Oily/wet stain around his poop

[IHaveNoIdea]

Hello, there is an oily, maybe wet (I don't wanna touch it) stain on a papertowel around my gecko's poo. I don't think it has ever happened before. Should I worry about it? My brother fed him some waxworms yesterday (without telling me) and I know they are really fatty, might it be caused by them?

Oh and, by the way, he shedded his skin twice in two weeks, is it normal?

 

[kholtme]

It could be from dried urine on the paper towel, my note cards get stained and i think its the same as you are describing. its nothing to worry about, its just evaporated urine that discolored the paper towel. If he is a younger gecko shedding twice in two weeks isnt a problem. He just is growing.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

Okay, thank you.

 

[amsdadtodd]

I had the same concern with one of my females. For some reason she just passes more urine than the rest of my leo's. It very well can be diet related, when I feed her hornworms there is definitely more of it than mealworms or crickets. But, it certainly is good that you are paying attention to their output, that's often the first indication of a problem!

 

[CrestedL]

Perhaps urate?

 

[kholtme]

CrestedL, Urate is a white solid shaped like poop, Leopard geckos pass poop, urate, and urine, sometimes more urine than other times.

 

[CrestedL]

Oh oh sorry my bad

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I'm sorry, but what is the difference between urate and urine?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I'm sorry, but what is the difference between urate and urine?

With normal feces/poop you'll see a white solid mass that is usually attached to the feces. That's the urate. It's usually about 1/3 the size of the feces.

Healthy urates are pure white.

Urine is liquid. It's easy to see the stain from urine if you leave a folded paper towel in the poop corner.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

Okay, thanks. I didn't even know that they urine. I thought their urine forms up into urate, so there is absolutely no liquid coming out of them. Like I said, this is the first time I see the stain on the towel.
The urate is pure white and when I have started to feed him roaches again his poop has gotten really big

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hello, there is an oily, maybe wet (I don't wanna touch it) stain on a papertowel around my gecko's poo. I don't think it has ever happened before. Should I worry about it? My brother fed him some waxworms yesterday (without telling me) and I know they are really fatty, might it be caused by them?

Oh and, by the way, he shedded his skin twice in two weeks, is it normal?

Juicy feeders (like hornworms, waxworms, and so on) will cause "loose" poops and more urine.

Waxworms are not very healthy, even for variety, even for a "treat". Are hornworms sold where you live? Phoenix/calci/reptiworms (black soldier fly larvae) are very good, but some leos will not eat them. They are very small, high calcium worms.

I recommend trying them out especially for young leos.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I know, I should't use them. My brother did so without telling me.

Sadly, there isn't a large variety of insects sold over here. Blatta lateralis is the most exotic bug I could find. So I feed him exclusively those. They are at the same time really expensive too, so I guess I will stick to crickets again after these will be eaten. They have mealworms (I don't wanna use them because of impaction risk) and zophobas (which seems too big for my gecko) too.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Okay, thanks. I didn't even know that they urine. I thought their urine forms up into urate, so there is absolutely no liquid coming out of them. Like I said, this is the first time I see the stain on the towel.
The urate is pure white and when I have started to feed him roaches again his poop has gotten really big

Excellent on the pure white urates! "Stained" urates could indicate problems.

Feeding freshly molted roaches is best. Older ones contain more chitin and are harder to digest.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I try to pick the males and the females leave alive. The males look like they have no chitin at all.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I know, I should't use them. My brother did so without telling me.

Sadly, there isn't a large variety of insects sold over here. Blatta lateralis is the most exotic bug I could find. So I feed him exclusively those. They are at the same time really expensive too, so I guess I will stick to crickets again after these will be eaten. They have mealworms (I don't wanna use them because of impaction risk) and zophobas (which seems too big for my gecko) too.

Well fed crickets make very good feeders! Freshly shed mealworms are fine once in awhile.

 

[amsdadtodd]

Those roaches you are using are very easy to breed, if you are so inclined. I have an active colony which is self-replenishing at a perfect rate for my 4 leo's, as well as excess to give to friends, and it does not take up too much space.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

Thats great, would you give me some info? I have about 100pcs in my colony. I put some egg cartons inside plastic opaque box and water bottle with some holes in it. What should I feed them and how much? I use mostly apples because of their high moisture and I put a small tomato there too, but they didn't like it.
Should I feed my gecko males and leave the females alive? Or the opposite? Or just the babies?
Here is a picture of my colony. By the way.. meet Mr. Spanky. (Look at that beautiful poop behind him :lol: )

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi ~

Here's a link for making Blaptica dubia tubs.

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...dubia-roach-set.html?highlight=cleaning+dubia

How to keep them is right here. Sorry, I don't have time right now to type that.

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ckets-blaptica-dubia-hornworms-silkworms.html

 

[amsdadtodd]

you're doing pretty similar to what I do, minus the water bottle. I use flukers water gel in a petri dish in the corner. Toilet paper tubes are a good addition as well. I also put adult bearded dragon food in the corner, the gobble it up! Fruit is always a good idea, just don't let it sit long enough to get moldy. If you keep them at 80 degrees or above, the females will start to look their back ends are going to explode, then an egg pod will pop out, about a quarter inch long and dark brown. Once these start hitting the floor you will start seeing babies all over the place.

I feed my leo's on about 1/2 to 3/4 sized roaches and they gobble them right up. The only time I use full grown roaches is when I feel I have to many adult males, I'll cull them out and feed them to my two males.

Todd

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

Alright, so just the small ones. The temps I keep them at are too low, I will have to figure it out somehow. There are lots of eggs though, will small roaches pop out of them even at low temps? The bottle is there to raise the humidity, I read that they like it humid. I don't wanna spend money on the water gel, that's why I feed them fresh fruit. They should get enough moisture out of it.