Leopard Gecko anorexia, mobility

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

We have a male Leo about six months old.  He has shed several times without incident, but on the last shed, one of his hind legs didn't peel completely and was a dark reddish/purple in the morning.

We also had noticed some bumpy disfiguring on the front feet, and a decrease in appetite.  He had been feeding regularly on crickets, but not dusted with calcium.  We thought the crickets' orange cubes provided enough calcium through gut loading.

We took him to the vet who diagnosed MBD and vitamin A deficiency, and/or possible renal failure.  He gave a multivitamin, advised about soaking and humidity.  

He sent us home with carnivore mix and Baytril susp. 22.7 mg/ml.  Also advised shaking crickets with the Rep-cal (6x per week) and Reptivite (1x per week).

The retained shed was loosened by soaking and removed in the office.  Leo has been getting daily soaks with humidity since then.

Leo is 32g.  Unfortunately, through a misunderstanding, we dosed his Baytril @ 0.2 ml orally per day rather than prescribed 0.02 ml for about ten days.  We have corrected that after about a week and a half of the overdose.

He was enjoying the syringe feeding but one day his jaw snapped.  Apparently he closed on the tip of the syringe.  The kids heard a crack and saw a bit of blood.  The jaw has reformed, and now we feed and medicate by dribbling near his mouth and letting him lick it up.  Since the problems began and the visit to the vet, he wasn't eating crickets anyway, so we mix the calcium or vitamin powder with the carnivore mix.

On the day we took him to the vet we had just switched him from carpet to sand in a larger habitat.  We switched him to hamster cage fluff (Carefresh) immediately after we got home.

I am most worried now because his hind legs are essentially immobilized.  He drags himself around and never goes to the warm side.  He is almost always next to or in the water dish.  Tonight after med, we put him in his house over the heating pad to get warm and he struggled to get out.  Without his hind legs, it looked like swimming.  He seemed so anxious, I moved him to the water dish and he settled right down.

In the smaller tank, he was very regular about pooping in a specific spot.  He was on repticarpet.  Now that he is in the bigger tank, on the fluff, and so sick and listless, I don't know about his stool.

The doc checked for impaction, finding none, and didn't really mention parasites.  I have learned so much in the last two weeks, I now know how little I knew.  

One thing we are still lacking is a good UV light.  We have a white and a red incandescent on slightly overlapping timers, along with a bottom heating pad.  We now mist regularly along with the daily bath.

1) What's your prognosis with the limp rear legs?
2) Do you have any idea the effects of the Baytril OD?
3) We are so worried we want him to return to health, but also worried he is miserable.  What do you think?

Thanks!

ANSWER: Hello John,

Wow, you have been through a lot!  
I am sorry about the Baytril overdose.  
What was the vet's reasoning for giving him Baytril again?  He probably doesn't even need it & especially now with having too much.  If he mentioned he had the possibility of renal failure it would never be a good idea to give such a harsh antibiotic that is already hard on the kidneys.
How did he come to the conclusion he could have renal failure?
Did he prescribe him any liquid calcium instead if he has MBD?  The critical care is a great product so you can continue the use of that product, daily if he is still not eating on his own.  Using the powdered calcium daily for awhile would help tremendously.
I would recommend getting him off of loose substrate though as it harbors bacteria & is harder to keep clean.  You can use non adhesive shelf liner or felt or even paper towels for the liner.  The carpet was fine also, but a little harder to keep clean.   
Did he test him for parasites by doing a fecal?

Does he have a warm spot of around 88-90 with the undertank heater being used in combination with an overhead basking light?  The best UVB you could get to use for him would be the Reptisun 5 or 10 tube bulb with a 8-10 distance from him.
Do you have a moist/humid hide or cave for him to help with shedding?

It does sound like MBD since that can cause rear leg paraylsis.  There was no impaction based on what the vet says?
How large of crickets had you fed previously for him?

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie


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

QUESTION: Thanks Tracie,

No obvious change, and certainly no improvement.  

The antibiotic was a preventative measure for the original issue, the discolored leg from the difficult and retained shed.

No liquid calcium was proposed, except he may have administered some in the office visit.  He got some oral vitamins that I don't recall in detail.

We will change the substrate again.

The vet performed no tests for parasites that I could tell, and Leo was always in the room with us.  We didn't suspect anything of the sort prior to the visit and brought no sample.

I think the vet suspected renal failure due to the bumps on the front legs.  He said they were calcium deposits or "TOPHI."  He also suggested that these may exist on Leo's spine and be part of the cause of the dragging rear legs.

We have a hide with Fluker's moss that we keep moist.  Since he's been on the Baytril, he has hovered around/in the water dish and we mist him regularly, along with daily 15 minute soak.

When he had appetite, he would usually handle the pet store 'large' crickets, about an inch from head to end.

Thanks again for all the input.
John

Answer
Hello John,
How is he doing today, any improvements?  
The Baytril is most harsh on his system so that can explain his behavior.  I would give him a probiotic such as acidophiliz or non dairy soy yogurt.

If he has MBD, liquid calcium would help him out a lot.  Hopefully the vitamins helped him out.  
Can you. send some pictures of him?  
If he has tophi on or around his joints, that is gout.  I hope he doesn't have gout though.  This normally is not very common in leopard geckos either.
If he has renal failure or gout in any stage, he should not be on Baytril or any other antibiotic as that causes more renal problems.
I would get some black cherry juice & give him a little shot of that to him to help break up uric acid crystals.

Continue to give oral meds & a daily soak if you can.  Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie