My first Leopard gecko
- Thread starter Pokeefe88
- Start date
Pokeefe88
New member
But she's barely two months! :? :shock: How would that be possible? She's about 14.5 grams... I doubt she's sexually mature, isnt that around 45 g? What age do they sexually mature at? I've only read in regards to weight.
Well if they are what do I have to do to help prepare her? I need a humid hide, the paper towel one I have is okay right? I mist it everyday, will the eggs be fertile? Do I have to do anything special?
Mardy
New member
Sexual maturity comes usually after 6-8 months, some people go by weight and say they can mate at 40-45g. There's no way she's sexually mature at that age & weight.
I honestly can't tell what they are, but I don't think they are eggs. If you notice the location, eggs usually are higher than where your gecko's "white" spots are. They look like urates, poop, and other body organs.
Check this: Photos: Gravid Female vs. Ovulating Female - GeckoForums.net
Also: The Learning Center - Breeding Leopard Geckos
Edit: As for whether they are "normal" or not, I have no idea.
I honestly can't tell what they are, but I don't think they are eggs. If you notice the location, eggs usually are higher than where your gecko's "white" spots are. They look like urates, poop, and other body organs.
Check this: Photos: Gravid Female vs. Ovulating Female - GeckoForums.net
Also: The Learning Center - Breeding Leopard Geckos
Edit: As for whether they are "normal" or not, I have no idea.
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TheOneBlueGecko
New member
A vet visit will be a bit stressful, but if you go to an exotic animal vet that deals with reptiles they should be pretty good about handling them. My gecko, who I had never held, went to the vet and he picked her up to handle and feed some medicine to. She was just find afterwards.
So, yes, a little bit stressful, but there should not be some long term issue from it.
Pokeefe88
New member
Alright thanks for all of the info and advice! I have a vet apt. tomorrow so I will address it to him, I found out that the vet I am going to takes care of the secretary's leo so that's a plus.
I would say its feesible that she could be ovalating but they are very circular and not so oblong like the eggs I have seen. Thanks for the links Marty.
I assume that the vet trip will be as stressful as her coming to my home so all in all I will give her space until dinner time once we get home. I made it for later in the day so that she would be more alert/not cranky
I would say its feesible that she could be ovalating but they are very circular and not so oblong like the eggs I have seen. Thanks for the links Marty.
I assume that the vet trip will be as stressful as her coming to my home so all in all I will give her space until dinner time once we get home. I made it for later in the day so that she would be more alert/not cranky
Pokeefe88
New member
A Quick, possibly stupid question. In her humid hide, its a used food container I have paper towels down. At the entrance is a yellow stain however I tried turning the paper towels 180 degrees and that stain is no longer there but there is one at the entrance, is that pee? Or is it something with the water?
Thanks in advance. Finally did my full tank clean today, I was putting it off for awhile.
I will let you know what the vet says about her belly. :yawn:
Night
Thanks in advance. Finally did my full tank clean today, I was putting it off for awhile.
I will let you know what the vet says about her belly. :yawn:
Night
TheOneBlueGecko
New member
The yellow stain on the paper towel is probably just because it got wet and dried in the heat of the tank, that is what happens.
Pokeefe88
New member
You're definitely starting out as an amazing owner
Keep it up! Pretty soon, you'll be on here giving everyone else the tips!
Thanks so much! :yahoo: I hope so. I feel that I just need to gain the confidence of experience that equals the knowledge I have gathered over the months.
Pokeefe88
New member
Thats what I was thinking but she's been in there a lot lately and I would hate to think it wasn't pee and then find out it really was. So thank you!
Pokeefe88
New member
Back from the Vet
Got back from the vet just now, she was a trooper! Barely struggled but he was trying to look at her belly and she was very curious of her carrier, the container I got her in which is like a deli salad container the 1 lb
The vet said she is doing great, that her first shed had come off completely and that she was looking very healthy if not a bit chubby apparently I'm feeding her too much so I have to cut down the food intake. Lol she's been eating around 30 mealworms and crickets everytime i feed her so the vet said to cut it down to 15 as her belly is a bit plump. She's 17g :fight: also he looked at her belly said it was her GI track and fat stores and such. No eggs or ovulation going on, phew :razz:
They gave me a care folder all about Leopard geckos which is pretty awesome and actually a more knowledgeable then I thought they would be from all of things I have read about vets. They gave me a picture of how to setup the viv. for her which is pretty neat and I would have loved that when I still researching how to set mine up. Much more then I expected from them!
The only thing he said I should do besides cutting back on her food is to add a UVB/A light for a few hours of the day so that its possible for her to absorb it through her hide and such. He did say that my dusting regiment however was proof that she is quite healthy without it.
Just waiting for the fecal test results :fight: Which I am hoping/assuming they will be fine
Got back from the vet just now, she was a trooper! Barely struggled but he was trying to look at her belly and she was very curious of her carrier, the container I got her in which is like a deli salad container the 1 lb
The vet said she is doing great, that her first shed had come off completely and that she was looking very healthy if not a bit chubby apparently I'm feeding her too much so I have to cut down the food intake. Lol she's been eating around 30 mealworms and crickets everytime i feed her so the vet said to cut it down to 15 as her belly is a bit plump. She's 17g :fight: also he looked at her belly said it was her GI track and fat stores and such. No eggs or ovulation going on, phew :razz:
They gave me a care folder all about Leopard geckos which is pretty awesome and actually a more knowledgeable then I thought they would be from all of things I have read about vets. They gave me a picture of how to setup the viv. for her which is pretty neat and I would have loved that when I still researching how to set mine up. Much more then I expected from them!
The only thing he said I should do besides cutting back on her food is to add a UVB/A light for a few hours of the day so that its possible for her to absorb it through her hide and such. He did say that my dusting regiment however was proof that she is quite healthy without it.
Just waiting for the fecal test results :fight: Which I am hoping/assuming they will be fine
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Yoshi'smom
New member
Good News!!!!!
mrleostar92
New member
Great!!!!!!!!
Pokeefe88
New member
Fecal Results
So the fecal came back it, she has round worms and coccidia I have to try to force feed her medicine. She has albon for the round worm and Panacur for the coccidia or vice versa. Im really glad that I got the fecal done and I hope she wont hate me for giving her the meds. She isnt hand tame yet and I think this wont help much :sad: She also didnt eat last night, Im not sure why but she's been a really healthy eater so I think she will be okay, if she eats tonight I will let you know
So the fecal came back it, she has round worms and coccidia
I have to try to force feed her medicine. She has albon for the round worm and Panacur for the coccidia or vice versa. Im really glad that I got the fecal done and I hope she wont hate me for giving her the meds. She isnt hand tame yet and I think this wont help much :sad: She also didnt eat last night, Im not sure why but she's been a really healthy eater so I think she will be okay, if she eats tonight I will let you know
TheOneBlueGecko
New member
Things like medicine can make your gecko feel poorly, so that could be why your gecko did not eat today.
When you are treating something like coccidia you really want to work on preventing reinfection. That means replacing the substrate all the time. If you have your gecko on something like paper towels I would replace it every day. Meal worms are not so much of a problem, but when feeding your gecko crickets there is a chance they can eat some of the poop in the cage and reintroduce whatever is making your gecko sick.
When you are treating something like coccidia you really want to work on preventing reinfection. That means replacing the substrate all the time. If you have your gecko on something like paper towels I would replace it every day. Meal worms are not so much of a problem, but when feeding your gecko crickets there is a chance they can eat some of the poop in the cage and reintroduce whatever is making your gecko sick.
Pokeefe88
New member
A few questions about the 'hospital setup'
How many layers of paper tower will I need? I have a dimmer thermostat but she is on slate tiles right now.
I put mealworms in a dish and I feed in a seperate container that I rinse after each use. I dont leave crickets or worms to run about.
I fed her 10 crickets tonight with cal plus D3.
I havent given her the meds yet because I forgot to ask if they could be given together and I dont want to do this wrong, First leopard gecko and first force feeding so Im anxious about it.
Here's what my new setup will be like while she is sick/infected: Papertowels, humid hide, warm hide, cool hide, worm dish, water, calcium. I will tank out the slate tiles tonight before i put her back in her tank. Did I miss anything?
I havent had time to look up the symptoms of either, is there anything i should look out for? I would research tonight but i have to wake up in 6 hrs for work and I've been running erends all day.
Edit: Will she transfer any of her parasites to me? Also Should I wash before and after I touch her/anything of hers?
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TheOneBlueGecko
New member
You really want to make sure she is not losing too much weight, that is the key thing. You said that your gecko's weight was fine, so if she does not eat for a couple of days when being treated I would not worry right away. Force feeding her medicine is stressful enough, I would not force feed her food until her weight starting being a problem.
When I was working on my gecko (she had crypto (this was a guess from the vet as it takes a more expensive test to test for it and she was really too far gone at that point), which is basically a death sentence) I made sure that there were clean paper towels after I saw her poop each time. If you are putting them on your slate they really need to only be a layer thick. If you are taking out the slate it only needs to be a layer thick, though over the UTH you probably want more layers.
It is best if your clean out the hides and dishes frequently. I would rinse the water dish and food dish every day. The others I would clean once a week. The hard thing is to balance keeping things clean with not stressing your gecko too much. But you want to make sure that at least the poop is cleaned up as quickly as possible.
If you are feeding in and outside container that is better, but you still want to clean up the poop frequently. (Which is good practice in general). Theoretically you should sanitize the tank after they poop every time, but I think that can make it way too stressful.
When I was working on my gecko (she had crypto (this was a guess from the vet as it takes a more expensive test to test for it and she was really too far gone at that point), which is basically a death sentence) I made sure that there were clean paper towels after I saw her poop each time. If you are putting them on your slate they really need to only be a layer thick. If you are taking out the slate it only needs to be a layer thick, though over the UTH you probably want more layers.
It is best if your clean out the hides and dishes frequently. I would rinse the water dish and food dish every day. The others I would clean once a week. The hard thing is to balance keeping things clean with not stressing your gecko too much. But you want to make sure that at least the poop is cleaned up as quickly as possible.
If you are feeding in and outside container that is better, but you still want to clean up the poop frequently. (Which is good practice in general). Theoretically you should sanitize the tank after they poop every time, but I think that can make it way too stressful.
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Pokeefe88
New member
I took out the slate b/c i dont have bleach to sanitize it, I have about 3 layers of paper towels, Im trying to figure out the thermostat w/ the heat setting but its a pain in the @$$ because of the paper towels instead of slate. Should i have it hot like 93 day/night or keep to my 91-95 f day and about 85 night?
I washed everything out except the water dish as I did that yesterday with a 3:1 solution of vinegar water. I only put in 3 mealworms, I have 3 hides. Also put in new paper towel for her humid hide, should I change that often too? Its where she spends most of her time.
Will she transfer her parasites to me or my pets (cats and dogs)? Should I wash my hands after touching/cleaning something?
I take out the poo everyday and it has a folded paper towel to keep the slate cleanish, I also added the folded paper towel to the paper towel substrate.
She is about 17g at 2 months, I was apparently over feeding her with about 30 small crickets and 30 or more small mealworms every day so I went up to regular sized mealworms and I now feed her 10 - 15 of either everyday.
Can I put the medicine on her nose so that she will lick it up? Or should I put it in her mouth? Also should I buy some chicken baby food to force feed her or I shouldnt worry about that unless she loses 5 grams or more? Should I keep to trying to weigh her once a week? Sunday is my chosen day.
Thanks for everything, I really wish I had thought of to plan for parasites and what to do in case I had a gecko with them. Oh well crash courses are always so fun! :roll:
Thanks for everything! I'm really trying, I got some hand sanitizer so I will use that after I touch her or something just so I dont spread the worms.
I washed everything out except the water dish as I did that yesterday with a 3:1 solution of vinegar water. I only put in 3 mealworms, I have 3 hides. Also put in new paper towel for her humid hide, should I change that often too? Its where she spends most of her time.
Will she transfer her parasites to me or my pets (cats and dogs)? Should I wash my hands after touching/cleaning something?
I take out the poo everyday and it has a folded paper towel to keep the slate cleanish, I also added the folded paper towel to the paper towel substrate.
She is about 17g at 2 months, I was apparently over feeding her with about 30 small crickets and 30 or more small mealworms every day so I went up to regular sized mealworms and I now feed her 10 - 15 of either everyday.
Can I put the medicine on her nose so that she will lick it up? Or should I put it in her mouth? Also should I buy some chicken baby food to force feed her or I shouldnt worry about that unless she loses 5 grams or more? Should I keep to trying to weigh her once a week? Sunday is my chosen day.
Thanks for everything, I really wish I had thought of to plan for parasites and what to do in case I had a gecko with them
. Oh well crash courses are always so fun! :roll:Thanks for everything! I'm really trying, I got some hand sanitizer so I will use that after I touch her or something just so I dont spread the worms.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
I once heard someone say that they placed the slate tiles in the dishwasher to sanitize. Have you a dishwasher?
I would change the moist paper towels in the humid hide often too. Do those parasites lay eggs?
I would wash my hands before and after handling your leo and the cage furnishings. Could you ask your vet's office about the likelihood of infecting self and other pets and then report back?
It will be great (I think) if she will lick the medicine off her nose. That way you can be assured that she is getting it. The medicine, itself, could reduce her appetite.
Sorry, I am chiming in on this thread a bit late. Has she not been eating? No harm in trying the Gerber's chicken baby food if she is off her regular food.
Weighing her once weekly is good, just so you know. Be sure to place a piece of plastic on the scales so she does not leave any germs there.
I would change the moist paper towels in the humid hide often too. Do those parasites lay eggs?
I would wash my hands before and after handling your leo and the cage furnishings. Could you ask your vet's office about the likelihood of infecting self and other pets and then report back?
It will be great (I think) if she will lick the medicine off her nose. That way you can be assured that she is getting it. The medicine, itself, could reduce her appetite.
Sorry, I am chiming in on this thread a bit late. Has she not been eating? No harm in trying the Gerber's chicken baby food if she is off her regular food.
Weighing her once weekly is good, just so you know. Be sure to place a piece of plastic on the scales so she does not leave any germs there.
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