help - somethings wrong with my gecko!

[fr236]

Her poop is longer and browner - ? usually black.
She has suddenly done it in a wierd spot on the other side of her vivarium. However her original chosen spot was clean ( as shes so hygienic that when her usual toilet area has old sand she refuses to go on it and poops just outside it instead - however this time it is clean and she is going miles away in the opposite direction as if totally disorientated)
Her appetite has dramatically reduced for months now.
When she does eat more than three big crickets she sicks them up.
She seems unable to register crickets when they are right in front of her (or on her - I hate it when they are ballsey enough to climb on her head and she cant get them off)
She went into the wierdest long stare for ages - veryvery suddenly slowed down. I know she is very 'starey' by nature anyway but she use to be active and wander about by night, rustling in her vivarium.
Also I only recently noticed her toileting in the new spot so am worried i may have sprayed this area with water. I know there are dangers of water mixing with their pee/excrement and creating a toxic fume - I think?!
Does she need more attention - she doesn't get handled much these days as Im at university and my parents dont come into my room to see her much.She is quite old - I got her about 10 years ago.
Readng this now I am surprised of myself that I have not been to the vet yet.
Should I take her?
Please help!

 

[TheGeckoSanctuary]

Yes, it sounds like a vet visit is in order.

Can you tell us a little about her set-up? Size, substrate, number of hides, temps, etc.?

She might just be getting older but it could be something else and the loss of appetite and different bowel habits has me thinking that parasites could be involved.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

10 years isn't very old for a leo (if you got her as a juvenile). They can easily hit 15-20. Do you know what morph she is? Can you post pictures of her and her setup? Also, fill this out:

Gender:
Age:
Weight:
How big was the reptile when you first acquired it?
Source (pet store, breeder, previous owner):
Captive bred or wild caught?
Do you handle him? If so how often?

Enclosure:

Cage: type, size:
Substrate provided?
What types of hiding places are provided?
Is there a humidity hide? location?
Please describe any other furnishings:

Lighting:

Artificial lighting?
incandescent (“screw-in” bulbs): wattage(s) ?
fluorescent (tube bulbs)?

Temperature:

Do you have a thermometer(s) in the cage? what type?
What is the temperature in the warm part of the cage? under the warm hide? In the coolest part?
What device(s) are used to maintain the temperature? hot rock, UTH, heat light, ceramic heater, other:
Are you using a thermostat?
Which hide does she/he spend most of her time?

Is the temperature decreased at night? by how much?

Humidity:

Is the humidity measured? Range:


List other animals that are kept in the same cage:
Recent acquisitions (new pets within the past 6 months)
Are any of your other pets ill?
List recent changes in the environment, if any:

Diet:

Insects, list type?
Are they “gut loaded”? If so with?
How often do you feed your reptile?
Please list any supplements used. How are they given and how often?
What calcium brand are you using? with D3, without or both?
Is the calcium in the tank with D3 or without?
Multivitamins?

Please list any recent additions/changes in the diet:

If your reptile is sick, please describe the signs and how long your reptile has been showing these signs:
Is your reptile’s general activity level normal, decreased, or increased?
Is your reptile’s appetite normal, decreased, or increased?
Have you noticed any of the following?
Weight loss, Weight gain
Discharge from the eyes or nose
Increased breathing rate or effort
Change in the droppings
urates white or yellowish
Abnormal skin color or shedding
Parasites on the skin or in the feces
Weakness

~Maggot

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Please fill out the questionnaire Embrace Calamity just posted.

You mention sand. Very, very best to replace that with paper towels while you consider a ceramic or porcelain tile substrate. Even with older leos impaction is a risk.

 

[fr236]

Answers to questionaire

Gender:female
Age:around 12/13 years
Weight:58g
How big was the reptile when you first acquired it? about 14 cm
Source (pet store, breeder, previous owner): pet shop
Captive bred or wild caught? captive bred
Do you handle him? If so how often? handled not very often as I am now away at university

Enclosure:

Cage: type, size: glass front vivarium, 30x90 cm
Substrate provided? Calci-sand (pet shop guy said this was the best idea-?)
What types of hiding places are provided? one central, large, bark shelter with another level of bark on top (she used to climb up and use both levels but now rarely leaves her lowet hideout.
Is there a humidity hide? location? When she was young and had trouble shedding she had a vermiculite hide (no longer)
Please describe any other furnishings: There is also further leafage, rocks and a log. Basking rocks, a toilet, a drinking water dish, a mulit-vit dish, a water bath for maintaining humidity to help her shed


Lighting:
Artificial lighting?
incandescent (“screw-in” bulbs): yes wattage(s): ranges from 9 to 15 watts.


Temperature:

Do you have a thermometer(s) in the cage? Yes.
What is the temperature in the warm part of the cage? under the warm hide? Its so cold here in the UK so 24-28 degrees despite the light and heatmat being on. In the coolest part? we have no thermometer in the coolest part.

What device(s) are used to maintain the temperature?: heat mat, light which is 9watts which my dad says are fine- we sometimes use 15 watts - would these be better?
Are you using a thermostat? yes.
Which hide does she/he spend most of her time? she has only one big one in the centre which she is reluctant to leave thesedays, she used to go for a wander at night and be happy to be out hunting in the vivarium


No other pets. No changes have occured in our house.

Diet:
Fed on Black and brown crickets which are fed on weetabix, carrot, potato peelings. I have heard of a gel for crickets rather than water - is it work tracking track some down - ?
For a treat or when she seems to have trouble keeping crickets down we buy her wax worms but not often as theyre fatty and sold in a shop about an hour away.
I'm not totally sure what this means but I don't think we 'gut-load' the crickets.
How often do you feed your reptile? she is rarely hungry - wont eat when we put crickets in front of her - so less than once a week which I know sounds terrible .
Using Nutrobal calcium balancer and multivit supplement - with calcium D3




Please list any recent additions/changes in the diet:

Is your reptile’s general activity level normal, decreased, or increased? Seemingly decreased though it is cold here in the UK and she is often less active in winter.
Is your reptile’s appetite normal, decreased, or increased?
Yes decreased
Have you noticed any of the following?
weight loss: Yes
Droppings:Is it normal that they look like crickets just digested rather than like actual droppings? Also as I said before there been a change in where she is pooing (on the opposite side of her cage from her toilet area - as though she is diorientated?)
urates white or yellowish: Very little urate: sometimes white, today had a yellow coating
Some Weakness/ slowness

Eating and moving less as well as vomiting up crickets has been occuring for a year now on and off. Sometimes she seems to recover and so we don't take her to a vet as she seems happier suddenly. This winter as it is so cold she seems worse

Thankyou for your help!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Temps way too low for adequate digestion need:
31-34 C right on top of heat mat
warm air about 6 inches above heat mat no greater than 29.5 C
cool air about 6 inches off ground no greater than 25 C

Remove multivitamin and calc with D3 from tank right away. Chance of toxicity with free access. Pure calcium carbonate goes in small bottlecap in tank 24/7. Other supplements are generally lightly dusted 2x weekly.

? weetabix

Calci-sand is the worst of the sands. Bad to get a leopard gecko accustomed to licking sand to get calcium! Switch right away to paper towels. Strongly recommend ceramic or porcelain tiles for many reasons.

Waxworms are never good...way too fatty. Like humans eating brie.

Have you access to hornworms? My leo just tried some. They are high in calcium and soft-bodied.

 

[fr236]

Im not sure why the temp is so low - shall I up the light wattage? I dont know how to get the temp up - our house has a log fire so this doesnt reach my bedroom.
Perhaps all this time the heatmat is broken - i.e. giving out less heat (not off completely) When it has been up to 34 degrees in summer though she doesnt seem to like it - she has escaped through the gap in her window we leave for air to circulate. she cant stand the heat so climbs up a shrub and I found her landed in a (luckily open) sock draw directly below the vivarium.

We feed her wax worms very rarely so no need to worry about that (she hasnt had them in over a year) - but good to know just how bad they are. The pet shop man seemed to think all these things eg calcified sand is a good idea and that geckos can be fed either wax worms/ crickets- im slightly furious that Ive been given such crummy advice. who knows how bad a condition she could have been in if we had just fed her wax worms.:-x

Are the ceramix tiles crushed into a sand? are they just fixed whole to the bottom of the tank? -she will be sliding about on her claws
im worried if theyre crushed she will be used to swallowing sand and end up swallowing porcelein which cant be good! How thick should the paper towel be layers be?

so just calcium carbonate in a little dish 24hrs? - does this not have a risk of toxicity also?
i will google to see if i can get some hornworms - are they like mealworms? -

Weetabix is like the crickets' substrate and they can munch it too - its a british product i guess - its like a cereal - maybe you know wheatbiscuits ?

Lastly do you think she is impacted by the sand internally?

Thanks for the fantastic advice - you must think I am a terrible owner

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

We all gotta learn. Me too, of course.

Click on the title, not the arrow:
Leopard Gecko Setup - YouTube

 

[cassicat4]

Thanks for the fantastic advice - you must think I am a terrible owner

I think everyone is guilty of following pet store advice at one point or another before they learned and knew better. This doesn't make you terrible, it just makes you uninformed. The fact that you sought out a knowledgeable forum and are following the advice provided in order to improve your gecko's care and life is what makes you a very good owner. Kudos to you.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Cassi's right. Don't worry about it, hun. As a kid I bought not one but two crested geckos and followed pet store advice, and they both died. It was many years later before I tried again with a leopard gecko and did research outside of the pet store. I'm still kind of angry at myself, but the reality of it is, people who don't know better would have no idea about not trusting pet store people. They seem knowledgeable, certainly more than we are, so why wouldn't we? No one here will hold making that mistake against you, since many of us have done the very same thing. The important thing is that you seek real advice and make the changes necessary, and that's what makes you a good owner.

~Maggot

 

[XoVictoryXo]

? weetabix

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

fr236 ~

You're welcome about the advice .

How does her belly feel?

Update?