Leo with follicular stasis

MissSkittles

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hey all. I took my lady leopard gecko to the vet Friday as I’ve grown concerned about her. I thought she may be getting ready to lay eggs, but hasn’t shown any interest in her lay box, has stopped eating and is now lethargic. The vet did ultrasound and limited radiograph...said she has follicular stasis, possibly peritonitis, her chances of making it thru the next couple of days are poor and she needs surgery (that I’d have to take her to another clinic for). However, they were too concerned about her heart and breathing to sedate for full set of radiographs and weren’t optimistic about her chances of even surviving surgery. They sent us home with enrofloxacin and metacam. When I asked about if euthanasia may be the most humane thing to do, I was then told that the meds may clear up her problem. I’m so confused. If it’s too risky to sedate for radiographs, how could she be put under for surgery? How is an antibiotic and nsaid going to clear up follicular stasis? Wouldn’t that only be helping if she does have peritonitis?
The soonest appt I could get with the surgical vet is Tuesday. I fear greatly that it will be priced completely out of my ability to pay. With all of this virus stuff, I’m not so sure I’ll even be working for much longer.
I love my sweet little girl and just don’t want her to suffer any. I’m giving her meds (spaced apart by a few hours to help ease the renal effects) and getting her to drink a few small drops of water each time. I posted on gecko forums but obviously they aren’t terribly active. I’ve ensured that her husbandry has been correct since I got her back in Sept. No idea what conditions were before me other than she had a few different homes and the girl I got her from wasn’t giving any supplements.
Can anyone help clarify things or offer any advice?

Pics from Friday while waiting for vet to take her in
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Oh dear...where to start.

I have a lot of questions...
I'm not as sure about reproductive issues in geckos. :(
Was she mated? Has she laid eggs before? If so, when? If so, was she happy with the laybin? Did she lay them normally?
How many eggs did the tests show?
Did it show follicles?
How is she breathing? Shallow, deep panting?

Did the vet mention oxytocin?

The meds won't help the follicular stasis...if that's even what she has.

The might help...you might be able to see the follicles through the tummy skin...follicles are round and bunched like grapes...eggs are oval and should be one on each side of the lower tummy....
http://www.supremegecko.com/follicular-stasis
 
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Oh dear...where to start.

I have a lot of questions...
I'm not as sure about reproductive issues in geckos. :(
Was she mated? Has she laid eggs before? If so, when? If so, was she happy with the laybin? Did she lay them normally?
How many eggs did the tests show?
Did it show follicles?
How is she breathing? Shallow, deep panting?

The mess won't help the follicular stasis...if that's even what she has.
Unfortunately, I have no history on her other than she had been housed with the male (got them both together) and had at least 2 or more owners prior. I’ve kept them separated since getting them. They came with all of their supplies which was lacking a working heat pad, enough hides and no supplements. I was told they are about 2 yrs old.
Due to the virus, the vet no longer allows humans to accompany their animals for the visit. They didn’t tell me how many eggs & not sure they even knew. They did an ultrasound first and then one top view x ray. Vet said there was poor definition and wanted more x rays but since sedation was too high risk, she couldn’t get them. As for her breathing, I truly don’t know & vet didn’t give specifics. I see that she is using her lower abdominal muscles (in front of hind legs) but is not gasping or looking distressed. I offered her a feeder earlier when I gave med and she almost looked like she wanted it. I mushed up a feeder and she did lick a bit of bug gut slurry from a syringe.
Quick husbandry run down:
20 gal long tank with paper towel substrate.
3 hides - warm dry, cool dry and cool moist/lay bin 3+” of 1/2 organic soil/1/2 cocoa coir and bit of moss in a corner (every now & again she has hung out in moist hide, but never has dug)
bowl of calcium with no d in tank
eats/ate 2-3 times week - mealworms, wax worms, bsfl, silkies about 3/4 dusted with Repashy calcium plus
warm side controlled with thermostat & stays between 85-90. Cool side 74-76. Humidity around 40% & under
Handled maybe once every 1-2 wks for few minutes.
took your prior advice on uvb & have been using chameleon‘s replaced T5 ho 5% which is now about 8 mos old - is about 2 1/2 feet from tank floor
 
So...how long ago where they separated? How long have you had them?
No eggs since you got her?
Did you turn her belly up and look to see if you could see follicles or eggs through the skin of her abdomen like in the link I sent you? Eggs (should be two side by side) should be low down in her abdomen and show as oval...quite big. Follicles will be higher up and not in a row and round.

I don't use Repashy (nothing against it...I just use what I've used for years) so can you tell me if it has D3 in it? Preformed vitamin A?

No mention of oxytocin by the vet?
 
Yikes! Looking it up and I’ve only had them since this past early November. (must be getting old) So, they were separated around Nov 10th.
I have been looking at her belly as she’s been getting rounder, but haven’t seen any defined shapes. I need to give her antibiotic in a little bit and will try and get a pic of her belly.
Vet didn’t mention oxytocin...just surgery and gave the meds.
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So, the link you gave does explain possible causes, several of which may have happened.

There are many different given explanations as to why the follicles are produced.

Some are that the female ovulates after picking up a males scent, and the infertile eggs remain undeveloped in the ovaries, like a bunch of grapes. she was housed with the male

Another is that the lizard has not received a good enough nutritional intake, and then starts to receive vitamins and protein, and the increase in vitamins make the lizard healthier, causing her to get ready to breed. prior to getting her, no idea how she was fed but believe she most likely had no supplements

Another is that the female ovulates and then gets stressed out in some way, causing a reaction in her body to make the infertile ovum to suspend in growth and not be passed. change of home
 
@kinyonga Wasn’t easy trying to get pics but I did my best. She did eagerly lap up bsfl slurry. Making bug slurry is the grossest thing I’ve ever done (& as a nurse I’ve had to do some gross things!) but I’m hoping it’ll give her a little strength to pull thru. She’s so very sweet and gentle.
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Thanks for posting the photos...unfortunately I don't see anything I can definitely say about whether she has eggs or follicles. :( Darn.
They only usually lay eggs in the late winter and spring if I remember rightly.

If you separated her in November it's likely they would be infertile at least but with Leo's that doesn't make much difference.

(Making bug juice definitely sucks.)

I wish I could tell you more. I hope she will be ok. Leo's are usually sweet.
 
Thanks for posting the photos...unfortunately I don't see anything I can definitely say about whether she has eggs or follicles. :( Darn.
They only usually lay eggs in the late winter and spring if I remember rightly.

If you separated her in November it's likely they would be infertile at least but with Leo's that doesn't make much difference.

(Making bug juice definitely sucks.)

I wish I could tell you more. I hope she will be ok. Leo's are usually sweet.
Thanks so much for trying. I truly appreciate it. Yes, you remember right, late winter to spring is their mating season. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and see how it goes with the surgical vet on Tuesday. My biggest fear is cost of surgery will be prohibitively expensive and I’ll have to do the most humane thing. :(I’ll update this as I learn more or if anything changes.
 
It just strikes me as odd that it's stasis rather than dystocia because in geckos, I don't hear of that happening very often.

I hope all goes well. Keep us posted.
 
We went to the surgical vet this morning. They were able to get a better x ray of her belly and said there’s no follicles or eggs...she is impacted. They gave her an enema and laxative and now just need to wait for it to work. No idea how she would have become impacted. She was on calci sand before I got her, but that was months ago. Could it have stayed in her body slowly plugging things up?
 
I don't know how long after using it the calcisand would still be able to cause a problem.

What insects have you been feeding her?
Do you just have paper towels on the cage floor?
 
I don't know how long after using it the calcisand would still be able to cause a problem.

What insects have you been feeding her?
Do you just have paper towels on the cage floor?
I feed a variety of mealworms, wax worms, silk worms and bsfl. When she was eating eagerly, I’d give her the occasional discoid roach. I always offer at least 2 different bugs at every feeding.
Has only ever had paper towel floor. Does have cocoa coir/organic soil with handful of moss in her moist hide lay box.
 
Do you think she would eat the substrate or moss either on purpose or by accident? I've always used a type of playsand that I know passes through them.
 
Do you think she would eat the substrate or moss either on purpose or by accident? I've always used a type of playsand that I know passes through them.
Well, they do give everything a test lick as they explore new things.
I’m going to giving her a warm soak and gentle lower belly massage to see if that can stimulate things to move along.
 
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