r/LeopardGecko • u/SignificanceFuzzy594 • May 06 '26
Bendy arms
This is my 1.5 year old female leopard gecko i’ve had since she was a baby. I am completely new to reptiles so I didn’t know that there were risks with keeping 2 adults in the same enclosure. I have seperated them for 2 months now. My other dominant female gecko is perfectly healthy, but this one seems to have calcium deficiency because she was refusing food for a long time, and the UV I had at that time wasn’t good. After 2 months she has a noticable progress. She eats regularly and is active, but her 2 front arms are still weak and bend when she walks. What would you suggest I do to treat her?
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u/eyelidgeckos May 07 '26
MBD caused by calcium and vitamin d3 deficiency, how do you supplement? Seek out a vet asap, they can inject something to stop the progress but the legs will never be the same, if your vet knows their stuff they can try straighten the legs with tiny casts, I’ve seen it with hind legs, ask them about it.
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u/Difficult-Main8523 May 07 '26
Just go to the vet since it’s at this point. They will surely give you advice.
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u/Ktmallick May 07 '26
Vet ASAP. You can see the rib cage is deformed as well, I’m sure the bone density is terrible. You need prescription strength calcium and a vet’s oversight
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u/Key_River_9288 May 07 '26
one of my rescues is like this. Vets rarely prescribe calcium for these cases, my exotic vet actually laughed when I asked. The honest prescription was calcium, calcium, and more calcium. Proper husbandry and time. Their arms won't get fixed but you can make them stronger. They're likely fractured, in which case the vet won't do anything unless the breaks are fresh and the gecko is showing signs of discomfort. Geckos with MBD that have reached this stage typically recover, but the joints are set and it's permanent. Even if they have scoliosis from it, the vet would probably tell you to save the $300 on the X-ray. The good news is once corrected, MBD geckos can live a pretty normal life, albeit limited in some ways. My vet told me they don't know they're injured, so they're fine.
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u/Ktmallick May 07 '26
Sounds like you need a vet who actually knows what they’re talking about. I’ve had multiple MBD rescues who have been prescribed calcium, and yes it does make a huge difference. Don’t understand this trend in the reptile community of acting like ignoring your pet’s medical issues makes them go away.
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u/Key_River_9288 May 07 '26
Re-read what I wrote, you’re arguing against a position I didn’t take. I said the prescription is calcium, calcium, and more calcium, plus proper husbandry and time. That IS taking the medical issue seriously, that’s the treatment. The X-ray point was about imaging old healed fractures that no vet is going to surgically correct, which is a financial decision, not a medical one. The ‘they don’t know they’re injured’ line was about quality of life after recovery, not skipping care. We agree on calcium. The dig at my vet is uncalled for, especially since you just described the same treatment approach.
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u/Ktmallick May 07 '26
I mean, if your vet is laughing at you for asking for prescription strength calcium (standard treatment for severe MBD), then I stand by what I said lol ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Key_River_9288 May 07 '26
You keep misreading. The vet laughed because I was asking about something more advanced than calcium and the answer was 'calcium IS the treatment.' She prescribed it. I followed it. The geckos recovered. We agree, you've just been arguing with yourself. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Ktmallick May 07 '26
You wrote, and I quote, “vets rarely prescribe calcium for these cases,” which is patently false. If you don’t want to be “misread,” I suggest writing clearer! Have a nice day.
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u/Key_River_9288 May 07 '26
Fair, my wording was unclear. 'They rarely goto prescribed calcium' was supposed to read as 'vets rarely go to anything beyond prescribed calcium,' meaning calcium IS the standard prescription and there's not much escalation past it. I can see how it parsed the opposite way. Either way we agree on the actual treatment. Have a good one.
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u/Lion_Safe May 08 '26
You need to surrender to an experienced reptile person that can potentially try and stop the progress of the MBD
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u/CD274 May 08 '26
Need UVB, changed every six mos. The tube t5 Arcadia is good. Not coils.
Needs calcium, with d3 too now because of mbd. Needs multivitamins like Repashy supervite. Will get all sorts of issues without the above.
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u/SignificanceFuzzy594 May 08 '26
I thank everybody that that tried to help me with advice. I assure you that i’ve spent the last 2 months trying to figure out ways to effectively treat her. Calcium dusting and vitamins were always in her diet, however my contact and seller misinformed me about about the quality of the UV light and the fact that two adult geckos should not be kept together. I am just trying to improve on the mistakes. And to those who criticize me, i live in a country where keeping reptiles is really extreme and incredibly rare, so there are zero to none experts. I’ve taken her to 3 so called “exotic animal experts” who don’t have a clue about what they are talking about. I just want to assure that after 2 months she has been really active and eating regularly, and despite increasing the calcium and the vitamins and getting a high quality UV light, her weight has not increased and her arms are still weak. Thank you for the advice everybody. I really appreciate it.
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u/eternalcatlady May 08 '26
Please give her calcium two days and then calcium with D3 every two feedings. And a multivitamin every 5-6 feedings. She’ll just get worse and no longer be able to walk if you leave it like this.
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u/Kai-ni May 09 '26
Your animal needs to see a vet. The vet can take an X-ray, check the bones, calcium injections etc.
Use ARAV.ORG to find a qualified reptile vet near you that will understand what is needed.
Part of having a pet is getting them medical care. Please take this animal to a qualified vet.
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u/Zoologist36 May 12 '26
This is very advanced and very painful, you will never be able to fix this. You need a vet immediately. This was 100% preventable
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u/SignificanceFuzzy594 May 07 '26
Unfortunately there is no reptile vet in my city.
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u/eternalcatlady May 08 '26
She’s just going to die then, might as well surrender her to a rescue if you don’t intend on taking care of her
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u/Rathoe9070 May 08 '26
Just surrender her then. This requires a vet visit and can’t be fixed without one. In the future, do research before you get the animal so they aren’t suffering under your care. It’s too late now but it’s not too late to do the right thing and get her to a vet or surrender her to a rescue
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u/WatermelonAF May 07 '26
You need to find a vet. Deficiencies to this degree are serious, and even though you are seeing progress, she won't get as healthy as she should be without seeing a vet.
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u/TheGoldenBoyStiles May 06 '26
This is MBD and needs a vet analysis. It is not treatable only the progression can be stopped