[Doveston7]

I've had my leopard gecko for 10 months. She's been growing and eating fine. But over the Christmas period I gave her meal worms as a diet for a week. She's been on crickets almost entirely to this stage as she ignored the locusts.

Post meal worms she did a massive poo. However since then she hasn’t done any. She's still pretty active and she's still eating (crickets) yet no poo.

She's on a large grain of wood chip, and has been since about 5inches long, with no issue so far.

I've been given her baths and yesterday I started giving her some cod liver oil. But nothing. I'm really concerned about her. But not sure what to do. I don’t want to stress her out but at the same time I don’t want to leave it in case it becomes life threatening.

Can leopard geckos go a week/2 without pooing no issue or?

[cricket4u]

Originally Posted by Doveston7

I've had my leopard gecko for 10 months. She's been growing and eating fine. But over the Christmas period I gave her meal worms as a diet for a week. She's been on crickets almost entirely to this stage as she ignored the locusts.

Post meal worms she did a massive poo. However since then she hasn’t done any. She's still pretty active and she's still eating (crickets) yet no poo.

She's on a large grain of wood chip, and has been since about 5inches long, with no issue so far.

I've been given her baths and yesterday I started giving her some cod liver oil. But nothing. I'm really concerned about her. But not sure what to do. I don’t want to stress her out but at the same time I don’t want to leave it in case it becomes life threatening.

Can leopard geckos go a week/2 without pooing no issue or?

Hello,

It's not normal to go that long without bowel movements if she is eating. My first concern would be the grain of wood chip substrate. It's possible she could have partial impaction if she accidently swallowed a piece. Please remove that substrate right away use paper towels until you can buy slate tiles. What are the temperatures in the enclosure?

[Angey]

I agree with the above post, remove that wood!
Also, try to get a pic of her belly, help so people can see if she is impacted, though it sounds like she is...

[Doveston7]

it's 30-32.

The wood chippings are the same as all three local reptile specialists use in the area.

Are vets able to do anything if she is impacted?

[Mardy]

Reptile specialists and pet stores don't always use what's best for leopard geckos. Reason I say this is because a lot of these "specialists" treat leopard geckos like any other lizards, snakes, etc.. Unfortunately leopard geckos have different needs than say, iguanas, anoles, crested geckos, and bearded dragons. Someone who specializes in snakes and larger lizards may not know as much about how to properly care for leopard geckos. This is why it's always important to do research online. You'll find much better and more accurate information from leopard gecko forums like this where hobbyists and breeders have kept their leopard geckos for many many years.

As for the vets, if anything they will be able to tell you whether or not your gecko is truly impacted. Without seeing belly pictures it's really hard for us to tell either. We can only go by the information you've given us so far.

[cricket4u]

Originally Posted by Doveston7

it's 30-32.

The wood chippings are the same as all three local reptile specialists use in the area.

Are vets able to do anything if she is impacted?

It can also be related to your temperatures. The temperatures should be 32.5-35 C on the warm side to 21 C on the cool side. What are you using to measure the temperatures?

[Doveston7]

shes got a microclimate thermostat aimed at 31. The probe is in here main hide ontop of the heatmat. I also have a temp gauge to keep a manual eye on things.

I've booked her in for a vets appointment tomorrow morning. My main concern now is how much a vet can do for an internal issue on a small animal. Stress alone can kill them. Let alone any kind of surgery.

As I said above she's still pretty active and happy to eat...

[cricket4u]

Originally Posted by Doveston7

shes got a microclimate thermostat aimed at 31. The probe is in here main hide ontop of the heatmat. I also have a temp gauge to keep a manual eye on things.

I've booked her in for a vets appointment tomorrow morning. My main concern now is how much a vet can do for an internal issue on a small animal. Stress alone can kill them. Let alone any kind of surgery.

As I said above she's still pretty active and happy to eat...

We don't know for sure if she is impacted. 31c is low for digestion. The highest temp should be above the heat mat area where she lays her stomache. It's important she has the range of temperatures I posted above. There is a chance that is the problem.

[Nativeson]

Was the holiday meal worm diet more worms than she has had in the past? My point is, if the diet was changed that dramatically, stomach and digestion issues are certain to arise. She may just be having a difficult time with it. Mealworms are more difficult for leos to digest than crickets...just a thought. Keep up with the warm baths and massages.

As cricket4u said, try raising the temp up to the those recommended. That should help her along. Digestion and "belly" heat are a symbiotic relationship with leos.

Mardy hit the nail on the head in his post about the substrate so i won't repeat it!! I believe you would have trouble finding any reputable leopard breeder or specialist that uses any loose substrate. Just my 2 cents, best of luck and let us know what happens.

Patrick

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[Doveston7]

Its the middle of the night here. I couldn't sleep worrying about her.

I've come in and she's taken what I can only describe as a horse size dump. Again seems active.

She's not had mealworms before in any great number, so Nativeson is probably on the ball here.

I'm going to up the temp under the mat to 35.

Having considered she's impacted I went out and purchased some calcium sand.

There's endless threads online regarding what kind of substrate to use. The calcium sands digestible and got calcium in it so seems a good bet. Cricket4u any chance of linking me to a site that sells the kind of tiles your talking about so I can check them out and make sure I'm not looking at the wrong type of thing. I've read tiles can scrape on their claws so dont want to use the wrong stuff if I do go with tiles.

thanks all for the help