to wair until Thursday because the ER doesn't have a herp specialist. Lauren, any particular calcium and vitamin you would recommend?
I've been using this:

But switched to this last night which has D3:

 

[zandi202]

So I was talking to a woman at Petco who works there - she is one of their reptile specialist and usually I let what they say go in one ear out the other because, well you all know their reputation. Anyways, we were talking about Ava because we were looking for the liquid vitamins.

When I mentioned Ava's flipping over problems and "tipsy" walking she thought maybe she might have an ear infection. I have no idea how to tell if she does, but she says that that's linked to lack of balance like it is with humans.

And then, when we mentioned her trouble eye sight with eating and how Ava takes long, reaching steps forward as you saw in the video, she thinks that when Ava was shedding the under part of her eyelid, it caused some damage to her eye and she reaches out when she walks to feel where she is going. She also said this is unfortunately common with leos.

So, I don't know if anything might hold some truth or hints as to what could be up with her. Lauren, does any of this sound possible?

 

[TheGeckoSanctuary]

So I was talking to a woman at Petco who works there - she is one of their reptile specialist and usually I let what they say go in one ear out the other because, well you all know their reputation. Anyways, we were talking about Ava because we were looking for the liquid vitamins.

When I mentioned Ava's flipping over problems and "tipsy" walking she thought maybe she might have an ear infection. I have no idea how to tell if she does, but she says that that's linked to lack of balance like it is with humans.

And then, when we mentioned her trouble eye sight with eating and how Ava takes long, reaching steps forward as you saw in the video, she thinks that when Ava was shedding the under part of her eyelid, it caused some damage to her eye and she reaches out when she walks to feel where she is going. She also said this is unfortunately common with leos.

So, I don't know if anything might hold some truth or hints as to what could be up with her. Lauren, does any of this sound possible?

Eye issues and eye infections are sadly very common in leopard geckos but I don't see how it would lead to the shaky/jerking walking I see in the video but it's worth mentioning to the vet.

In leopard geckos you can see straight through their ear holes so while ear infections can cause unbalance in some species I haven't heard about it in leopard geckos. That's not to say it isn't possible, I'd have to research.

In the video, I see her "wagging" her tail which some people believe indicates stress (among other things). I wonder if her odd movements were exaggerated by stress. Does she do alright with handling or is she nervous?

 

[zandi202]

She seems all right when we pick her up and she doesn't usually wag her tail - only when she's walking and I thought it was for balance purposes. Could walking stress her out? She might be doing it because I was trying to coax her to walk when she didn't want to. Koth does it more often than she does, but only when we pick him up.

 

[zandi202]

Also she seems to have trouble turning and slips in our hand. She has nails, but I believe she lost a few to some bad shed early on. Our hands were flat and she was in the middle of them turning around and slipped and nearly fell out of our hands when nowhere near the edge.

 

[Spikeshuman]

I cant imagine the nails being a big problem. My poor stubby doesn't have a foot.. and he gets around great. As for seeming to have eye issues.. and missing their food a lot.. I think that's pretty common. I don't even feed Stubby crickets anymore because he stalks around trying to get them for 5 minutes and then just goes and pouts in his hide.

The calcium thing. Does everyone here dust their food with calcium? I was told to put it in a shallow dish in the house. Stubby licks it up on his own, so do my other two.