Possible Parasites in Leo

[Cherry02]

About your leo:
- Sex - Female
- Age & Weight - about 12/13 yrs old, not sure of weight
- How long have you owned your leo - 2 or 3 months
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) - Adopted from someone who had her for 10 years and couldn't keep her anymore

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo - every few days
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. - Nothing bad, just super hungry every evening. She did just get better from an impaction, and she was eating normally (every couple of days) during that time
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. - Only the recent impaction from her moss and sand (I've since changed her substrate to reptile carpet)
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) - They look totally normal
- When was the last time he/she went - A couple of days ago, but she did go a whole lot a few days ago, so I'm not too worried about that yet
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on - I'm not too concerned yet, but she has been super hungry every single night for the last week and a half. I've been feeding her two kingworms and a couple of mealworms one night, then a couple of crickets and maybe a couple of mealworms the next night. She always wants more but I don't want to overfeed her. She has gained some weight (from the kingworms probably), so it's not a serious problem yet. I'm mainly just wondering if it would be safe to feed her some diatomaceous earth (we have human food grade stuff I can give her) every once in a while. I've read it can cause some skin issues, but she eats everything immediately, so it wouldn't spread much, and I keep her tank fairly clean too.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size - 18 in by 18 in
- Type (ex. glass tank) - glass terrarium
- Type of substrate - reptile carpet with a moss corner
- Hides, how many, what kind - One dry hide, and a log she likes to hide under
B) Heating
- Heat source - heated rock, red heat lamp
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) - I'm not sure of the exact temps, but they feel about right
- Method of regulating heat source - I keep both heat sources on all the time
- What are you using to measure your temps - a stick thermometer
- Do you have any lights (describe) - one red heat lamp
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) - none
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) - About 3 or 4 medium to large crickets every couple days, plus a couple of mealworms if she's still hungry. I've also given her a couple of kingworms every couple of days for the last week
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) - I let the crickets loose in front of her, same with the kingworms, and I hand feed her the mealworms
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) - Exo Terra Multivitamin Powder
- What are you gut loading food with - Oats, carrots, and cricket gel

 

[acpart]

It should be fine. This is the time of year when some geckos eat a lot and then eat a lot less once there is less light during the day. We are getting to the end of that period. Some of my geckos are still starving, but others have cut back. Remember this situation when your gecko doesn't want to eat much (or at all) in the late winter when ovulation starts! I don't think this can necessarily be attributed to parasites.

Aliza

 

[Cherry02]

Okay! I wasn't too worried about parasites, since I'm not sure how she'd have really gotten ahold of any in the first place. Good to know about the seasonal thing though!
Thanks!

 

[acpart]

I agree you shouldn't worry about parasites. One thing to know, though is that most geckos normally have a small parasite load and the problem is that when they get stressed, it can get out of control.

Aliza

 

[madelinenunez]

It happens sometimes with such old animals. Firstly, do nothing, just wait and watch your leo. If there are no changes a long time, than it is a reason to worry about him. Because, you know, in winter, geckos like other animals prefer to eat much more than in summer and it is completely normal. But sometimes, losing an appetite is a sign of being infected by bad parasites. In such case, you obviously need some medicines. I personally used niclosamide for my doggo niclosam.com, and after few weeks he was much better. It is a powder, so you can add it to geckos food or water. He won't even get a taste of it, so he consumes it without any problems. And finally, whether your pet doesn't feel better after all those manipulations, you should turn to veterenarian asap.