Male With a Belly full of Clear Liquid

[jilwith1l]

About your leo:
- Sex - Male
- Age & Weight - 7 years, 67grams
- How long have you owned your leo - 7 years
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend) - reptile specialty store

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo - daily
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now. - loss of appetite
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)
- When was the last time he/she went - yesterday
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on -My oldest male leopard gecko has been losing weight, eating less, and has a bloated belly that looks like it's full of clear liquid. I found some posts about using pressure to get him to expel the liquid. I was just curious about how long I need to rub his belly for? He is not a fan of getting flipped upside down and I don't want to stress him out too much. So far I have had little luck. He only expelled a drop of liquid. His appetite has been good up until a few days ago. I think I fed him too much and threw up and he hasn't really been interested in eating since. His poop is totally normal.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size - 20 gal
- Type (ex. glass tank) - glass tank
- Type of substrate - paper towels
- Hides, how many, what kind - 2, warm, cool/moist
B) Heating
- Heat source - heat lamp, heat bulb
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) - 95, 75
- Method of regulating heat source
- What are you using to measure your temps - laser thermometer
- Do you have any lights (describe) - red halogen heat bulb
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) - none
- Describe health, or previous problems - generally excellent until recently

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet - crickets
- What you're feeding (how often, how much) - offered 4-6 a day
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect) - left out, remove extras
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) reptical, same brand of vitamins
- What are you gut loading food with - fluker's orange

 

[Russellm0704]

Have you tried letting him sit in a tub of warm shallow water. A lot of times they will poop when you try this.

 

[jilwith1l]

Yes I have. He has been pooping. It did not seem to get him to expel any fluid.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Do you have a picture?

 

[jilwith1l]

Not currently. I will see if I can get one and figure out how to upload it. Basically, if you look at his stomach with a light behind him, it looks like all his organs are crunched up into the front half of his body and the back half just has like shining through as though he was filled with air or clear liquid. If you feel his belly, its all soft and squishy and he is rather thin now, but his belly is really fat. My other geckos feel like "solid" when you touch their bellies (not impacted, they have some give, but not like totally squishy). He has been able to keep food down, but not much. His appetite has not come back since he threw up on Saturday. I have been able to sort of force feed him. I'm giving him a break from that for a few days though to see if he'll start eating once he is a little less stressed.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Hmm... Since you've had him for 7 years, I would have to guess that it isn't setup related. Unless you've changed something in his set up recently?

Sometimes fluid in the abdomen can be related to organ failure.. Any way you could have a vet check him out?

 

[jilwith1l]

I haven't changed anything recently. Unfortunately, with the vet, my fiance and I have recently been tight on money while I have gone back to school to get a better paying job (who knew zoology was a hard field to get into >.<) and one of my dogs recently needed a very expensive surgery. I do know quite a bit about illnesses and such though my background is more in behavior. I do all my fecals and such so I know its not parasites and what not. I know the breeders who I have gotten all my geckos rather well and one of them is a vet tech, but I have not had a chance to get out to see them yet. Research I have done mentions it could be reovirus, which has no cure. I also saw stuff about it being a fluid imbalance and the bladder being over full and putting pressure on the stomach. I have been able to force feed him by feeding him half what he normally gets in the am and pm, though I feel like the appetite thing may be more to stress because he only lost his appetite after he threw up (I gave him mealworms for the first time in a while and he went nuts). Since he has really only been picking so I force fed him a bit because his weight dropped in the last week. He is looking a little better so I was give him a few days without force feeding to calm down and hopefully he'll start eating again.

 

[jilwith1l]

Thank you for the help btw

 

[jilwith1l]

Just wanted to give an update, Coconut seems to be doing better. His appetite is back and ravenous but I'm splitting his food up into smaller AM and PM meals so he doesn't puke again. His belly is still bloated and see through, but it looks less so. Since his appetite is back and he's acting and pooping normally, maybe the belly issue will go away as he puts weight back on. Thank you for the advice.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Glad to hear he is doing better. =)