Gecko has not produced stool in a week

[huntersmoon]

The health questionnaire is filled out, below. My name is Shannon and my 11 yr old son Luke has a female leopard gecko. He provides primary care for her and I help as needed to make sure water is clean and full, whatever else he needs help with. He is a naturalist and herp/bug enthusiast, so he informs himself on all sorts of creatures. So - he is not left hanging for her care but he is more knowledgeable about it than I am.

We became concerned several days ago because Luke observed that she had not eaten or shown an interest in food in several days. He had not removed her poop for a couple of days so we did not know if she was impacted. He washed out the cage and we began watching for a fecal sample. After a few days of nothing, we consulted with a vet tech who advised us to give her a warm water bath and do abdominal massage, and to try to stimulate her appetite. We did so and she ate a worm and two days later (today) made a fecal sample (small). She seems more interested in food now - but we don't want to feed her if she is not pooping in case she's blocked.

We want to be sure we are doing what we need to do, if it's normal for this infrequency to occur, or if we need to take her to a vet.

Here is the questionnaire:
About your leo:
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: 3-1/2 yrs old, not sure of weight (but can get that)
- How long have you owned your leo: 3 years
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Reptile store

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: daily now, until recently perhaps weekly
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. Is not acting differently
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. No

B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): They look like normal droppings - dark with white urea at the top
- When was the last time he/she went: A small amount today - before today she had not had a movement in a week
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on: We became concerned as she seemed to have a lack of appetite and then noticed she had not had a fecal movement in a week give or take a day or so. We did a warm water shallow bath with abdominal massage on the advice of a vet tech and tried to stimulate her appetite with some beef baby food on her nose. Two days ago she ate a superworm and this morning produced a small fecal sample. We are not sure if this is normal or insufficient.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 20 gallons
- Type (ex. glass tank): Glass tank
- Type of substrate: Reptile carpet
- Hides, how many, what kind: 2 - one coconut shell, one fake hollow log
B) Heating
- Heat source: heat lamp on top of cage in one spot
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): 78 in coolest area, 87 under heat lamp
- Method of regulating heat source: Thermostat
- What are you using to measure your temps: Infrared thermometer gun
- Do you have any lights (describe): infrared heat lamp.
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): None
- Describe health, or previous problems: We became concerned as she seemed to have a lack of appetite and then noticed she had not had a fecal movement in a week give or take a day or so. We did a warm water shallow bath with abdominal massage on the advice of a vet tech and tried to stimulate her appetite with some beef baby food on her nose. Two days ago she ate a superworm and this morning produced a small fecal sample. We are not sure if this is normal or insufficient. When I went to check the brand of calcium just now, I noticed her licking some of the calcium powder out of the feeding dish.

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): Superworms, mealworms, crickets
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): We were putting them in the cage and letting her catch them. When we became concerned about her appetite, we got a feeding dish and have been using that.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands): None
- What are you gut loading food with: calcium powder - Reptocal.


Thanks
Shannon

 

[mango+cola]

The heat source should be an under tank heater, they need belly heat to properly digest there food, and it should be around 92 degrees, you will need a probe themometer so you can measure the floor temperature, they do not care so much about the ambient temperature, so a heat lamp isnt necessary. This could be the problem, the food she is eating may not be digesting, causing her not to poop and not want to consume any more food. You should also be supplementing the food, you should dust the worms/crickets with calcium and vitamin powder (we usually do calcium everyday and vitamin once a week for our smaller gecko and vice versa for our adult, but everyone does that differently). Also, you gutload the mealworms with vegetables like carrot and potato, not calcium powder.

 

[katie_]

Hmm, I would agree with Mango if you hadnt been doing it this was for three years.
Geckos can live happy healthy lives under heat lamps if provided with the right temperatures (although its not ideal), so I don't think not utilizing a UTH is the problem.
Sometimes geckos don't want to eat for a couple days. Its normal.
If she produced some stool after eating, I would say she is most likely not impacted.
I would continue to feed her if shes hungry and wants more. Generally geckos who are impacted are lethargic with little appetite.

 

[huntersmoon]

Thanks for the replies. My son is awake now (I was writing this late at night) and he says he also has Miner-All powder that he uses, though not recently. Not intentionally, he just fell out out of the habit. He also does use potatos to feed the superworms and mealworms and houses them in a substrate of chick feed (organic soy-free). (He has a business breeding and growing superworms and mealworms and has a first generation of 500 that he began breeding.)

I got the Zoo Med under tank heater this morning and the thermostate/thermometer to go with it. I got a saltillo tile to use over the heating pad and will use paper towels as a substrate.

My son says she was not necessarily lethargic, but she definitely did perk up after we did the initial bath, abdominal massage, and bit of baby food on her nose to be licked off.

We do have a second leopard gecko that my son got 3 months ago - it is in a nearby tank and my son washes his hands between handling each gecko or tank items. I was concerned that the new one might have made our initial one sick but he's been careful to maintain the 90-day quarantine. This second is very active and ravenous. (Both are females but we are not necessarily going to move them in together.)

I appreciate the advice we've received and will continue to implement it.

Shannon

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I love seeing children doing the right things to take care of their leopard geckos, and parents who are involved

Seasonally, adult geckos may change some of their typical behavior patterns, per instinct. It's normal. As long as health is good overall, it doesn't hurt them a bit to skip some meals. One thing that you need is a humid hide. This can be a sandwich box with a smooth hole cut in the top or a decorative fully enclosed rock hide with an entry hole, to be filled with sphagnum moss or paper towel. Bathing your gecko is a good idea and my first line of defense for most potential issues. Even tho there may be a dish of fresh water available, it's no guarantee a gecko is drinking enough. A nice warm soak forces hydration, which can help dry eyes, a shed, a poop, or even laying eggs.

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