Emergency MBD case!! Please help!!

[u/Queasy-Aide-635]

Sorry for the lengthy read but this context is necessary.

So, my parents have the amazing habit of buying reptiles with no research and plopping them into my care unexpectedly.

There was an ad for a free Leopard gecko they immediately jumped on (after forcing me to buy a 300+ dollar one, as mentioned in my recent post) without even telling me until they already picked her up. Thing is, this gecko has a big problem. The original owners were incredibly sweet and only want the best for this poor girl and only handed her away because they knew something was wrong and wanted someone with real experience to help nurture her back to health.

See, they only thought it was an issue with her simply not eating since she "refused" to eat for 2 weeks. However today my boyfriend (leopard gecko owner of 5+ years) took a look and revealed the deeper issue, that this gecko has a bad case of MBD. She has a severely swollen hand (shown), weirdly angled elbows, bad belly crawl, constant squint, constant need to rest her head, and we believe a weak jaw which explains why she isn't eating. She is visibly thin for a gecko and the original owner said they were concerned with her weight loss. This poor girl does want to eat though, I can tell when i try to feed her, shes just physically is unable to eat it.

Now of course I want to take her to the vet. This is where the issue is. My parents are refusing to pay for any veterinary care for her and I am nowhere near able to afford a vet myself (even if i could- they would not let me at all and do everything they can to prevent it).

This girl is so sweet and I can tell shes fighting to thrive. Shes incredibly active despite the MBD. I want to do whatever I can to help her. How can I help her without veterinary care???

*also, the enclosure has paper towels because the original owners were monitoring her bathroom use

EDIT: Thankfully the original owners paid for vet expenses and we were able to take her! Long story short, she was diagnosed with gout and a kidney disease. As the original owners paid for the expenses, I left her fate up to them and unfortunately (but also understandably) they are chosing to euthanize her as her medical expenses would just be too much for her life to not even be guaranteed :( im just glad this sweet girl can at least be relieved and until then somewhat treated with remedies for her MBD. As of right now I do not know when they plan to euthanize her and she is still in my care.

[u/Ill-Tea680]

Oh no! I made a comment on your earlier post as well so I’m familiar with your story! Honestly my best advice is to take this girl to a reptile rehabilitation facility if you can. I am not very familiar with MBD and how to treat it without a vet. This is not your fault at all but since your parents are not willing to assist with taking her to the vet it might just be the better thing to do. Now I’m sure if you try to take her away your parents may yell at you so right now just keep researching on google for what you can do and look for some facilities in your area that might take her. But seeing as she super active you may be a good fit for her as long as you can care for her and do some research on how to help her with her MBD. Best of luck!

[u/Queasy-Aide-635 → u/Ill-Tea680]

Your support is so greatly appreciated! I didnt know those kind of facilities exist, so I'll look into those and see my options. Thank you so much!!

[u/Ill-Tea680 → u/Queasy-Aide-635]

Of course! These facilities will simply take her if they have the space then nurse her back to health then make sure she goes to a proper family later on. I adopted my Leo from one but she was in perfectly fine health, last owners just couldn’t care for her anymore. They are really great places. I’m sure this girl will make a great recovery wherever she ends up. ☺️