Leopard gecko not eating and having seizures ! PLEASE HELP!

My Leopard gecko has stopped eating and I can't work out why ! She was bought from a well known pet store in august 2012 as a baby and is housed in a 10 gallon viv with paper towel as sunstrate, heat pad for belly heat, 2 hides one on the warm side and a moist hide with sphagnum moss on the cool side. I have been feeding her mealworms, crickets and the occasional waxworm. I also provided her with a small bottle cap of calcium. Yesturday when I was observing her she appeared to have a seizure, her tail curled back, her legs shock and her mouth opened wide. It lasted about 15 seconds and then she just about managed to climb back in to her moist hide with shaky legs I am very worried about her. She had another seizure later that evening I have take her to the vet who suspects it might be a calcium defiency and has given me a vitamin supplement to sprinkle on her food however she will not take any food, she will not hunt and when I try to force feed her she is very stubborn and spits it out. I have also tried to mix the multi vitamin with water and suringe it into her mouth which was going well untill she decided to reguritate it. The vet also gave an injection of antibiotics incase of infection. Im not sure what the next step is? Also she seems to not really be able to lift her belly off the floor much when she walks. She is housed alone and is my only gecko. Temp on cool side is 22 degrees celcius and on the heat mat can be as high as 32 degrees celcius. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Am I doing something wrong? She hasnt had anymore seizures that I have noticed. She also looked very grey but her colour seems to have brightened up since yesturday. She doesnt look skinny and has a nice fat tail. Thank you from a very worried owner

 

Oh no! Do you happen to know what morph she is? Enigma's seem to have a tendency to be more prone to getting "star gazing" or what looks like seizures .... please see the engima section on this link.
I'm glad you're taking her to a vet... I don't think there is much more you can do other than that... The set up seems to be ok - if you can, try to rearrange your tank so there is 1 hide on the hot side, 1 on the cool and the humid hide should be somewhere in the middle.
How often were you dusting her food with calcium and what type of calcium (with or without D3)?

 

Hello ! Thanks you for the reply ! Was beginning to think nobody was going to ! I think she is a tangerine eclipse, I have just introduced another hide so she now has three hides, the calcium I am using is pure calcium with no D3 added, she does not have a UVB light so im guessing she is lacking in D3 in her diet. I usually leave a bowl of dusted mealworms in her tank for her and toss in a few crickets which were not being hunted or eaten.

 

I think she a jungle tangerine eclipse, does this make sense?

 

the above post is not my actual gecko but her markings are almost identical apart from the spots on the front legs what type of gecko is she?

 

My spike is still not eating i have resorted to force feeding, which is proving to be very difficult as he/she spits them out ! Havent had faecal sanple results back from the vet yet but spike seems to have developed a respiratory infection which is being treated by antibiotics at the moment, im not sure if its helping or not, gecko jusy sleeps in warm hide all day and night have added a UVB light as the vet advised one to make spike think its summer and to boost its metabolism! I dont know what else to do! Please help

 

leopard geckos are nocturnal so they will hide from sunlight, but for your purpose of trying to trick him it may work. also, try ordering liquid calcium with d3 supplement. you will find it is much easier to force feed with a syringe a liquid medicine. also be careful that he is not getting the food you are force feeding in his lungs as that can cause a respiratory infection/pneumonia. you can find it on reptilesupply.com i believe or pangeareptile. one of those. or you can check amazon. you can dust once a week with calcium with d3 when he goes back on food. and then the other dustings can be without d3. and make sure the one with d3 and without are phosphate free and aren't expired. how old is she approximately, do you know? and how many feedings a week and how many crickets? i would suggest feeding mealies sparingly and not as a staple. I have found they constipate my leos- although this is my personal experience. their digestive tracts don't digest the chitin and it can "stop them up" if fed in large amounts. however, as i stated it's my personal experience and is worth a try if you desire. good luck and keep us updated

 

Hello, thanks for the reply, she hasnt eaten on her pwn for about a month now but since i have been force feeding she has been going to the toilet which she wasnt before so hopefully that means the food is getting to her stomach, i have to cut the heads off the mealies before i fed them to her just incase they nip her inside her mouth etc. i usually offer both mealies and crickets but shes not interested and wont hunt. She was born last september so isnt even a year old yet. Would liquid calcium be enough to sustain her untill shes well again?

 

Was just looking on amazon and i have found a liquid critical care formula for reptiles that might be benefical whilst spike isnt eating

 

Well, the liquid calcium among other things like a liquid vitamin mixed in with some unflavored pedialyte would probably be best. And also might want to let your vet know she isn't getting better. and find out more info on the vet, like how long they've been treating exotics and how many they've treated. i went to a vets office that considered themselves "exotics" vets, but they didn't know a darn thing about what they were doing with my guinea pigs or other 'exotics' and both guinea pigs i took to them wound up passing away. (it doesn't help that with GP along with many other species, they don't usually show symptoms until it's too late and they're beyond help.)
How often were you feeding her and how much of each during each feeding?

 

Well i used to feed her every day, mostly meal worms, a few crickets and the occasional waxworm, bowl of calcium was left in the tank as well as a bowl of mealworms at all times. I suppose she would eat about 4 mealies and 2 crickets at each feed which gradually reduced over time

 

i would feed more crickets than mealworms. what do you feed your mealworms and crickets? she probably wasn't getting all the nutrients she needs especially because most people tend to keep mealies on oats as substrate without anything else for nutrients except a water source like a carrot.

 

Well i wasnt actually gut loading my mealies or crickets which i realise now was a mistake i assumed they were gut loaded at the pet store where i bought them. They were in a little platic container with bran oats and thats how i left them, but now i have been feeding them fruit and vegies, tonight i tossed in some cooked pasta. So i think you may be right about her lacking in nutrients but any advice on how i can get her to start eating again? Shes just not interested and sleeps all day and night in warm hide , thanks in advance

 

Well i wasnt actually gut loading my mealies or crickets which i realise now was a mistake i assumed they were gut loaded at the pet store where i bought them. They were in a little platic container with bran oats and thats how i left them, but now i have been feeding them fruit and vegies, tonight i tossed in some cooked pasta. So i think you may be right about her lacking in nutrients but any advice on how i can get her to start eating again? Shes just not interested and sleeps all day and night in warm hide , thanks in advance

 

buy a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement (made for reptiles, possibly even labeled for leos among others), a syringe (probably from like walmart or something idk) and a reptile calcium with d3 liquid supplement. follow dosing instructions. i'm not sure what the dosing instructions for liquid calcium would be, but for the multivitamin, i would do like two squirts mixed with maybe 1 tsp (5 ml) of water and the calcium too. force feed her the supplement. get her to open her mouth then squirt it. just not too much or too fast. you could even have someone help you and hold her body while you got her mouth open but be very careful not to hurt her. and soak her in a pedialyte solution. plain unflavored pedialyte (or store brand, doesn't matter) mixed 1:1 with warm water. is it for sure a female? and how much does she weigh and how long has she been off food?

 

i'm not sure where you are located. if not in the US, then any general store or supercenter. i dunno any out of this country.

 

She now weighs 39grams but has been losing weight, im not a hundred percent sure shes a female but its an educated guess! No bulges im located in jersey channel islands . Shes been off her food for about a month.

 

Thats her x