boxers
Hatchling Member
I have recently been reading up on basic leopard gecko care, and planning to get one or two when I moved...
On Friday at my work, a customer brought in one whose legs were not being used when she walked. They said they took her to the vet, and they told him it was not impaction, and it was not anything broken. (They didn't do an x-ray, however. Just to clarify that detail.) They said it was from calcium deficiency, and they prescribed him a liquid calcium to give her for one month. He said it didn't do anything, and he doesn't want to keep spending money on it, so was it possible to give her to the store? I said no, but that I would take her, considering I had all the necessary requirements for a leopard gecko at home already. I was kind of scared where she might end up. He seemed like a good owner, who somehow ended up being tired of his pet.
She can move around; she drags her back legs. They can move though, I've seen her bend them. She has a big fat amazing tail, and seems very healthy aside from this affliction. She was eating well with her previous owner, and took her medicine with a good-natured attitude. She enjoys/is accustomed to handling. He said he had to help her with her last shed, that she was having trouble bending around to get it all. And that she did not eat it. She was living in a ten gallon, alone, with sand. I now have her in a twenty long, alone, with reptile carpet. Her temps are currently reading 80 & 73.
Upon closer inspection of her, it appears her back is curved, a vague sort of S-shape. (Distinct S at the bottom, not curved at the top though, that part is straight.) And near the bottom of the S, right at her hips, there is what looks like a lump on her right side. I'm not sure if this is just the muscle/tissue jutting out weird from the shape of her spine, or if it is impaction. I don't have any personal experience with impaction, but it looks swollen in that spot, and when she 'pooped' the first night, it was just urate.
I think I should get a second vet's opinion? I really wish I could take pictures of it, but I don't have a camera, so description is the best I can do...
He said he had her for about a year, and that this problem started within the last month or two. If it really is just a calcium deficiency, is it fixable? Would it technically be called MBD, or is there a difference between the two? We use phoenix worms here, so I figured that would help her out a lot, if needing more calcium is the only problem. I'm really convinced though that it is impaction, even though the vet said it wasn't. She doesn't bend her back at all when she crawls, just sort of tilts from side to side as she drags herself along. Do you think this is painful to her? She seems relatively active, considering! If need be I can have her euthanized, but it doesn't seem necessary, from watching her.
I'm just wondering if anyone here recognizes the description and can give me a story of personal experience before I take her to a second vet.
On Friday at my work, a customer brought in one whose legs were not being used when she walked. They said they took her to the vet, and they told him it was not impaction, and it was not anything broken. (They didn't do an x-ray, however. Just to clarify that detail.) They said it was from calcium deficiency, and they prescribed him a liquid calcium to give her for one month. He said it didn't do anything, and he doesn't want to keep spending money on it, so was it possible to give her to the store? I said no, but that I would take her, considering I had all the necessary requirements for a leopard gecko at home already. I was kind of scared where she might end up. He seemed like a good owner, who somehow ended up being tired of his pet.
She can move around; she drags her back legs. They can move though, I've seen her bend them. She has a big fat amazing tail, and seems very healthy aside from this affliction. She was eating well with her previous owner, and took her medicine with a good-natured attitude. She enjoys/is accustomed to handling. He said he had to help her with her last shed, that she was having trouble bending around to get it all. And that she did not eat it. She was living in a ten gallon, alone, with sand. I now have her in a twenty long, alone, with reptile carpet. Her temps are currently reading 80 & 73.
Upon closer inspection of her, it appears her back is curved, a vague sort of S-shape. (Distinct S at the bottom, not curved at the top though, that part is straight.) And near the bottom of the S, right at her hips, there is what looks like a lump on her right side. I'm not sure if this is just the muscle/tissue jutting out weird from the shape of her spine, or if it is impaction. I don't have any personal experience with impaction, but it looks swollen in that spot, and when she 'pooped' the first night, it was just urate.
I think I should get a second vet's opinion? I really wish I could take pictures of it, but I don't have a camera, so description is the best I can do...
He said he had her for about a year, and that this problem started within the last month or two. If it really is just a calcium deficiency, is it fixable? Would it technically be called MBD, or is there a difference between the two? We use phoenix worms here, so I figured that would help her out a lot, if needing more calcium is the only problem. I'm really convinced though that it is impaction, even though the vet said it wasn't. She doesn't bend her back at all when she crawls, just sort of tilts from side to side as she drags herself along. Do you think this is painful to her? She seems relatively active, considering! If need be I can have her euthanized, but it doesn't seem necessary, from watching her.
I'm just wondering if anyone here recognizes the description and can give me a story of personal experience before I take her to a second vet.
