Constant Diarrhea

[DrCarrotTail]

A vet may not be able to diagnose crypto. The in house fecals they do test for parasites like worms. Lab tests are more accurate for crypto. avianbiotech.com has a test that I believe is considered the most accurate. It costs around $30-35 with shipping.

 

[Poi]

What is the payment procedure for avianbiotech?


Never mind.

 

[Poi]

I'm about to order a kit from them; does it have to be the swab kit? And when I send it in, do I have to mention that it is Leopard Gecko feces? It's 24.50 for a crypto by the way.

 

[favrielle]

Just coming back. Yes, it's the swab kit you want. There will be a form that comes with the swab, you'll need to fill that out. This thread: http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/98813.htm will help walk you through the entire process. If you ship Priority Mail in a padded envelope (recommended) it'll add $5.99 to the cost.

 

[Poi]

Ok so earlier today I requested a swab kit from avianbiotech and will go with that test first. Hopefully she isn't infected with crypto.

Just fed them though and it seems her appetite is sort of gaining; she caught and ate 5-6 calcium dusted crickets; however, no poop from last night's 1-3 crickets.

Hopefully it's a simple and easy to treat parasite (if any).

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I knew the test was $25.50 but with shipping from where you are to them it will cost you another $5-10. If they need you to tell them what animal the feces came from I would think there would be a form with the test kit. Good luck and let us know what you find!

 

[Poi]

Just got the swab kit today and now I'm waiting for a fresh stool to sample. Then I will send it tomorrow.

So here is just an update of my 'sick' leopard gecko's well being.

Her appetite is good; average of 5-6 crickets a night. Her poop is taking a healthy shape with a brown "body" and solid white urate tip, however it is still not completely solid. She is still pretty active; being able to catch her crickets, always looking at me, walking straight with 90 degree angle legs, very reactant to touch.

I will make another update when I get the results.

 

[Poi]

Ok, so as you know I got the swab kit a couple of days ago...

However........................................... she has not pooped in 4 - 5 days..................................................

The night of the day she last pooped, I fed her three crickets (I ran out that day) and she never pooped it out. The next day I gave her a mealworm, hasn't pooped since. Yesterday I did not feed her and today I won't either (I don't want to worsen a potentially already plugged up digestive system).

I gave her a warm soak yesterday but she hated it (I wasn't able to stroke her stomach due to her being squirmy). She was freaking out and breathing deeply. But no poop.

What should I do? Thanks.

 

[Poi]

Disregard everything in my last post as this was what I found in her tank this morning...



This is the healthiest looking stool I've seen out of her since I've gotten her. Last night I gave her a warm soak with additional side-belly rubbing (she was much calmer this time). Then I gave her a few dabs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil through out the night. And the next morning, this was in the tank.

This doesn't excuse the possibility of illness though. I'm still going to send the swab in but this stool is too dry to get a sample from (I think). So I'll have to wait for the next one... Unless I somehow do something to this one.

 

[indyana]

I just used the swab to poke the poop into the bag even though it wasn't wet, but I have since seen someone who sprayed a bit of water onto the poop in the cage and broke up the poop in the baggie to swab it.

Sorry, a little late on that response, so you still probably need to wait for the next poop, but in case the next one is a bit dry when you find it in the morning.

 

[Poi]

Ok, finally got a sample after another 5 day period of no poop. I wonder if this is going to become a routine... Anyways, it's packed in a priority mail box and will be sent tomorrow.

This though is what's worrying me at the moment...



In my healthy gecko's two water dishes; each on a different level of the tank, there is a cluster of bugs or something floating on the surface... What are they? Some kind of mite/larvae/parasite? Freaks me out kind of... Could it be the hermit crab dishes I'm using? The reverse-osmosis water? Are there flies/bugs hanging around in my viv?

I washed them both fairly good with hotish water and soap. Now I'm going to wait a day before I use them again so any left over eggs will dry up (hopefully). I don't think my gecko has yet realized they have water in them so hopefully he didn't drink out of them (I give him water with a syringe after feeding). Grosses me out pretty bad.

 

[indyana]

Yeah, during the summer, lots of people have trouble with little flies getting in and laying eggs. I would just clean the dishes with hot water and soap more often. The best way to eliminate flies is to keep everything clean so they have no food source.

 

[Poi]

Okay, so after waiting for 8 days, the results came back NEGATIVE for Crypto. Which is good.

She hasn't had diarrhea for about 3 weeks and all of her poop since has been solid and healthy looking. But the thing that worries me is that she doesn't poop that often. She poops every 2-4 days (with the assistance of Olive Oil) and I am afraid to feed her everyday because I don't want to clog her digestive system up. I was thinking about feeding her 4 dubias every other day but she seems hungry everyday. Whenever I feed the male (4 dubias a day), she is always looking around and up at me wanting me to feed her.

Also sometimes during her occasional bath, I would flash light through her and see this:


I don't know if that is her liver or her stomach and I don't know if that is normal or not.

Another thing, for the past two days, I have been reuniting her with the male in the main viv to see if I can let her live in it. I don't think this will be possible because today, I let her in the viv to explore and I think about three times, the male mistaken her as a feeder and he clamped his mouth over her head. I banged on the viv which scared him off of her and misted him away. Luckily he didn't do it hard enough to injure her. So I'll keep her in her small tank until I get a bigger one.

But anyway, I'm glad to see that she doesn't have Crypto.

 

[rothsauce]

The male might also be displaying territorial tendencies.
It is usually advised to introduce two leo's together in a neutral tank/enclosure, one that neither has lived in so that neither will have 'claimed' the territory as their own and won't have competing scents. Even if they have lived with each other previously, it sounds like they have been separated for a while and the male has had enough time to adjust in thinking that it's the only leo in the enclosure.

This will not guarantee that they will get along perfectly, but it will make introductions less likely to break out in a fight. Having no furniture/decorations makes it easier to separate them too, if a fight does occur.

 

[indyana]

Whew! What a relief that Crypto has been ruled out!

I would probably get a fecal parasite check done by a vet to check for other internal parasites, especially if she still appears to be having some digestive issues or is not gaining weight. The good news is that those types of parasites can be treated with medicine.

 

[Poi]

Okay so this will be my last update for this thread...

My female is acting perfectly healthy now. For the past week, I've been feeding her 4-5 dubia roaches every day. She also poops nice, solid, healthy sized stools every day. The picture I've included in my last post of the organ being seen with a light has been deemed normal (by me). I checked the healthy male and he has the same sized organ also, so I am making an educated guess and considering it normal. When she shed several days ago, she was able to digest it properly and make a normal looking stool out of it. It also looks as if her tail is getting bigger than it once was. She is very active and curious and is always moving around exploring; she is also capable of jumping as if she is trying to slam dunk. She has no bulges in her stomach and she can walk just fine with no problems. She even moves around more often than my male.

Also after several days of taking rothsauce's advice, I have now successfully joined both of my geckos in my main 20 gal tank with no fighting or territorial problems. Both of them rest next to each other in a calm manner. I have added another U.T.H. (smaller one) to the opposite side just in case one gets annoyed by the other. One can retreat to the other side and still have a heat source for digestion.


[Female under male]

So what I think was actually the problem was that she didn't get enough food, didn't have a proper basking/digestion routine and was stressed out. At the chain pet store that I bought her at, There was a 5 gallon viv where six geckos lived and shared one hide (at least they were on carpet) but there was no dish of mealworms. Instead they'd dump small crickets inside and who ever was able to catch them got food. She doesn't have a dominating personality so probably she was shy and was not able to get enough before they were all gone. When I brought her home, it seems she was used to not getting enough food so she was only accepting one or two out of several feeders I'd offer. Plus introducing her to more new surroundings after bringing her home probably added to the stress she had. The time I posted about her diarrhea, she didn't adapt yet to her surroundings and didn't have a set basking/digestion routine (probably ever since she left the breeder) therefore not properly digesting and having liquid stools. Then after a couple of weeks of adapting, she started showing good signs like increased appetite and solid poop for the first time. Then long periods of no poop started appearing which now I think is because I was feeding her too little in fear that she was impacted. Then after I found out my healthy male had the same sized organs and was eating/pooping properly, I started to feed her the same amount as the male and now she is pooping properly. So honestly I don't think she has any serious illness or major parasites. Like I said before, she appears healthy (besides the lack of a fatty tail due to her past) and concluded her problems and symptoms. Now I just need to fatten her up. If she starts to show signs of any problems, then I will seek veterinary attention.

So thanks to everyone that gave advice and helped out. I appreciate it tons.

 

[acpart]

Glad things are going better. The only problem with putting a UTH on the other side is that now they don't have a way to thermoregulate (unless there's room in the middle of the tank for cooler temps).

Aliza

 

[Poi]

There's about 9x12 inch cool area in between the two heat mats; plus a custom built 2nd level they can go up; they should be good.

 

[acpart]

That sounds OK, but what you may want to consider doing is to heat the upper level and keep one end of the lower level cool.

Aliza