Leo Emergency!!!

aretwodetwo

aretwodetwo

New member
Well... My leo is moving VERY SLOW. I watched her move and I noticed thet when she walks her arms and legs shake when they are off the ground. :?

She is eating about 7 or less crickets a week and I also try to feed her meal worms but she won't eat them. Here is a little about her and her cage.

She is a female.

She is exactly 8 inches long from nose to tip of tale.

When we first got her she was very sick and always had problems since then.

Her cage never gets below 70 at night

I feed her this twice a week... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p_153331_19385D.jpg WITH VITAMIN D3

I just converted today to... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p_231404_17026D.jpg WITH VITAMIN D3

Her eyes are wide open and have no infection.

She has a heat pad.

a heat lamp.

her cage on the warm side get about 87-91 degrees Fahrenheit.

Her cage on the cold side gets about 76-84.

She lives in a 20 gal. long.

WHATS WRONG :cry:
 
Last edited:
Nayte

Nayte

New member
Im sorry I cant be of effective help, but I believe the powder you just change to is only a vitamin, not Calcium.

Also what bedding are you using?
 
LoungeLizard

LoungeLizard

New member
Well chances are that she's full grown. I would recommend providing a dish with the calcium and vitamins at all times instead of dusting her food if that's what you've been doing, that way she can get what she needs when she needs it and you don't have to worry about over-dusting. My male moves fairly slowly also and his legs shake when he walks, he's never been sick in my care but he's beat up (missing most of his tail and many toes). It's also still breeding season so she could be eating less because she's going through an ovulation hunger strike, unless she's always eaten that little.
 
ColdBlooded

ColdBlooded

New member
Just a quick question - are you absolutely certain of your temperatures? Usually, a heat mat (UTH) does not require additional heat sources. Mine all run over 100 F if I do not regulate them with a thermostat. (I use both ZooMed and Exo-Terra)
 
aretwodetwo

aretwodetwo

New member
I am using paper towels. I'm not sure of the temp cuz i don't have a digital thermometer and its about half way up the cage not next to the ground. What calcium and vites. do you recomend. And I put in a dish of the new calcium i converted to but she just climbs in it.Oh... and she has always been eating that many.
 
Last edited:
snave_relyt

snave_relyt

New member
More ovalation strikes? Good thing leo's don't work in the union ;-) . I would suggst moving your thermometer closer to the ground, you may be baking her. But if she is 11 she is an ol' lady, so if nothing else make her more then comfortable. Sounds like you must be doing alot right if she is 11.
 
T

Topaz

New member
Being a herp owner for approx 4 yrs now I can tell you that the dial and sticky temp readers are grossly inaccurate, often out by as much as 10 degrees either way. I would suggest spend the money on temperature gun, it will read the temp directly where you point the laser and give an accurate reading.

I have under tank heaters and with out a thermostat or rheostat to control the temp, and checking them with the temp gun, they are often to hot. If they are to hot the lizard will not use the warm side and therefore not effeciently digest the food they are being given as they need belly heat to digest. Once you have the UTH adjusted to 89-92 and stabilized in that range you will be surprised how much the appetite will pick up, as they are able to effectively digest the food being offered.

The two leo's I just adopted did not have suffecient belly heat and the girl hardly ate nor pooped regularly, the male always pushed her out of the little belly heat they did have. I have them in seperate tanks with regulated UTH's covered by slate and temp checked daily with a temp gun. Now she eats daily and a lot. Sometimes as much as 9 super worms or crickets at a time, and I feed her daily!
 
snave_relyt

snave_relyt

New member
do you think that if the thermometer was placed directly on the mat that'd read more correctly? Just a quick thought for now, lemme know your thougts.
 
T

Topaz

New member
If it is the dial type, again they just are not very accurate...when i was advised of this, I only had snakes (corns and kings both very reliant on belly heat for digestion) so I bought the temp gun and did an ameture experiment. I placed the dial thermometer on the bottom of the glass viv, then waited an hour or so, read it and checked the temp with the infrared temp gun. The difference was approx 10 degrees higher as read by the temp gun.

If you end up buying a thermostat to regulate you UTH, you do want to secure it to the bottom of the tank/viv under the paper towel if that is what you are using. If you are using slate like I am then you would attach it to the slate, for the temp the lizard will feel.

Having said all this, you have a better chance of a "closer" temp if you lay that dial or strip thermometer on the bottom for now, money is keeping you from getting a temp gun for a bit.

As well a cheap rheostat, that you will want to use with a temp gun is a table top lamp dimmer, it can be bought at most home improvement stores. It plugs into the wall, the UTH plugs into it, and then the power going to the UTH is limited based on where you slid the dimmer setting to. They can be finicky to get regulated as the changes in ambient temps of your home will cause changes in the UTH as any rheostat only limits power to a UTH not sets a temp, therefor I suggest a temp gun for quick, frequent, accurate temp checks.

Hope this helps, so if it took me a bit to get back to you...I run a daycare.
 
ColdBlooded

ColdBlooded

New member
At least buy a digital thermometer or something to read the temperature on the floor of your terrarium (above the substrate, where the gecko would be sitting.)

It's probably way too hot in there with both a lamp and UTH as I stated earlier..
 
Allee Toler

Allee Toler

Member
I have a dial in my tank, AND a a digital probe. The dial says it's 75-78F, the digital one says 96.4F. Does that tell you something? They're on the same spot, right next to each other. Go buy a digital thermometer, they're about $8 at a pet store. Place the probe on the center of the UTH, on the floor. Once the exact temps are read, more help can be given.
 
aretwodetwo

aretwodetwo

New member
which temperature regulators should I buy? one for

Which digital thermometer should I buy?

Give me a list of all the things I should buy cuz all iv got is money but not too expensive!
 
T

Topaz

New member
It is so great to see that you love your gecko so much... I can not give you an idea as to brands to buy as I am in Canada and what I can get here may be different than what you can get there.

Having said that I bought a infrared temp gun from and table top lamp dimmers from a hardware store. The infrared temp gun I will always use but eventually I will purchase a herpstat thermostat that can control the temp for more than one tank at a time. At this time I can not afford it so I use the dimmers(rheostats) and just have to temp check daily.

Hope that helps you make the decision on what equipment you decide to get.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Hi aretwodetwo ~

This thread seems to be zeroing in on accurate ambient temperature measurement. Have you been able to check out the temps yet?

Another thing you may want to consider is whether your calcium supplement is phosphorous-free. That is important because many of the feeders we give our geckos are already high in phosphorous, and there is absolutely no reason to add any more! In fact, adding more phosphorous is counterproductive. Read my sticky under GU Food and Nutrition for more answers. Some geckos are also sensitive to vitamin A supplementation.

The brand I like is Rep Cal's Ultrafine Phosphorous-free Calcium with D3. That also comes without D3, but you can use the less expensive pure calcium you get in a health foods store. Rep Cal has vitamins named Herptivite with Beta Carotene. That's a better form of vitamin A. Beta carotene is not pre-formed.
 
aretwodetwo

aretwodetwo

New member
Well... Im going to get my leo "SOME" :D new stuff like digital thermometers, new hides ect.

hopefully on saturday or sunday. But i intend to spend over $250 :D HeHeHeHe. and

when i get the stuff i am most certainly going to keep the damn temp at a constant 89

Degrees! Sorry for the bad language i just love her soooooooo much. :D And i am a guy

by the way and my leo is a girl... her name is lizzy. soo... yeah :D
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Hi aretwodetwo ~

You don't want a constant temperature of 89 F. You want a range over the tank from about 70 F to 89 F so that your leo can choose. Do you think you might be keeping Lizzy too warm?

Did you check your calcium and vitamin supplements for added phosphorous?
 
ColdBlooded

ColdBlooded

New member
I'm just throwing my two cents in here but 89F might be too cool. Most people agree the low to mid 90s are ideal for the hot side of the tank (92-96F).

Good luck
 
aretwodetwo

aretwodetwo

New member
Oh... I meant to say 89 for the day... warm side :D

Which temperature would be the best for the day!

(The heat comes from heat lamp during the day.) :D

Oh yeah and the phosphorus thing... no phosphorous... but it has phosphate, are they the same thing?

And im thinking of getting two themometers... one for warm side one for cold.

HeHeHe... "Some" stuff :D
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top