Reason for death :'(

[Kazska]

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted on here in a while but I could really do with your opinion.
I've just found one of my leos dead in her cage. She's been happily housed with 3 other females ever since I've had her (5 years). The only clue I can find as to what has happened is bruising/ signs of possible internal bleeding on her stomach. It wasn't hard so I don't think it was impactation, plus I've seen her feeding over the last few days. She was lying on the cool side of the tank, not sure if that could mean anything. I've attched a couple of photos, sorry to those who might not be comfortable seeing them.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Kaz x

 

[Mardy]

What do you feed? What's your supplement routine like? How's your husbandry? Did you notice any behavioral changes with that gecko recently? Was she ever bred?

 

[Conched]

There do not appear to be any signs externally that would relate to an injury. How long have the darker areas been visible on her abdomen ? There appears to be some sort of organ failure.

You would have to perform a necropsy if you really want to know. Because you have several others in the group it might be worthwhile.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Kazska]

She was fed mainly on a diet of meal worms with the odd box of locusts and wax worms every couple of weeks. She had a constant supply of calcium powder and her food was dusted once every couple of weeks (depending on how often the food in their bowl needed re-filling/swapping). Didn't notice any behavioural changes, and I don't know how long the marks had been their for. I've been so busy at work the last couple of weeks I've had no time to get them out to handle. What do you mean by husbandry? She had never been bred.

Thank you for helping me to figure this out. Still a bit shocked.

 

[Muffins94]

Any way she could have suffered a fall? They can be clumsy while climbing up decor and housing. Also, have you witnessed any buying between the females? While females usually get along, at any given moment that can change, even for no reason at times. Housing seperately is best so you can monitor them all seperately.

 

[Mardy]

Reason I asked about supplement is because vitamin D overdose can be fatal. Are you using calcium with or without D3 in the tank? Also what are you using as the dusting supplement?

As for husbandry, I mean their enclosure, your tank setup. What temperature do you keep them at, both floor and air temperature? Do you have multiple moist hides for your geckos since you house multiples? What substrate do you keep them on? etc...

 

[Kazska]

There is a possibility she could have fallen. I have a set of wooden stairs in the tank (find image attached).

There is a dish of calcium powder in there constantly, like I said I usually only dust their food only when I'm putting fresh food in so once in a while. I switch up between Neutrobal and Repton dusting suppliments.
Just checked the viv and their 'hot' end is around 90.5F and the air is 23C.
They have 1 wet hide, they very rarely shed at the same time. But they have pleanty of room for hiding/sleeping separately. I've noticed a couple of harmless nips in the past, usually during 'treat' time when I'm handing out wax worms but nothing too aggressive.
Also, they're substrate is slate tile.View attachment 24293