African Fat Tailed Gecko - Not eating, Rot Mouth, Etc

Question
QUESTION: Hi there...for two or three weeks now I have been trying to care for my African Fat Tailed Gecko.  He has been to the vet twice: the first time, he was given antibiotics for rot mouth.  The second time, he was given three shots of Vitamins, Antibiotics, and Fluids.  He is still not doing so well...I started this morning with baby turkey and pedialyte and he seemed to really like that.  Is there anything else I can do for him? He currently is very malnourished and his eyes are practically closed all the time.  He seems to be walking around quite a bit but I'm just not sure what else I can do. Please help our little guy!!!

ANSWER: Hello Cheryl,

Geez, what was the dose of antibiotics that were given & which antibiotic was it?
What type of lighting are you using for him?  What are the temperatures in the tank?
Keep on giving the turkey, beef or chicken baby food daily to help him out.  
Are you using an under tank heater & an overhead basking light?  What about calcium, how often does he get calcium, & vitamins?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi there...thanks so much for your response.  I wasn't sure where I should start in my original question.

what was the dose of antibiotics that were given & which antibiotic was it?
It is Baytril.  He has been taking 0.5 cc every day and then had a 0.1 injection this past Saturday

What type of lighting are you using for him?  
I have two lights, a day light and an evening light.  The day light turns on at 7:30 AM and goes off at 6:30 PM then the night light turns on at night (they are on timers)

What are the temperatures in the tank?
On the cool side of the tank, it's around 80 - 85 degrees / humidity is between 40-60%

Are you using an under tank heater & an overhead basking light?  
There is a warming pad under the tank, there is a "heat" lamp the top of the tank and the lights are also basking lights

What about calcium, how often does he get calcium, & vitamins?
I have been giving him a multi-vitamin mixed in with his turkey.  I was also trying the Fluke's Emergency Malnutrition mix before I started with the Turkey.  I even tried to make a meal worm / cricket smoothie for him but that was kind of hard to get him to eat it because it was hard to get it in the eye dropper.

I gave him a bath yesterday and he really seemed to enjoy that and appears to have a little more energy.  I just don't know at what point I am just wasting my time and he's not going to get better...I just don't want him to suffer unnecessarily.

Also, with the Turkey, how often should I try to feed him? How much would be considered "good." For example, yesterday, I tried to feed him about 4 times and he went through about 25 cc of the Turkey mixture.

Thanks again!!!

ANSWER: Hello Cheryl,

WOW that is a lot of medication for such a small reptile.  What is his weight?  If he weighs less than 100 grams which I am sure that he does, his dose for the Baytril should be less than .1ml though.  It should read more like .02, etc according to his weight.  Do you know what the strength or concentration of the Baytril is?  What was the injection that he got, did they inject him with more antibiotics?  If so, do you know what they were?
I think one reason he is not doing so well still is that he is being overmedicated now.  They can only take so much medication until their organs give out.  
Have you given him any probiotics to help his tummy out since the medication tears down their normal gut flora?  
The turkey, chicken or beef baby food are fine, mixed with the calcium & vitamins.  He ate 25cc's of baby food in 1 day?  Good grief, that is quite a bit.  I would say feeding him 2-3 times per day right now is adequate.  I need to know his size so that I will have an idea of how much to feed him.
Are you using a UVB light?  If not, I recommend that you get one.  They can't properly absorb their vitamins, especially the calcium, without UVB exposure.  The best one to get is the Reptisun 10 fluorescent tube bulb.  Here is a link to where you can purchase it from:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept


Also, try to give oral fluids, if you can since he has been on so many medications.  Do you know what caused his mouth rot, exactly, an injury?  
Do you have any pictures of him?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi there...I am sorry to say that I don't know how much he weighs but he IS a little guy, he's only about 4 inches long.

-For the oral medication, he is / was taking 0.5 cc of Baytril/Vit B-12 Solution (0.4 mg/ml)
-For the shots he got: 0.01 Baytril Injection (22.7 mg/cc); Fluid Therapy; 0.10 Vitamin B 12 (100 mg/cc)
-He actually ate about 0.25 cc (sorry about that) of food in one day; yesterday he ate about 0.14 cc
-I do have a UVB light; I have a "day UVB light" and one of those red evening lights
-I have been dripping water and pedialyte every few hours for fluids
-His mouth rot appeared to have been caused by "extra crunchy" crickets or so the vet thinks but we are not 100% sure what caused it but I do not think it would have been from an "unusual" injury because we don't handle him much
-I tried to take pictures but I can't get close enough with my camera to get a good enough picture to see what's going on

He seems to be increasing his activity level although his eyes are still somewhat closed which may be from the molting.  He seems to love being handled which I think is odd...he loves to have his back and sides rubbed, he loves to be taken out and "explore"...this little guy is strange(-:

I'm supposed to take him back to the Vet Saturday to check on him but I feel like, although he seems to be getting better, I don't know if he's progressing adequately.

Answer
Hello Cheryl,

What brand of day UVB light is it?  The brand should be stamped on the base of the bulb.  A lot of UVB lights are not very good.  
What are the temperatures in the tank?  What type of thermometer are you using, a digital probe, temp gun or a stick on type?
Oh ok!  I was thinking, oh my that is A LOT of food!  LOL  
If his temperatures are not optimal, that can lead to a suppressed immune system which could bring on an infection in the mouth just from a simple injury that should heal on its own.  
The basking spot needs to be around 88-90 on the warm side, then the cool side can be around 78-82 or so.  The overall humidity in the tank should be a little lower than 40-60%.  There should be a cave/hide with some type of moss in it, to help hold the humidity in the cave/hide for aid in shedding.  The cave/hide needs to be on the warm side, & on top of the undertank heater to help with the release of moisture into the cave/hide.
What type of substrate do you use, sand, paper towels, tiles?

Ok, the meds "should" be ok.  How much longer for the meds?  Personally, I think the meds should not be given much longer than a week or so with his size, his body can't really handle too much medication.  Try getting some bee pollen to help with his immune system & you can mix that in with his baby food daily.  

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie
Continue feeding him daily, & if you want to give him a bath, that is ok also.