Juvenile leopard gecko do I need to see a vet

M

Moxie

New member
Hello, so I'm not sure if this is normal or if I need to seek a vet.
I took in a not so healthy juvenile Leo about a month ago.
10 gallon tank with a hot hide over a UTH with temps of about 94-90 in the hide, has a humid hide on the hot side and 2 cool hides. My Leo hides in the hot hide constantly but will roam around and is very social but a bit skittish. Substrate is reptile carpet and is cleaned weekly. So my Leo would not eat when first taken in. After about 5 days of rejecting food I tried waxworks and had a huge success. After about 2 days of waxworms I had my first poop, mainly runny and had a bit of yellow mucus in it. So I was very concerned but didn't want to disrupt her just yet with a vet visit seeing as she was very stressed. She began eating mealies 2-3 a day and then the poop was still runny and foul. After about 2 weeks she was eating 10-13 mealies dusted with calcium and vitamins out of a bowl and started to perk up. However her current poops are now very flaky and contain pieces of chitin in them. She is slowly gaining weight and seems healthy however I am concerned by her previouse behavior and her current stools.
I am now attempting to feed her small dubias roaches to see if maybe the mealworms were too hard on her stomach. I am a bit worried still and am just curiouser if this type of behavior and stool is normal from a gecko that was malnourished and incredibly stressed when I got her. And help would be appreciated.
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
Firstly, Thank you for taking the time to help her along. She sounds like she needed you.
As far as behavior, it sounds about normal for a leopard gecko adjusting to a new home.
What are the ground temperatures? If they aren't warm enough, it could be the reason why you are seeing not fully digested mealies in her stool. Leopard geckos need belly heat of about 92F to properly digest their food. In addition, it should be mentioned that mealworms are high in chitin and a little harder for leopard geckos to digest.
I'd not get too worried right away. Just keep an eye on her and keep feeding. Make sure the temperatures are correct and let her settle in.
 
M

Moxie

New member
Well I was using a digital laser thermometer and getting the readings of 95-90 in the hot hide I know she feels safer in that hide so i setup a gradient so she didn't have too leave it too often. She usually sleeps on the cooler half of her hot hide but after she eats she will go in farther to be even warmer. I'm just a bit concerned she might have crypto but I doubt she would improve so fast given how bad of shape she was in. Have you ever heard of stress and malnourishment causing runny stools with mucus? She must have gone well over a week without eating and is probably close to 3 months of age. Her tail is also a bit smaller than her neck but started out almost rail thin.
 
M

Moxie

New member
I figured as much and I'm sure your right.
Thank you for putting my mind at ease I'm like an over protective father with my little guys. Hopefully she gets better and grows big and fat like my other two. Before I take her out of quarantine in 4-6 months they will all get tests done.
Thanks again!
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
Read that link that I shared, it's a good read on other health issues to look out for. Have you checked for signs of MBD?
 
M

Moxie

New member
I have been constantly checking every aspect of her health and have not noticed too much out of the normal except for the dry flaky chitin filled poop. I have been dusting all food with calcium powder with d3 and a multi vitamin. Since so little of it sticks to the mealworms I was feeding I would just put the 50/50 mix in the bottom of the foodbowl about a 1/10th of an inch deep if that. She has calcium in her tank that I noticed her licking a few times. She has only shed once at it took her a while but once she figured out her cool hide was rougher and would pull the skin off better it took her about 2-3 minutes to get it all off. She has eaten about 12 of the smallish dubias. They were just under dime sized. No idea where she puts it all. I will read that link. I love to learn and make sure I'm providing optimal care for my little guys.
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
Perhaps you're dusting prey too often. It's recommend to dust about twice a week.
Too much calcium in a leopard geckos diet can have the effects of reverse MBD.
I also don't advise leaving calcium in the tank 24/7 for the above stated reason. I only do so in my laying females (crested and gargoyle) tanks as they need the extra calcium while laying.
Dubia's are a great food source! Lots of protein and easier to digest. Sounds like she likes them! :)
 
M

Moxie

New member
Ok I'll cut back on the dusting, I was planning too since roaches seem to hold ALOT more of it. I just wanted to make sure she had a good bit for a couple weeks since she was probably pretty deprived. I would like to keep that bowl in there just because we don't really know as keepers what they need I make sure to compact it daily so I can monitor her intake since they have to kind of bite into it to break it up to lick it. I know my other gecko, a temper albino I think, had beginning mbd and would take in massive amounts of the calcium but has since only started taking a few licks every week. I will make sure to cut back on the vitamins though. Again thank you for your input.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Moxie said:
Ok I'll cut back on the dusting, I was planning too since roaches seem to hold ALOT more of it. I just wanted to make sure she had a good bit for a couple weeks since she was probably pretty deprived. I would like to keep that bowl in there just because we don't really know as keepers what they need I make sure to compact it daily so I can monitor her intake since they have to kind of bite into it to break it up to lick it. I know my other gecko, a temper albino I think, had beginning mbd and would take in massive amounts of the calcium but has since only started taking a few licks every week. I will make sure to cut back on the vitamins though. Again thank you for your input.
Click to expand...

Which brand of calcium + D3 are you using? If Rep Cal brand, that has 17x more D3 than any brand on the market. :( If Herptivite multivitamins, those contain vitamin A as in beta carotene. Leos need a wee bit of vitamin A acetate 2-4x per month.

I like and recommend Zoo Med's D3 Repti Calcium and Zoo Med's plain (no D3) Reptivite multivitamins.
 
Last edited:
M

Moxie

New member
I'm using flickers calcium with d3 and rep-cal herptivite, blue bottle. Do you think the vitamins or calcium could have been causing her stomach to be a little upset? I'm just confused because she went from looking like she was going to die one day (small tiny brown puddles (of poop) in tank, super skinny tail, toothpick legs, lethargy, mucus in soft stool) and and about a week later make a complete turn around. Now that it's been 2 weeks she is acting very very healthy. Very active, huge appetite, clear eyes, tail a bit smaller then neck, vibrant colors, and a perfect shed, drops stools 1-2 times a day. I have tried to focus on setting up the tank the way she likes it, I have a ton of extra decor so I was checking to see what ones she liked, used those then put the UTH on her favorite side of the tank, then Her favorite hide over that. I'm planning a vet visit but don't want to stress her out unless it's a seriouse matter. If it was parasites or anything like that it wouldn't have cleared up that fast with just tlc would it?
 
M

Moxie

New member
Yea, appears healthy. The roaches cause more healthy looking poo and she's still growing at an exorbitant rate. Last night ate 8 small roaches (like quarter of an inch) and probably 7-8 mealworms. Then she shed and just left a lot of it on the floor. Guess she was full?
 
M

Moxie

New member
Ok so here is a nice twist reviving my old thread. Baby snaps (the gecko in question) was finally at a point where I felt treatment for her worms would be ok. She has a nice big tail and will tolerate my handling. So I took her to the vet and she has pin worms. No big deal. Cleared her tank and got it set up to be starilized daily ( paper towels, throwaway hides). Well I started treatment with panacure and things are going great! Now I figured since she's getting the treatment why not my adult two? The vet agreed and I have been treating them too. Well here is where things get freaky. My adult gecko pooped out a clear rice shaped worm thing and idk what it is. No it's not tank debris because the tank is spotless. Anyone have any ideas? Going to talk to the vet and will see what she says but she's hard to get ahold of. If it's something the panacure treats then cool, if not.. Oh brother.
Here are some pictures!image.jpgimage.jpg
 
M

Moxie

New member
image.jpgimage.jpg that is baby snaps for you guys, I couldn't believe she weighs a whopping 42 grams already! She's like 4-5 months old max!
 
M

Moxie

New member
I don't feed crickets, and the tank has been thoroughly cleaned every day for the last 9 days. So it's no debris it has to be a tape worm but we shall see.
 
M

Moxie

New member
How do I tell if the worms are dieing because I gave a dose of panacure on Monday, then Thursday and Tuesday. The worm fragment was Tuesday night. I will be giving two more doses on the next two Tuesday's to make sure the pinworms are gone. So if the panacure is working will the gecko poop out a whole worm, fragments or will I not know without tests?
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
If you see worms in the poop, then its working, you may not see some worms in the poop unless it's fresh and you dig through it with a toothpick. When you de-worm an animal, they expel the worms in their poop. You still might want to take the poop back in after you are done giving the panacur to make sure they are all gone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top