Female with MDB help!

[facelessfreak]

hey, i got Zante my crested gecko about a month ago now, when i got her she was 18 month old. i got her from another owner, who didnt want her anymore so i snatched her up. little did i know she had MDB setting in :/ ... thankfully as soon as we got her we put a little extra calcium in her water, which i think helped her stay alive a wee bit longer, to top it off she had eggs in her.

long story short, i set up a nursing tank as she was at the final stage of MDB, started feeding her calcium rich diet, took her to the vet got the contents of her eggs taken out, sleepless nights etc. til now... she is getting much better.

BUT finally, i need help with her jaw... it's setting floppy, i've tried making a harness out of boubbles but she squirmed out of them,  sandwich ties they looked like they hurt, and i'm running out of ideas. her jaw isn't soft anymore its starting to harden so time is short.

ANOTHER thing about Zante, she keeps getting moss and leaves up her bum (they mixed with poo sometimes) and i have to help her pull them out, how can she get moss and leaves in her with a floppy jaw 0.0 this one i would like explained as i want conformation she is an insane, fiesty gecko.

thanks!!!

p.s sorry for the long story but i thought i better tell you all everything up til now...

[samanthajane13]

That POOR GIRL!!  Thank you for taking her in and giving her a good Forever Home!

Is her vet a herp vet, who specializes in reptiles and amphibians?  If not, she may not be getting proper care.

I hope you have her Crested Gecko Diet now!!

You may have to dropper feed her to get her past the hump.

Pedialyte might her her through this too.  Just give her a bottle cap full in her tank if she'd about to drink on her own, or use a medicine dropper to get it to her a few times a day.

Also-make sure the calcium you give her has NO Vitamin D in it.  She could over dose on it, and the best way to help her absorb the calcium is with a dome light and a compact UVB bulb.  She should get about 12 to 14 hours f UVB light a day in her condition.

Make sure you mist her tank twice a day.

I'd also give her an occasional soak to keep her hydrated. Take a GladWare container, pop a few air holes in it, lay a folded paper towel in, and add about 1/4 inch of LUKE WARM water to it.  Place your girl inside and just let her splash around for about 15 or 20 minutes every few days.

Zante will be in my prayers!

Good luck with her.

[zuk450]

i think that she may have moss and leaves "up her bum " from posibly injesting the substrate. i dont THINK a reptiles cloaca could "suck up" substrate, it seems to be more of  an "exit only" if you know what i mean.

are you(or maybe the previous owner)feeding live foods with substrate in the cage?

all the ideas i could think of for possibly setting her jaw would require her mouth to be held shut (a small balsa wood and medical tape "splint" running the length of the lower jaw on each side), so i dont think it would work if it had to stay on her for more than a day. but maybe you could put it on durring the day and remove it at night.

good luck with her!

[amcclain1092]

If it comes down to setting her jaw where her mouth much we shut, maybe make just the tiniest bit of legroom for her tongue and a eye dropper to fit in her mouth so you can feed her.

Or even put the splint type thing on for like 3 hour period then remove for a hour and feed her while its off type deal and just keep going through that cycle.

And I agree with the fact that I don't think they can really get substrate up in there, at the very most it could be sticking to dried feces on the outside.
Ingested substrate can be dangerous so if you're using any, I would switch to using just paper towels.

[facelessfreak]

haha i've got her a bulb i forgot to say was the first thing i ran out to buy, the vet is a specialized one in reptiles etc i made sure before taking her. i'm going to take her back for a check up and see if he can help with the jaw although i shall try the splint (if she stays still and stops attempting to bite me... which she does...) i mist her tank at least once a day as she spend the majority of the time sitting on my chest refusing to budge, and she sits in her water dish quite a lot... she is on a gecko diet called Komodo, and she gets one drop of calcium to every 15ml of water (what it says on the box) though my dad is going to buy Repashy more expensive but i've heard good things about it (t-rex has apparantly been banned in the uk :/)

i'm thinking of attempting to flatten the moss right down, but he did 'swallow' some moss up her bum once. she got a fright from something and pulled her poo back in and moss followed... she sat quite nicley with her tail wrapped around my pinky while i had to pull it all out... yay.... her previous owner gave her live food and had her in with a male, but i dont think he gave her enough calcium in her diet, especially since she had eggs. if youd like i can take a photo of her tank and her to show you how she is doing. she is fiesty and is actually good at getting handled (she used to wriggle around when she was severly ill.)

i'm going to put her in warm sugar water i think i was told and massage her tummy to help her pass out anything else she may have (which she does as last night she pulled what i wasnt fast enough to get back in)

p.s. she passed out the eggs a week ago they didnt collapse like the vet hoped they would, she struggle with the last one as it was rather large... again i had to help... i spend more time at her back side i think than her mouth... xD

[Heather]

Skip the moss. At least until you have her all fixed up. It sounds like it's just causing you extra problems.
Paper towel is also good for geckos on the mend because it's far easier to keep track of what's coming out of the gecko.

 If you're worried about humidity, A small shallow water dish will do the trick, and is also good for backup hydration. Good luck with her, I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

[facelessfreak]

the tank is quite big as she likes to move around...  and attempt to climb the plants i put in!

she just shed so thats a good sign as well as being more livley and trying to walk up the glass. her puffy legs are completly gone her tail isnt limp anymore, she sometimes flattens her body but not much anymore. tis just the jaw now, but im going to the vet (if it's open on tuesday monday is a bank holiday) and see if he can do anything about her jaw.

does anyone know why she doesnt like getting misted? as soon as the water hit her she panics and attempts to run, its not cold as i leave it over night to get to room temp even tried luke warm water still the same :/

[inkling13]

My guys don't like it when I mist their cages either, they either scoot away under the leaves or hunch up and point their faces away.  The water is room temperature and I've adjusted the nozzle so its a softer spray but no change.  So when possible I just spray the cage and avoid spraying them directly, provided I see where they are before I spray!

[crazytanak]

I noticed the same thing when misting my cage, so i switched to a fogger, that and the fogger is more effecient with the humidity