Leopard Gecko need help? - Paw Talk

poop1010 · #1 03-31-2007, 10:47 PM

About a week ago I noticed that my gecko has been making a cracking sound when it opens it's mouth so I decided to watch him one day and found out that when ever he went to bite something it would fly out of his mouth... and his body would like flail. I don't think his jaw is broken but I find it really weird.

Lately he hasnt been eating much so I stopped giving him crickets and I'm only giving him mealworms. The only problem with the mealworms is he throws them out of his mouth. I think it took me like 30 minutes to feed him just 2 or 3 worms. So I don't know what to do. If someone could think of something else to do, i'll give it a try.

Vanilla_Rat · #2 04-01-2007, 12:50 AM

Hmmmm...I never experianced anything like that with my geckos.Do you have a reptile vet near you? I say he may need a trip in!

poop1010 · #3 04-01-2007, 09:42 PM

I would but the vets around me are stupid... i took my dog the other day and for awhile she was eating cause they messed her up. told us to give her pills when she didn't need them.

lady_crotalus · #4 04-06-2007, 11:40 PM

Mealworms are high in chitin and hard to digest, aswell as they arent nutritious at all.
The lizard needs to see a reptile vet.
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poop1010 · #5 04-07-2007, 12:28 AM

what about wax worms

lady_crotalus · #6 04-07-2007, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poop1010


	what about wax worms

Wax worms arent that high in calcium but they are high in phosphorus so they need to be dusted. Better worms would be silkworms, they contain an enzyme called serrapeptase, this has properties that make calcium absorption more efficient, can reduce inflammation, pain and best of all it can break down arterial plaque. Butterworms are also good albeit fattening, same with pinkies.

poop1010 · #7 04-08-2007, 12:34 AM

ok thanks for the help

Vanilla_Rat · #8 04-08-2007, 01:29 AM

Actually superworms or mealworms are healthier then crickets.I have fed my geckos a staple of mealies or supers,with crickets every 2 weeks or so.They are perfectly healthy.I also know alot of other people who have or breed leos and also feed them a staple of mealies.

Butterworms,waxworms and silkworms are very high in fat and if you use them as a staple,your gecko will become addicted and probably won't eat anything else.Thats not good.Those kinds of worms are like crack to leos.

lady_crotalus · #9 04-08-2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat


	Actually superworms or mealworms are healthier then crickets.I have fed my geckos a staple of mealies or supers,with crickets every 2 weeks or so.They are perfectly healthy.I also know alot of other people who have or breed leos and also feed them a staple of mealies. Butterworms,waxworms and silkworms are very high in fat and if you use them as a staple,your gecko will become addicted and probably won't eat anything else.Thats not good.Those kinds of worms are like crack to leos.

Nutrition Content look up the nutritional content on mealies, they suck. Aswell as superworms.
Ive seen a leopard gecko that was only fed mealworms and supers and it had mbd and was so deformed, the people were freaked out by crickets thats why they never fed the leo crickets. I asked them if they dusted with calcium powder and they said yes.

geegeorge · #10 04-08-2007, 02:41 PM

So this turned from someone asking advice about their leos mouth problem, to you two arguing the nutritional quality of worms. Sorry I can't help dan, get him to the vet. his problem sounds pretty painful.

poop1010 · #11 04-08-2007, 06:11 PM

since he got fatter the sound went away so i'm not too worried about it anymore

Vanilla_Rat · #12 04-09-2007, 12:34 AM

I am not arguing,I am expressing my opinion.Because everybody I know (including myself) with leos feed mealies and supers and NEVER had a problem and they have fat,healthy leos.

Thats all I am gonna say in this matter.There are so many debates and different opinions on leo care,that sometimes it is best to go with your insticnts.There are hundreds of websites that have different care on leos and so people get confused.

Anyway I am not going to argue with you.

Dan,I am glad that your leo seems better.However next time,call a reptile vet if your unsure.

luvboyrats · #13 07-23-2007, 03:59 PM

It does sound like your leo is doing better if he is eating again. That's really the big sign of everything in leos: MBD-stops eating, egg bound-stops eating, broken jaw-stops eating, parasites-stops eating, infection-stops eating. You get the idea. 9 times out of 10 if a Leo has returned to eating on his own he may need some additional supervision but is probably fine.

And I agree with Vanilla Rat. Crickets, mealies, superworms, tomato worms, silk worms, and occasionally even small pinky mice etc. can all be used and should all be used as part of a varied diet. Its always best for it to be as varied as possible. Wax worms on the other hand should be offered only occasionally as treats or when fattening up gravid females because they are very high in fat and geckos love them and often refuse to eat anything else after a few weeks of a steady waxy diet.

I would never say that any of these items should be offered exclusively but the only time I would say don't offer mealies or supers at all is in the case of a young animal too small to eat them safely or an animal who's already experiencing illness or trouble eating as the chitin can make them more difficult to digest.

poop1010 · #14 07-23-2007, 05:24 PM

when i first tried getting it to eat wax worms he ignored them after he smelt it... when i finally got him to eat one he ate a few more but then ignored them again. so i put a meal worm in and he started eating it. i dont think it likes wax worms and the ones that i had died because he wouldnt eat them so its just a waste of my money to get more.

luvboyrats · #15 07-25-2007, 01:44 PM

That's not abnormal. In my experience (a history of over a dozen leos at different points in time) all leos have something they won't eat or at least something they would prefer to eat instead. You do your best to vary their diet as much as you can and make sure you're using a good vitamin supplement. If they just absolutely won't eat something there's nothing you can do. They're finnicky, and they're stubborn. Just don't worry about it. I use to have a leo who would starve to death before eating a cricket. If I put them in there he would use his feet or head to smush them because they jumped on him and irritated him but he would never eat a one. There were just little smushed bits of cricket building up in his tank, like a tiny cricket graveyard.