Life’s been tough for Flannery.

Nursed back to health earlier this year by Lawrence school children after being rescued from a defunct pet store, the small leopard gecko is ailing again.

And with no “health insurance,” Flannery’s student care-givers are stuck trying to pay off a $200 medical bill from the gecko’s recent trip to a veterinarian. Further medical examinations are on hold.

“I told them to go ahead and stop (treatment),” said Bria Klotz, sixth-grade teacher at Prairie Park School. “We have a vet bill we can’t pay.”

Last week students in Klotz’s classes noticed Flannery wasn’t eating. Crickets were being ignored.

Klotz took Flannery to Gentle Care Animal Hospital at Sixth Street and Kasold Drive. An examination and X-ray showed the lizard had “something in its stomach that doesn’t belong,” veterinarian Darren Rausch said.

In other words, Flannery ate something that hasn’t dissolved and is causing blockage. His growth also has been stunted, possibly because of the blockage, Rausch said.

The only way to remove the blockage is to operate. Already faced with an expensive medical bill, Klotz nixed the operation and brought the gecko back to its glass cage in her classroom.

Flannery already had survived one brush with death. He was one of several animals removed late last year from the former Scales and Tails Exotic Pets store, 2201 W. 25th St. The store’s owner voluntarily closed the store after inspectors from the Kansas Animal Health Department said they found numerous violations at the store, as well as dead and neglected animals.

Prairie Park school sixth-graders watch their class gecko, Flannery. The lizard needs medical attention for a digestive blockage, but the students in teacher Bria Klotz's homeroom are still facing a previous 00 veterinarian bill for Flannery, who was rescued from a closed-down pet store. The class is raising money to cover the bill. Front row from left are students Katie Stohs, Cortney Richmond and Amelia Magerl, and back row from left are Adrian Pena, Tyler Parker and Will Pendleton.

Flannery was one of two geckos removed from the store and taken to Prairie Park. School officials at the time described the geckos as in poor physical condition. After some tender loving care from the students, the geckos got their health back.

“He’s pretty popular with all of the students,” Klotz said of Flannery. The other gecko, named Geico by the students, somehow escaped and couldn’t be found.

Flannery still has a chance to survive his latest bout with illness, Rausch said. If he’s kept in the proper environmental conditions and his metabolism picks up, the blockage could pass on its own.

Meanwhile, Klotz’s students are considering ways to raise the money to pay for the medical bill. Students have been learning origami, the Japanese art of folding paper. They will sell their creations at the school fair, which will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the school, 2711 Kensington Road.

“There also has been some talk about having a bake sale,” Klotz said.

Rausch said Gentle Care was willing to work with the school about paying the bill.