How long is too long (for not pooping)

[Spots]

I feel like all I post are questions/concerns but I'm just being a worry wart.


About your leo:
- Sex -- F
- Age & Weight -- 7ish months
- How long have you owned your leo --- 6 months
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) -- Reptile show in Toronto

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo -- maybe once a week
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. -- behaviour change is not as dramatic. She is just aggressive and hates me lol
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. -- not so far

B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal) -- This is the problem...she has yet to poop. She pooped 5 days ago and it was 1/3 or a 1/4 of the size it normally is. and before this, she pooped the same tiny size 3 times.
- When was the last time he/she went - - 5 days ago

C) Problem
- Please briefly descrive the problem and how long it has been going on
So I first noticed her stool being tiny a little over two weeks ago. I thought maybe it was like us...sometimes we just don't need to go...lol So I made a note of it and moved on. She stopped pooping for roughly 4-5 days then pooped another tiny one. So that was strange...I made a note and moved on. It happened the third time (in a row) so then I really noted it and now I'm here. She pooped fine before but now they are tiny. So tiny it's like she could just...fart them out lol And the spacing inbetween stool is so far apart. She used to go every other day but now it's twice as long. So I'm just wondering how long is too long for not pooping? And will she just start pooping bigger ones again later? She is interested in food but then lick it and walk away. I am planning to switch back to crickets in hopes that she just wants more variety. She shed yesterday too and ate it all, so I know she just got SOME type of food...so she should have a big stool soon. Her underside almost seems black tho. It's dark and covers a larger area. Dots' belly is dark just where you can see the "veins" and stuff but Flash's underside is like a whole section.


Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size -- 20 gal
- Type (ex. glass tank) -- glass
- Type of substrate -- tile
- Hides, how many, what kind -- 4 hides....humid (rock cave) ...hot (kinda like a rock cave but not from stone) ...cold (a storebought "log")...warm (a coconut hut)

B) Heating
- Heat source -- UTH, and lamp
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) -- **in the middle of setting up a new tank with better UTHs)** hot side UTH 85...hot side (top floor - lamp) 95-100, cold side 68
- Method of regulating heat source - thermastat
- What are you using to measure your temps - digital probe
- Do you have any lights (describe) -- heat emitter, not lights

C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) -- worms in the cage for whenever she wants to eat -- HASNT BEEN EATING MUCH - which would explain the no stool
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) -- left in the dish

B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) -- flukers calc D3 (i believe), exo terra calcium and exo terra vitamins
- What are you gut loading food with -- homemade gut load from reptile show

 

[ajveachster]

It sounds like she may be plugged up. Give her a warm soak for 10-15 minutes. See if she poops the next day. If not, you can try a drop, yes a single drop, of mineral oil. You can get that at the drug store with the other human medicines for bowel issues (Pepto, Exlax, Immodium etc...) See if she goes the next day. If she seems to be getting worse, or not any better you may have to take her to a vet. We had to do that with one of our girls. She hadn't gone for 2 weeks, but was still eating. The doc pretty much massaged it out of her while doing an exam. If that hadn't worked he would have given her an enima. That is something for a vet only to do for sure.

 

[Spots]

Thanks. I gave her warm soak for 3 days. At first she seemed to hate them. By the third day she was dunking her head in the water lol but no poop. Not even urine. She ate her shed and one cricket. Shes not interested in food anymore so im bringing her to the vet on thursday. I gave her the oil too and nothing still. But now she wont sleep on the hot side anymore. Strickly cold side.

Hopefully the vet will have some luck.

 

[Spots]

It also looked like she tried to go iin the water. She squat and raised both legs up like she does when she poops but nothing came out

 

[prettyinpink]

Has her belly changed color?

I would keep doing the warm soak, are you doing it for 15minutes?...and maybe take her on a car ride.
You said she dunked her head in the water so it sounds like she's thirsty.

Good to hear you're taking her in.

 

[Spots]

Yea i did the soaks for 10 to 15 mins from another thread oh here . She has plenty of water in here tank but since she's not leaving her cold hide i think she's not even going out to drink .

Her stomach looked a bit dark but it can't be impaction because she's on tiles..but I figured its gone on for too long and its out of my hands now so a vet visit might help . The vet said if nothing helps then they have oral stuff for her too so I'm keeping my fingers cross

 

[Spots]

Okay. So I went to the vet and spent a ton of money. But this is what came out of the visit:
1. Don't leave mealworms in the dish as the gecko might eat until too full which might have caused her to get plugged up.
2. Give her warm soaks (which I did) but I have to continue this
3. A fetal exam will be done if she can poop anything but one will be done for the other gecko in case it is parasites.
4. An X-ray was done and it looks almost like obstruction. There was no signs of the intestines leading to the pooping area so the vet thinks that they might be all bunched up and yea...not good.
5. I was given a stool softener to give to her incase it is not obstruction. And liquid food to help her get some food in her.
6. If this doesn't work...the last option is surgery...which does not have a big success rate.

She is not lethargic at all. She runs around and stuff so. But she's not pooping. I will post pictures of the Xray to show everyone. It was kind of cool.


Any comments to help me? or comments in general? I lost a gecko last year...and once I noticed something was wrong, the vet I took her to was inexperienced and couldn't really do anything except said that the gecko needed antibiotics and said that was all. When it didn't work, the vet just upped the meds and my gecko passed. So if anyone has a case that sounds similar to this current gecko, I could really use some help. This new vet was much better. The better reptile vet we have in this area anyways (she was on vacation when my last gecko passed)

 

[prettyinpink]

Yea, the vet does sound inexperienced...Maybe call around for a different vet?

The meal worms in the dish is fine, and is recommended by MANY on here.

Honestly leos are super see through and my vet shines a light onto the belly and you can see everything, he said a xray is not needed. You can see their heart beat, their brain, everything working so you can tell if something is wrong.

Keep the warm soaks up. If her belly is changing color it can mean she is impacted but with poop, it might take a bit to get her to poo. My fae also sat on the cool side when she was impacted...drives me nuts when they do this.

Maybe double check your temps to make sure the hot side isn't too hot and isn't too cold.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Pharmacy grade mineral oil- less than 2 bucks at walmart- is a lubricating laxative. Just dot some on the little lizard lips and they will lick. I "candle" my girls occasionally to look for eggs by using an LED penlight. If there is obstruction, it would show with that. I'm anxious to see the x-rays tho, please post a pic in the anatomy section also

I'm glad you did see your regular vet, not that other one from before. I remember that whole antibiotic crap for swollen joints with your other gecko. It is absolutely useless to go to a vet not qualified to diagnose and treat reptiles. Not only throwing away money but also a big risk to a pet's health. Sort of like going to a dermatologist for a sinus infection. They'll be glad to see you, send you home with a bag of goodies and an empty wallet. Recheck in 2 weeks. Bah.

Oh, and there's a fantastic gecko soup/slurry recipe sticky at the top of this section, designed to give non-eating animals something nutritious and easy to digest, and substantial enough to make a poop.

 

[ajveachster]

Sorry to hear things have not gone well. You might want to continue the mineral oil treatment daily until you are able to speak with another vet if you have gone through all the stool softener. It's not uncommon for them not to go if they are not eating. The reason I mentioned the mineral oil before is because I understood from your initial post that she stopped going while she was still eating. I know it might be an expensive call for you to make, but here is my vet's office number since I know he was able to help out my girl. They might have some suggestions for you as well. 330-825-2434.

 

[Spots]

Thanks. She has eaten one or two things within the three weeks so she should have something to poop.
As for the mineral oil, the vet said it was dangerous to give reptiles an oil based oral treatment as it can get into their lungs? But i know this forum usually suggests it.

To clarify, I did switch vets from my last gecko so I like this one. She seems to know what's going on. Im going to try the stool softer to see if it works. If not, a semi far journey to the specialist may be required. I don't want to to thru surgery as I don't think she will survive from it.

The vet did give a can of like medical dog or cat food. Should I continue that or is slurry the best option in terms of food ?

 

[Spots]

I'll get the x ray posted ASAP when I'm at a computer. It may help for more suggestions. As far as the enima thing goes, the vet coudnt do one because there is no intestine to the bum. But how could it just not be there? She popped a really gross little stringy thing that looked like it was a struggle so that's in the fetal test. The intestine must still be attached lol

 

[Spots]

This is her poop when I first noticed something was odd 3 weeks ago...It's so tiny. I had a second level with carpet on it during the winter but she used to poop downstairs on the tile but then started pooping upstairs all of a sudden. She is in a new cage now with all tile (even the second floor).

This is the X ray:

Hard to see since it was digital, I did not get to actually keep a copy of it so this was taken on my phone. But the top is the top-down view and the bottom is the side view.

this is a closer picture of the bottom x ray

Where the arrow is pointing is the stomach. The vet said the stomach looks enlarged and all the intestines are sort of bunched up around the stomach and not spread out going towards the bum. So an emina could not be performed.

 

[Spots]

She pooped!!! It smelled like death lol. But that's what happens when you haven't pooped in three weeks. Lol. We had held her down and was feeding her the food from the vet and she was staring intensely . I thought she was going to vomit but she was pooping lol it was really gross but we are going to continue with the vet meds until she poops regularly. I also took a picture of her tummy so I will upload it later

 

[smsararas2]

YAHOO.....I had an impacted girl(not near this bad though), so I am very happy and excited for you because I knew how worried I was about her. Keep up the good work with her!

 

[Euphillia]

I've been following this and was sooo happy to see the good news this morning.

 

[Spots]

I'm not sure if impacted in the same as obstructed but I don't know how she could have been impacted. She is on tile and not sand so there is not much to get impacted with?

Here is she stomach colour:

 

[prettyinpink]

My girls bellies will turn that color when they're backed up. I would keep up the warm soaks as long as it takes until she's not backed up anymore

Also...a little worried about her poo smelling... That's usually not a good sign. My girl was pretty backed up and her poo didn't smell

 

[ajveachster]

Glad to hear things are moving along now. When my girl was backed up she was on paper, so it isn't necessarily that the gecko ate some sort of foreign object. Sometimes things just don't go the way they should. Hope she continues to get better.

 

[Spots]

She pooped three days in a row now never by herself though. Always while we are handling her and she is trying to get out it kind of just spits out lol. Her tummy looks good too. We are going to keep up witht the soaks and dog/cat food until the vet says everything looks good. It still smells bad but it might be because its dog and cat food from the vet. Its kind of runny too but she is eating liquid food and has a stool softener medication. She has gained a few grams too and looks good. good bonding experience too. Lol