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 #2005558


Nigel friend
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 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a beautiful skunk gecko named Nigel and I dont think he’s doing too well. I dont know what to do! Its a saturday and no vets around her takes exotics and the animal hospital isnt open on weekends....some hospital.

Symptoms: shaky fingers, all they do is quiver like he leaves in the wind. =[[[[ and his tummy seems bloated. He hasnt been eating his crickets. he seems so unresponsive. normally he will attempt at scurying away from me when i open the cage to mist it but he doesnt move much.....this breaks my heart. please what can i do???? he was fine around noon today but i found him later in this condition =[[[[

I keep him in a 10 gallon aquarium with coconut fiber as his substrate humidity and temp is always around 75



05/16/09  07:42am

 #2005661


Rexxaroo
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   Message To: Nigel friend   In reference to Message Id: 2005558


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

how long have you had him? how long has he been like this? oh the poor baby i hope he does well D:
05/16/09  11:47am

 #2005774


Prettykttkat
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   Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2005661


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

A 10 gallon tank is too small. You need at least a 20 gallon tall tank for one gecko. What are your temp gradients(hot side of cage) besides the ambeint 75 degrees? Is there a temp drop at night? Do you have a heat lamp? Do you use a UV light? Are you giving calcium? If you give calcium, does it have added D3? Is this an adult gecko, a juv or a baby? If it is a baby it should not be on coconut fiber because it could cause impactation if ingested. I breed this species so I know a lot about them. Kinda sounds like a couple things but I would have to see a pic of your gecko and also have the answers to the questions I asked before I could tell you what might be wrong. Also is your gecko a male without a doubt? Has it been in with other geckos? How long have you had it? Have you ever treated for parasites or anything else? Ever have any other problems?
05/16/09  03:56pm

 #2006076


Nigel friend
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   Message To: Prettykttkat   In reference to Message Id: 2005774


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

I took him to the vet today and they gave him a shot to the stomach, he needed calcium! I am so angry at the pet store i bought him from because they kept insisting he needed the dark and that a UV light would bother him so I had bought a red heat lamp. I also read that 10 gallon tank is alright for one gecko...but i am looking to upgrade to a taller tank so he can climb. He does have a cool side and a hot side of the cage. Thank you for replying I am surprised that you mentioned calcium as the first thing that could be wrong because everywhere i try to find care sheets for him it says nothing of that sort..nothing about needing that vitamin D, because no one really knows much about skunk geckos or so it seems

HE IS DOING SO WELL. I bought him a UV light right after the vet and i am to come in every saturday for 3 weeks to get him his calcium shot. I am so excited he stopped shaking immediately after his shot and hes been sunning himself ever since. =]]]]]]

THANK YOU FOR REPLYING. anymore suggestions. I will upgrade to a larger tank.
-i dont know how old he is since i got him from PETCO [dumb] but i had him for at least 7 months and he is longer than my hand.
-i feed him crickets that are "gut loaded"
-sometimes he gets banana baby food mixed with honey as a treat and meal worms too but rarely
-the coconut fiber is fine, he doesnt have a problem with it
-i dont know the exact sex of my gecko =[ how do i tell?
-he was with 3 other geckos at the pet store when i bought him
-never had any problems until this calcium deprevation finally showed
-havent treated him for parasites or anything



Questions for you:
-what kind of live plants should i buy him?
-diet suggestions?
-what kind of house should i use right now i use saltine cracker boxes for him to sleep in?
-should i get a heating pad?



05/16/09  10:35pm

 #2006082


Nigel friend
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   Message To: Nigel friend   In reference to Message Id: 2006076


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!


this is Nigel I will find more pictures of him where you can see his size in relations to something standard such as a soda can
05/16/09  10:48pm

 #2007013


Prettykttkat
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   Message To: Nigel friend   In reference to Message Id: 2006076


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you took him to the vet and he is doing better. Make sure your UV light strength is no higher than a 5.0. Zoomed Reptisun makes the best UV lights as they last for a year before needing to be replaced. All other UV lights need replaced after six months. The output of UV decays after time even though the light still turns on.

It is possible to keep him without a UV light if you give calcium with added vitamin D3 and dust the crickets with it once a week. If you use a UV light then you only need to dust the crickets once a week with plain calcium without vitamin D3.
The UV light allows reptiles to produce vitamin D3 through a process called vitamin D synthesis. This vitamin D3 then allows a reptile to absorb calcium in their diet in their body. Without the vitamin D3 a reptile cannot absorb calcium and then they get metabolic bone disease. They also need proper heat temps so that the reptile can metabolize their food which contains the calcium. Heat, calcium and vitamin D3 all go together. So if you do not use a UV light that’s why you have to use calcium with added D3. Under your heat lamp should be around 100 degrees. The cool side is fine at 75 degrees. Humidity should be 70-80 percent. The heat lamp should stay on 24/7 and not turned off at night. They like vines, branches and plants with big enough leaves to support their weight. They also like those caves that look like a half log or the cave that looks like a hollow upright tree. In the cage that I use the half log cave, I also put a fake potted plant on top of it and then fill the inside with a little bit of calcium. My female geckos lick the extra calcium out of it if they need it (for egg development). In the other cages I put a shallow dish with calcium that they can lick if they need it. I also heavily mist their cages 2-3 times a day for humidity and so they can drink the water droplets. I give adults 15 crickets a week and fruit 1-2 times a week. Some of my geckos like crested gecko diet but all of them LOVE apples and applesauce. If you cut small slivers of apple they will eat it if you don’t have applesauce. I still have the first baby I ever produced and she is spoiled rotten. She will eat apples right out of my hand and is incredibly tame.
Your gecko is an adult at that size. Males have hemipenial bulges under the tail at it’s base and they also have very pronounced pores under the back legs. Females lack the bulge and their pores are not very prominent. If you can take a pic of underneath and the side of the gecko’s tail base and back legs I can sex it for you.
I would not feed baby food or honey. Just get natural applesauce without anything added like sugar etc. They will also eat other fresh fruits like grapes, melon, oranges, etc but make sure you prepare it in tiny little thin pieces so they can eat it. The crickets will also eat it as they are waiting to be eaten by the gecko. Mealworms are ok if they arent fed that often because they can cause impaction if fed too much. Phoenix worms are very good to feed reptiles. They are high in calcium and are nutritious. They don’t need to be dusted with anything.
If you have had him for 7 months and have not had an issue with his weight, nasty poop or eating habits then he probably does not have a parasite problem.
The substrate is good for an adult. Just make sure it’s moist for proper humidity. Humidity is soooo important with this species. I keep waterfalls in my breeder cages so the females lay eggs behind it and the eggs stay humid. It’s really cool, this species are egg gluers. They stick their eggs to the side of the glass and if you put a flash light behind them you can see the baby inside:)
Feel free to ask me anything about them. I will try to help as best I can.
BTW these geckos can live around 15 years!



05/18/09  12:12pm

 #2008957


Lilone213
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   Message To: Prettykttkat   In reference to Message Id: 2007013


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

srry to say but its okay if you have it in a 10 gallon tank you dont have to have it in a 20...its too big for just one gecko...
05/21/09  07:11pm

 #2008982


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: Lilone213   In reference to Message Id: 2008957


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

Lilone. It’s not okay to have it in a tank that small. It’s like saying it’s perfectly fine to lock you in a closet for a few years, because you’re able to turn around in it and lay down. Geckos, and all lizards, need to have space to roam, a territory to claim. Some species need to have a larger roaming space than others or they may stress out, stop eating, and starve to death. Another problem concerning smaller tanks, like the 10 gallon, is that it is very hard to keep a proper temperature gradient on one.
05/21/09  07:52pm

 #2009085


Prettykttkat
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 2008982


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said KrazyKelli. A 20 gallon tall should be the minimum for one adult Skunk gecko/White lined gecko because they are a medium sized gecko that’s aboreal and needs the room to roam.
05/21/09  10:41pm

 #2013507


Sinosauropterix
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   Message To: Prettykttkat   In reference to Message Id: 2009085


 SKUNK GECKO EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you sure white-lined geckos need UV lighting? I can understand why the calcium supplement is important and I put it on my gecko’s insects every time I give them to him. But aren’t white-lined geckos nocturnal? Where (and why) would they get UV if they were? On nocturnal geckos, like leopard and fat-tail geckos, the calcium supplementation works even though the geckos don’t get UV so I am confused as to why a UV light was recommended in this case.
05/30/09  10:32am


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