Anyone have Geckos? I need help

[mommy4ever]

We now have 2 geckos. They are housed separately. One is a baby and doing fantastic. Last night, we brought home one for dd12. She wanted it because she is the champion of all things mistreated. We found her through an ad, and while she was well fed, her needs weren't properly met.

Now I have the task of nursing this poor little girl, now named Heaven, back to the best health possible.

She was housed with no moist hide, and has had terrible sheds in the past, she is missing all but 1 or 2 claws, and she has a few toes that look really stubby, I think the amputated due to the bad shedding. She was in the midst of a shed when we brought her home. She had 5 toes that we could tell were badly inflamed. I worked several hours to get all the shedding off. 4 of the toes have recovered no redness, I got them shed in time, one had bled last night, but just a miniscule amount. However there is still one that looks nasty, it has a claw, which should just be peaking out of the skin and it is 3/8 of an inch long and it is flopping around. It has bled today. She hasn't eaten today, which having moved her, doesn't surprise me. I have applied polysporin to her feet as recommended by a local breeder, but I don't know what to do about the one. Anyone else have experience with that?

I'm worried, dd12 is very attached to her already, being the bleeding heart that she is. And I'm concerned for her. There were so many things wrong with her habitat, it isn't even funny. So we are doing all we know how to for her.

And trying to figure out what we can do for her in the future for her sheds. I can't bear the thought of her losing toes due to neglect like she already has. Here is our new baby, Heaven. She's gorgeous. She is a leopard gecko, not a hybrid or morph. She is approx 8" long.

[dcompton]

No advice, but I hope she thrives, for herself and for your daughter. It sounds like you know what you are doing. I'm sure someone here will know.

If not, there must be forums where you could get experienced advice. Have you googled "gecko forums"? Mr. Google seems to pretty much know everything.

[mommy4ever]

I have been, I'm not getting much response from anyone. I'm worried about her. She hasn't moved in about 6 hours. I'm hoping that it's just de-stressing. She was doing great earlier today and then it was like a switch in her demeanor.

[madhen]

I would look for reptile rescue groups and email them. It may take a day or two for them to get back to you, but they are the ones who are used to getting animals that have been abused, so they'll have good advice. You might also try just calling a vet who specializes in reptiles to see if you can get some advice.

[mommy4ever]

Well, so far so good. Haven is slowly recovering. We figures out that she will eat various worms, so we are now feeding her those, so she is eating, she is drinking(like a dog, no less, how cute is that?) She is starting to move a little around her enclosure. She is pooping normally too. That little toe is still not right, but the redness has stopped, and the tip is black, so next shed it'll likely come off. We aren't handling her at all until she is better and that is hard on dd. But with the gecko starting to be a little munchkin, climbing, trying to catch crickets, she is doing better and better. Time is what she needs.

Poor girl never shed properly. Hopefully her next shed will be like Luna. We noticed that her skin was crack at 9:30. By 9:37 it was COMPLETELY shed, even her little toes. And she did it herself. So Hopefully, with the proper environment, Heaven will do it herself next time.