# My Baby Leopard Gecko died today..



## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

I thought the best thing I could do, after seeing my Leopard Gecko die was to somewhat talk about it with other people. So here it goes. 

On the 8th of August i purchased a Leopard Gecko from my local Pets at Home (I know, Bad choice). And i made sure that the gecko i was purchasing was indeed healthy at the time. 
Now I have heard alot of things about Pets at Home, but the reptile specialist who works in mine seemed to know what she was talking about for once. 
Now 2 days ago, i noticed my Gecko wasn't eating. I didnt think much of it at the time, but i added around 6 micro sized dusted crickets just incase it was hungry and left them in over night. When I woke up he clearly had eaten at least 3, and seemed alot more active. But i did notice that his tail had been getting quite thin as of late which was strange...

Today, i woke up to find my Gecko slumped on its belly flat on the the enclosure floor. By the time i wake up hes always in his hide. I openned up the enclosure and touched him lightly to see if he was moving. And he barely made the effort to move, he's still skittish so me touching him normally makes him run away. Again, strange. So i picked him up without him struggling and tried to find out what was wrong. His eyes were half closed for the most part, and for a short moment he kind of wiggled about on my hand then gaping his mouth open and shut. He then bit me..

Ive never been bitten by any of my reptiles, and i have NEVER been bitten by my Leopard gecko either. He seemed to really want to hurt me and i had no idea why. I then decided to put him on the dining room table and check him over completely. I found that what seemed to be his stomach was very very dark, like a dark blood kinda colour to it. The only thing i could think of was maybe internal bleeding. So i researched on the forums for anything related. And the only thing i could find that linked was "crypto" or Impaction. I dont think it was impaction because i found a small stool next to his hide this morning which was the usual side that he is often producing.

I gave him a warmish bath to see if it was impaction and did my best to try and get him past it. After having experience with my bearded dragon having Impaction it was pretty self explanitory as to what to do. 
This didnt seem to work. The only thing left from peoples experience with Impaction was to try and get him to drink some olive oil to see if that might help clear it up, But by this time the lil guy wasnt moving, and wasnt responding to anything. 

After 15 minutes hes clearly passed away. And even if i took him to a vet, i dont think i would have made it in time. 
Today i took my dog in for an operation as she has a lump on her side as we were concerned about it, and she was operated on later than expected due to the vets being very busy today. So even going to the vets i dont think it would have helped being that they are busy.

I seriously thought i would have seen the signs sooner, and it seems so sudden that this happened. I looked over the caresheet earlier and am certain that the enclosure met the requirements of the caresheet. I always supplimented the crickets with calcium powder, had fresh water in the enclosure at all times, 2 hides and a moist box. The temperatures were correct and i didnt see anything wrong with the setup. 

He was an awesome lil fella, and i really enjoyed his company along with my other reptiles. It was a real shame that he had to go so badly, and I just hope it wasnt my fault.

Now im unsure as to what to do with its enclosure. Whether to disinfect it or not bother and just bin it just incase it has something left over?

RIP buddy. 
Lee


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## DebbieLuke (Sep 1, 2009)

Lee2by4 said:


> I thought the best thing I could do, after seeing my Leopard Gecko die was to somewhat talk about it with other people. So here it goes.
> 
> On the 8th of August i purchased a Leopard Gecko from my local Pets at Home (I know, Bad choice). And i made sure that the gecko i was purchasing was indeed healthy at the time.
> Now I have heard alot of things about Pets at Home, but the reptile specialist who works in mine seemed to know what she was talking about for once.
> ...


Im so sorry for your loss...I have a baby leopard gecko at the moment who keeps rrefusing food and has a very thin tail but iv been told not to worry :gasp: ... His enclosure id say if you dont want to throw it out empty it and give it a really good clean and everything you used in it and just store it away you might need it for another little reptile one day. R.I.P Little guy.


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## ReptileLady (Feb 4, 2010)

Thats so sad 

There have been a few reports of crypto coming from PAH reptiles, I would urge you to have a post mortem done to find out the exact cause of your little one passing away. 

If it is indeed crypto you may need to have your other reps tested for it


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

sorry to hear the news Lee 


DebbieLuke said:


> I have a baby leopard gecko at the moment who keeps rrefusing food and has a very thin tail but iv been told not to worry :gasp: ....


have to say that personally if I had a young leo not eating and with a thin tail I'd be very worried ~ in my experiance healthy young will eat within a day or so ~ those that don't are immediately taken for checks .... young/small leos don't have the surplus that an adult or larger leo would have and cannot go for extended periods without eating. I really would advise that you have the young one checked by a herp vet and if possible feacal checked/cloacal wash to check for parasites, worms or any other problems such as crypto


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## Mysterious_121 (Feb 18, 2010)

Post mortem ASAP. if its crypto then everythign will need to be chucked out i had to chuck out a 3ft solid glass tank (to the council skip  as i brought a very small bosc monitor (around 4 weeks old) she was in the vets after having her for a few days and died in the vets a few days later. PM showed high concentrate of Crypto and every other animal in the room had to go into quarenteen and be tested 3 times (incase of false negatives). This is a lot of work, its totally soul destroying and its really expensive. Im telling you this as if its crypto then dont risk it anything else goes in that tank will likely get it.

PALS will do a PM and tell you if its crypto, they are FANTASTIC if you call them. they did a lot of mine as an emergcy due to little Matilda's passing


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## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

Thank you everyone for the kind words. 
Post Mortem sounds like a great idea. When i get some money ill get it done, the dogs operation cost my mother over £450 so i dont know when im going to be able to get it done. Im going to do my best to get one done, I dont want anymore pets dying from it so im going to make sure it doesnt happen. 

I think for now im going to remove the enclosure from the other reptiles just incase!

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Sea Pets are any good with Reptiles/ animals? 
Thanks again everyone!


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## JustJordan (Jul 2, 2008)

I have just lost a leo and im am going through the same thing. 
I did post a big thread on it yesterday on the poor things problem and how difficult it is to notice. 
So don't beat your self up, it happens to the best of us.
You did all you can hun *hugs*


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## Mysterious_121 (Feb 18, 2010)

i would recomend a good private breeder local to you. you can go and see the parents and decide if the leo is right for you (are the parents healthy, good weight, good size, alert, are the owners looking after them,are conditions good ect). its a much better idea in some cases than the big chains. rep shops tend to be good but if its not rep specific then i would generally stay well clear just my own personal opinions


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## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

Yeah thats good advice Mysterious_121, i think im going to stick with local breeders from now on either from this forum or other ads. 

And thanks JustJordan =] Sorry to hear about your loss also =[


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Lee2by4 said:


> Thank you everyone for the kind words.
> Post Mortem sounds like a great idea. When i get some money ill get it done, the dogs operation cost my mother over £450 so i dont know when im going to be able to get it done. Im going to do my best to get one done, I dont want anymore pets dying from it so im going to make sure it doesnt happen.
> 
> I think for now im going to remove the enclosure from the other reptiles just incase!
> ...


So sorry for the little one. As you have other reps, and if you are sure your husbandry was right, then I would urge you to get crypto and other parasites ruled out. If you are going to get a post mortem done then it has to be done right away or it is useless. PALS will bill you at the end of the month, to be paid by 20th of the following month (so it would be 20th October) if this helps.


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## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

jools said:


> So sorry for the little one. As you have other reps, and if you are sure your husbandry was right, then I would urge you to get crypto and other parasites ruled out. If you are going to get a post mortem done then it has to be done right away or it is useless. PALS will bill you at the end of the month, to be paid by 20th of the following month (so it would be 20th October) if this helps.



Do you have any idea how much it will cost? 
And what should i do with the body in the meantime?


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## Mysterious_121 (Feb 18, 2010)

Pinmoore Animal Laboratory Services Limited

Post Mortem Exotics £90.00

best money you will spend


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## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

Cheers mate


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## Gman1980 (Aug 27, 2010)

So sorry to hear....  

As a complete novice, the only words I can give you are that I feel ur compassion towards your pet is honourable. You clearly cared well for the wee thing and deserve alot of credit for that.

The fact you have posted feeling guilty, when u have infact done nothing grossly wrong, shows that you care. I feel that the best thing you could possibly do right now is get urself another wee gecko and show her the same love. U have been unlucky, please dont blame yourself.

: victory:


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## puggy69 (Apr 15, 2010)

Gman1980 said:


> So sorry to hear....
> 
> I feel that the best thing you could possibly do right now is get urself another wee gecko and show her the same love. U have been unlucky, please dont blame yourself.
> 
> : victory:


After a post mortem rules out crypto by all means go ahead.

Sounds like you did the best anyone could have mate, Its a hard thing to detect when there not well, chin up


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## JustJordan (Jul 2, 2008)

puggy69 said:


> After a post mortem rules out crypto by all means go ahead.
> 
> Sounds like you did the best anyone could have mate, Its a hard thing to detect when there not well, chin up


I agree, when my big healthy male withered away with in 4 days I couldnt get to the vets in time or do anything to help. I assumed it was parasites for the speed of it, but I found out that it was something else I couldn't of really helped. 
Unless you check monthly (Silly expensive) you cant ever rule out parasites, so dont beat your self up about it hun.

Get that PM done, and I wish you the very best for your next baby. 
God next spring when I have some babies your welcome to buy one off me on mates rates :2thumb: 
Obviously some one closer to you would be ideal, but either way the offers there


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## Lee2by4 (Oct 24, 2009)

I contacted my local vet this morning as they have a reptile specialist, and i was told that i left it too late to do a Post Mortem for it. 
Honestly, I want to get the Post Mortem because I would like to know what the lil guy died from, Just incase it was some what my fault. But i dont have the money either way.... having the other reptiles to pay for as well as my College fund i dont think i could afford to.

I think im just gonna have to keep an extra close eye on my other Reptiles for now and try not to handle them for a while. 
Im hoping because the Leopard Geckos enclosure was far away from the other Enclosures that if it did have Crypto then it wont be so likely for the others to get it. 

I feel that I have done my best and im not beating myself up about it anymore, though not having a Post Mortem done for him, I feel that people can learn from this experience and get them to a vet straight away, even if they dont survive you can still find out why they died. And i feel better knowing its over with and that he's at peace. 

I will probably throw the old Enclosure out and get a new one eventually, Im not even gonna risk anything else using the enclosure.

Thanks again everyone who commented and helped me out, No doubt ill get another Gecko when i feel ready. =]


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## Frozen Crickets (Mar 16, 2021)

Lee2by4 said:


> I thought the best thing I could do, after seeing my Leopard Gecko die was to somewhat talk about it with other people. So here it goes.
> 
> On the 8th of August i purchased a Leopard Gecko from my local Pets at Home (I know, Bad choice). And i made sure that the gecko i was purchasing was indeed healthy at the time.
> Now I have heard alot of things about Pets at Home, but the reptile specialist who works in mine seemed to know what she was talking about for once.
> ...


hey mine just passed away today and I got him from Petco he was a awesome little fella I named him Frosty he was so awesome I noticed he wasn't eating i didn't think much of it but he had shed later on which made a lot of sense so a few days later he's still not eating so I got back to petco and I get him a better lamp and more food and I come back hes dead and staring at my pillow in his favorite spot it hurts a lot because I lost my dad a few months ago and he was helping me cope a bit and now I just don't know what to do big advice here never buy a leopard gecko from a petco


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