Leopard Gecko with VERY watery stool!

[ilikepie]

I've head my Leopard gecko, Charlie, for about 6 months now.When i first got him he had pin worms and we quickly treated him with dewormer. This morning I cleaned out his cage and in the corned where he usually poops there was a bid wet puddle near his stood. I cleaned his cage put, I use paper towels as a substrate, and left him alone. When I came back there was a VERY small pile of only brown poop, instead of white and brown, and a puddle, a bit bigger than a quarter, around it. I read online that it is either from him drinking too much water, which doesn't seem likely to me, or that he has parasites. I also read that is could be that the crickets I give him get in his poop before he eats them. If this is the case, how do I fix this? And if it is that he has parasites, which i would take him to the vet for, what will happen to him?! Please help I really don't want Charlie to die!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi ~

Welcome to Geckos Unlimited.

Please share some husbandry info so we can better help.

• What are the ground temperatures as measured with a digital thermometer with a probe under the warm dry hide? Cool end ground temps?
• # of hides?
• What do you feed your leo?
• Powdered supplements you use?

 

[ilikepie]

I feed him about 10 crickets every night, he doesn't eat them all usually but i leave them in his cage for him to get later, i powder them in calcium most every night and use vitamin powder on them sometimes as well. right now the ground temperature in his tank is 76.5 but thats in the back by his light. It looks like it might be too cold possibly. it also looks like there may be blooding the small brown pile!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I feed him about 10 crickets every night, he doesn't eat them all usually but i leave them in his cage for him to get later, i powder them in calcium most every night and use vitamin powder on them sometimes as well. right now the ground temperature in his tank is 76.5 but thats in the back by his light. It looks like it might be too cold possibly.

All supplements are different. Please share their exact names. I would generally not suggest dusting with powdered supplements at every feeding. Many times that would be too much.

• What size tank?
• How old is he?
• Does he have an UTH (under tank heat mat)? Leos need belly heat for proper digestion.

Uneaten crickets should be removed from the tank after about an hour. They might nibble on your leo and stress him out.

You want a ground temperature of 88-92ish under the warm dry hide.

Please watch this video as an introduction. Click the Leopard Gecko Setup and then click the arrow.

 

[ilikepie]

its a 15 gallon tank, he may be around one year only now, the pet store we got him from claimed that he was months so we don't know how old for sure. his supplements are"Fluker's calcium with vitamin D3" and 'rep-cal herptivite with beta carotene multivitamins. His crickets eat "Flucker's high calcium cricket diet" and sometimes Flucker's orange cube complete cricket diet." the ground temperature right now is 74.5, he doesn't have a ground heater. I do have a digital thermometer though, that is how i me sure the temp. How do i remove the crickets from his tank?! And also we do not know for sure if he is for sure a boy. Please help. I just replaced his day light, and the temperature is slowly increasing.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Great with the digital thermometer. The probe can easily monitor ground temps.

Your 15 gallon is 24 inches long? If so, you'll be able to get a good thermal gradient. I'd get an 11 x 11 inch heat mat. Flukers and Ultratherm make ones that size that can be reused. The Zoo Med UTHs come with adhesive and cannot be reused.

• Stick the UTH underneath the tank with aluminum tape just on one end.
• It's a good idea to use rough ceramic tile or paper towels as the substrate.
• If you use tiles, place a clean layer of play sand underneath the tiles to even out the ridges and ensure good even heat conduction. (No hot spots.)

I'd buy some Zoo Med's plain (no D3) Reptivite multivitamin to use on different days than the Flukers D3 calcium. It's hard to find. I just ordered some plain Reptivite from Amazon. All you need is the 2 ounce container. The reason why is that Herptivite contains vitamin A via beta carotene. Studies have been done which show chameleons don't absorb vitamin A that way. They need vitamin A acetate.

When you run out of the Flukers D3 calcium, switch to Zoo Med's D3 Repti Calcium. Petco carries that.

The better the dry diet you feed the crickets and worms, the less you'll need to depend upon dusting. Zoo Med's Natural Adult Bearded Dragon Food makes a good dry diet for crickets. Just add a dish of a high calcium veggie on the side like collard greens.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Just have to catch the crickets with your hand. May have to remove some stuff to get them. I only throw in one or two at a time so he can catch those and just keep doing a couple so I don't have as many to catch if he doesn't eat. I would get a heat pad for the tank to help properly digest the food, they don't benefit from overhead heat sources.

 

[ilikepie]

Can the temperature of his tank effect the stool? because i am still very concerned with the blood tinted prtion and the water

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

At about 6 months old a leo can be sexed.

Click: Sexing Leopard Geckos

The temperature affects his digestion. You'd more likely see undigested cricket parts in the stool.

I don't think it would make stools runny. Maybe the pinworms are back?

 

[ilikepie]

His tank is 18 by 18 inches

 

[ilikepie]

If they are how soon do you think I should take him to a vet? And would the pinworms cause blood?

 

[ilikepie]

They could be, if they are pinworms though would they cause blood and/or the water? How soon should I take him to the vet? And if he ends up being a girl after all would that have anything to do with the blood??

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Please catch up on my edits above. We both love to edit! ;-)

Can the temperature of his tank effect the stool? because i am still very concerned with the blood tinted prtion and the water

The temperature will affect his stool like I mention above. If his stool was difficult to pass, that could account for blood. However, you say it's diarrhea.

I'm not a vet.

If you suspect parasites, I'd get him to the vet for proper meds. Then use paper towels changed often to prevent reinfection.

His tank is 18 by 18 inches

18 x 18 makes a hot side, cool side more difficult to achieve. Is that an Exo Terra?

Zoo Med makes an 8 x 12 inch UTH.

They could be, if they are pinworms though would they cause blood and/or the water? How soon should I take him to the vet? And if he ends up being a girl after all would that have anything to do with the blood??

Nope, female leos do not pass blood regularly like human females.

 

[ilikepie]

it is an exo terra, i am going out now to buy a UTH to keep him warm. And i now have an appointment with the vet for tuesday(that is the soonest i could get) just to make sure its not worms.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

How about sharing pictures of Charlie and his vivarium?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

it is an exo terra, i am going out now to buy a UTH to keep him warm. And i now have an appointment with the vet for tuesday(that is the soonest i could get) just to make sure its not worms.

Good for you! Leos find overhead lights stressful. Ceramic heat emitters only emit heat.

Generally you want the UTH mat to cover 1/2 the ground. It's just easier when the vivarium is long.

How are you doing for hides? Have they small openings to increase Charlie's security?

 

[ilikepie]

file:///Users/Chris/Desktop/IMG_3007.JPG I'm not sure this will work, my computer is having a hard time with pictures

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

file:///Users/Chris/Desktop/IMG_3007.JPG I'm not sure this will work, my computer is having a hard time with pictures

Nope, it didn't work.

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_posting_photos
Click: "Go Advanced" under the reply box
Click: Manage Attachments
Find pictures from your computer and upload them

OR

Upload your pictures to a free photobucket.com account
Grab the link they provide you
Then on GU click "insert image"
Then paste

 

[ilikepie]

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Good lookin' leo!

He'll benefit from 2 more hides: a warm dry hide and a warm moist hide. You can easily make a warm moist hide from a plastic container. I use my stairstep hide as my cool dry hide.



Here's my leo's home: 30 x 12 x 12 inches.