Parasites?! Worms?!

Speeno

New member
Hello everyone, my female leopard gecko is doing some questionable behavior. She is rubbing her belly on the ground almost like she is shedding her skin, but she isn't, She also is licking her bum. She is about 2-3 years old and is currently with another female and a male for breeding purposes. She is in a 30 gallon that has 3 warm hides and 2 cool hides+a spider plant that drapes down into the habitat. She eats superworms and crickets, she turns her nose up to anything else. She is still eating, and I'm not too sure if she's carrying eggs although her belly is a little bigger. She gets treated for pinworms every week.
 

Speeno

New member
I always give my animals Fenbendazole once a week to once a month, crickets can carry pinworms and my other animals are outdoors often enough they could pick it up. She gets about a grain of sand in size of it and I mix it with water and put it on her lips. I'm not the best at checking for eggsIMG_2409.jpgIMG_2413.jpg Im not quite sure if she is digging, since my other female digs often and I never see her do it. I separated her from the male and other female and put her in a 20 gal
 
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PoppyDear

New member
I can't tell if those are eggs or not, it looks like it a bit. As long as she has otherwise normal behavior she might be okay. It just sounds like egg laying behavior to me, if she is really straining I might worry about egg binding. How long has she been with the male?

I would also reccomend you stop these treatments for pinworms they might not even have, it can be quite harmful and unecessary so often. Your other pets usually can't transfer it if you wash your hands well before going near the geckos.

"The stress of captivity often causes parasites to bloom out of control, and from her experience, WC species often harbor more than one type of parasite, so she likes to treat the most obvious one. For CB species, unless there are high numbers of pinworms or eggs present in the float or smear OR if the reptile is showing symptoms of being affected by the parasite (e.g. lethargy, anorexia, abnormal stool, dehydration, etc.) she's not a fan of treatment. She believes too many reptiles are overtreated as it is, which can just lead to either the parasite becoming drug-resistant, or the treatment taking a serious toll on the animal because there are no reptile-specific medications available. All medications were designed for other animals and diluted to be "safe" for reptiles, but there's still a risk of side effects. Treating a reptile unnecessarily (i.e. because there's no real reason to do so) is stressful for them."

Thread: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/leopard-geckos-health-and-diseases-/71071-pinworms.html

Best of luck!
 

Speeno

New member
Sorry for the late response, I will stop using the fenben on my leopards until I'm certain they have it. She has been with my male for about a two months time away from him mixed in. I put my phone light onto her back and lifted her up in a clear container, I'm not quite sure what I'm suppose to look like but what I saw was a pink belly, with a slightly darker shade of pink ovals on her sides that is almost a inch long. I couldn't take a picture of it because I was using my phone as the light. I took some more pictures but once again they're not great. She is still eating and is not digging, I also haven't seen her rub her belly on the ground or lick her cloaca, although I have not been watching her as much. IMG_2444.jpgIMG_2443.jpgIMG_2439.jpg
 
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