# Gecko is sick



## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

:cry: Hi Guys
I'm really worried as my thick tailed gecko bill is pretty sick. He seems to not be eating and he still has shedding on his eyes...may sound silly but i'm really worried! What should i do?


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## Smithers (Apr 14, 2011)

Spray him with water to help with the shedding,...can you see the caps attached to his eyes? Do you have heating and if so what temps. Are you misting the enclosure every so often to produce added moisture to aid in shedding?


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## Grogshla (Apr 14, 2011)

what are u feeding him and how often? is he passing any food?


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Yes i have sprayed him with water. I use heating only when it is really cold not really sure round the 24-25ish mark? Thanks for the help but to be honest i'm more worried about the eating!?


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## Smithers (Apr 14, 2011)

When you say on his eye's is it on top or his actual eye caps that should come off in the shed?


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## Grogshla (Apr 14, 2011)

you need to heat him up to around 32 on the hot end and 28 on the cool side
What enclosure is he in?
You need to get a heat mat under 1/3 of his tank and connect it to a thermostat asap


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

grogshla: i'm feeding him crickets. Not so sure about the pooing as i have a female in with him...so don't knows who's who 

and for how often : every 2nd day

smithers: he's actual eye caps...
grogshla: ok i will do that now. there is a heatmat and its taking up 1/3...do you think this could be the issue? i'm worried if i put him back in his big tank though because i feed him in a seperate tank or the crickets just hide...


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## Smithers (Apr 14, 2011)

Grogshla said:


> you need to heat him up to around 32 on the hot end and 28 on the cool side
> What enclosure is he in?
> You need to get a heat mat under 1/3 of his tank and connect it to a thermostat asap



No no no it's a thicktail maximum heat set to 27-28 for these fella's Grogs. These are fine with no heat in most circumstances unless your getting into under 10-12 degrees. He is probably slowing due to season and his internal clock.


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## Grogshla (Apr 14, 2011)

ok cool. Crickets are great perhaps feed small or mediums as they have softer shells than the bigger ones. I would dust them with calcium 2 times a week and with vitamins 1 time a week. Have you noticed any fighting or bullying?? I would place another hide on the hot end just incase.


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Hi Grogs.
Well Bill lost his tail and I think the female ate it... :/ this is why i've seperated him from the female. I'm so worried


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## dickyknee (Apr 14, 2011)

Could be slowing down due to it being winter / breeding season , I would still give it some heat during the day time 28 is fine for milii. 
Are you feeding the male and female in the same feeding tub ? could the other gecko be getting all the crickets ? 

I have had milli leave shed on the eye a few times , I normally give them a good spray and remove it carefully.


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## Grogshla (Apr 14, 2011)

yeah that is no good Izzy. 
Keep them seperated and see how he goes. Bit of calcium and vitamins will do him great. Best of luck


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## dickyknee (Apr 14, 2011)

IzzyBeardieLover said:


> Hi Grogs.
> Well Bill lost his tail and I think the female ate it... :/ this is why i've seperated him from the female. I'm so worried


 
Are you sure they are not both males ?


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## Chris1 (Apr 14, 2011)

IzzyBeardieLover said:


> Hi Grogs.
> Well Bill lost his tail and I think the female ate it... :/ this is why i've seperated him from the female. I'm so worried



did you treat the wound with betadine?
how long ago did it happen?
could he be sick from teh wound becoming infected?


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

No i'm not feeding them in same tub. I feed them on alternet nights. Just noticed that one of the eyes is now free of skin! I'm positive they're not both males as i've had eggs before.

Chris: It wasn't exactly a wound there was no blood it just kind of closed up.


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## dickyknee (Apr 14, 2011)

IzzyBeardieLover said:


> No i'm not feeding them in same tub. I feed them on alternet nights. Just noticed that one of the eyes is now free of skin! I'm positive they're not both males as i've had eggs before.
> 
> Chris: It wasn't exactly a wound there was no blood it just kind of closed up.


 
No probs , just though maybe two males fighting ..
I had a dropped tail recently , there was never a wound at all , was healed over almost straight away .


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## Chris1 (Apr 14, 2011)

oh cool, just wonderinig cos one of my beardies lost a tail tip a while ago and it looked raw for days,...i thought sand/poo/infection,...


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Chris: Maybe coz beardies don't grow their tails back...do they? 
So guys...what should i do about the eating problem? 
Sounds cruel but i sprinkled a bit of calcium on his lips that he licked off just to get some good stuff into him and i sprayed the walls and he licked them. I'm just woried coz he looks so skinny and sad


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## Chris1 (Apr 14, 2011)

no they dont, but ive seen a bluey with a dropped tail (and they do grow them back) and there were lots of raw looking bits exposed, so i didnt know how cleanly gecko tails break off,...since blueys look so messy
it was just a thought since u seem at a complete loss.


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Yeah thanks Chris  Interesting to hear that different lizards tails trop differently! I wonder why? I hope my beardies tail doesn't fall of  Maybe you could help me in my new topic in this section of the forum  Thanks!

Is there any way of force feeding him?


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## dickyknee (Apr 14, 2011)

I know milii can handle lower temps or no heating , but I would bump the heat up for him and see how he goes , it cant hurt. 
Have never assist fed a gecko , but i cant see why you can help him to take a few , might be pretty stressful though.


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Yeah i just tried to feed him but when i put the gecko in his face he just shook hes head :lol: i'll put some more crickets in and put him under the stairs for an hour and see what happens. Thanks for all your help 

GUYS! I think Bill ate a cricket!       I'm not positive but i'm sure there were 2 in there now there is 1  Off to put him in a dark place with *2* crickets and i'll let you know what happens! THANKYOU!


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## Chris1 (Apr 14, 2011)

no worries,..i'll check out ur beardy thread,.. 

to force feed a gecko, hold the gecko in 1 hand and the cricket by the legs in the other,...gently hold teh crickets back against the geckos lips till hes annoyed enough to bite it, might take a few goes if he decided to spit it out.

my amyae dont like roaches much, but when i run out of cricks and cant get to the shops i shove a couple of roaches in that that way.


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

False alarm  owell i'll go and try putting him in a dark place anyway  wish me luck!

Thanks Chris. If he won't eat i'll try that bit scared of him coz he's bitten me a few times  Thanks!


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## Chris1 (Apr 14, 2011)

IzzyBeardieLover said:


> Thanks Chris. If he won't eat i'll try that bit scared of him coz he's bitten me a few times  Thanks!



lol, should have no worries in getting him to bite the cricket then,..!!


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

:lol: if only that was true  but i'm gonna go check now maybe he's eating after been in the dark for a while!


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## Jay84 (Apr 14, 2011)

I would be more concerned about removing the eye caps first. I had a gecko who was not eating when i got it... the previous owner was force feeding it and gave it to me.

I removed the caps and it was a ferocious feeder! I often have baby levis that retain the eye caps for some reason, even with me spraying the tubs.


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 14, 2011)

Jay thanks for the advice but how would i remove them?


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## kupper (Apr 14, 2011)

a rubber thimble seems to work well , you rub downwards starting from the brow , it should come off in one go or atleast pull an edge up 

if it pulled an edge up all you need to do from there is grab some tweezers and lightly tweeze until you get the eye cap come off 

nowhere near as complicated as it sounds


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## IzzyBeardieLover (Apr 15, 2011)

Thanks for the help. Could the eye caps be the reason he is not eating? Thanks


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