Pink Vent on Baby Leo

[HumpinHerps]

About your leo:
- Sex- Incubated female, unsexed
- Age & Weight- hatch date unknown, acquired 9/2/12 as hatchling, current weight 3 grams
- How long have you owned your leo- 1 month
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend)- breeder

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo- every other day
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.- No change in behavior
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.- None
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)- Normal in texture, color and frequency
- When was the last time he/she went- day before yesterday
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on- I noticed today well handling, weighting and cleaning the tank that her vent area looks very pink

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size- 10 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank)- Glass
- Type of substrate- paper towels (changed out daily)
- Hides, how many, what kind - 1 deli cup upside down with entry way cut out and two small habba huts
B) Heating
- Heat source- infrared light kept above tank
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)- 85-75
- Method of regulating heat source- on timer and monitored through out the day by my husband and I
- What are you using to measure your temps- thermostats in tank
- Do you have any lights (describe)- one infrared
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)- two unsexed, incubated for female housed together since hatching (told by breeder, I kept them separated until I saw each eat and poop then re-introduced them and monitor feedings to make sure they all eat)
- Describe health, or previous problems- None known

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)-appropriately sized crickets (smaller then the space between their eyes) daily and wax and meal worms once every other week
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)- I remove all hides and give them the crickets for about 1 hour or until they stop hunting then remove crickets, when I feed worms I tong feed
B) Supplements (describe how often)-calcium powder dusted on crickets every other day and vitamin dusted once a month
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Fluckers Calcium with vitamin D, Rep-Cal Herptitvite Multivitamins
- What are you gut loading food with- Flucker's Cricket Quencher



As you can see in the attachment her vent area is pink in color (it is showing very pale in the photo). It does appear to be sightly swollen as well. I soaked her this evening in luke warm water after noticing it and tried to examine the region closer. She does not seem bothered by it at this point but I would like to get opinions as to if this is normal or something of concern. Thanks for your help!!!

 

[kara]

i see some issues with your care. you need to dust with vitamins once or twice a week. Once a month isn't enough. You do not need to remove all the hides to feed them. This stresses them out and may cause them to stop eating. You should provide a small dish of mealworms and only tong feed every so often. You need to dust with D3 twice a week. You can dust with calcium without D3 daily or just provide a calcium dish if you don't want to dust. i wouldnt feed waxworms that often. I would feed up to five waxworms once a month. Lights stress them out and shouldn't be used as a heat source because they need belly heat (a heat mat). WHat kind of thermometers do you use? you listed that you monitor it but how? The cage temps are much too cold. the warm side should be 90-95 degrees and the cool side should be 72-80 degrees. You don't need to change the paper towels daily, only once a week, with daily spot cleaning. CHanging it that often will stress them out very much.

as for the vent area, im not really that sure. It looks fine to me, but i'm on my phone so i really don't know

 

[SC Geckos]

you need to dust with vitamins once or twice a week. Once a month isn't enough. You do not need to remove all the hides to feed them. This stresses them out and may cause them to stop eating. You should provide a small dish of mealworms and only tong feed every so often. You need to dust with D3 twice a week. You can dust with calcium without D3 daily or just provide a calcium dish if you don't want to dust. i wouldnt feed waxworms that often. I would feed up to five waxworms once a month.

Just to clarify, That statement is an opinion and not fact.
I will agree that dusting once a month (IMO) is not enough, however I use one dish that serves as a food dish and a vitamin/calcium dish so technically I dust every feeding. This works for me but again is another opinion.

acquired 9/2/12 as hatchling, current weight 3 grams

How much did it weigh when you purchased it?
I guess not all, but most breeders I have seen don't sell/ship there geckos until they are around the 12-15 gram mark.
A little over a month old and only 3 grams is a big concern IMO. Out of the egg most geckos weigh that much. He/She looks very skinny.

Cage temps (hot side, cool side)- 85-75
- Method of regulating heat source- on timer and monitored through out the day by my husband and I
- What are you using to measure your temps- thermostats in tank

The surface/floor temp of the warm side should be between 90 - 93. Make sure you have an accurate way of measuring this temp (digital thermometer w/probe or a temp gun). Ambient air temp is not as important as the surface temp on the warm side.

As far as origional question about the vent, It's hard to see in a photo of a gecko that small. If it looks swollen to you I would recommend seperating them in case one is sick and also a vet visit for both. You really want to act quickly when you are dealing with a gecko that tiny.

 

[HumpinHerps]

Thanks Brad

My husband got her in a "grab bag" of sorts from a local breeder who was liquidating his collection. I have already separated her from her group and will try to take her somewhere Tuesday if it doesn't seem to clear up on its own. The other geckos in the group have all put on weight (her and two others were 2.5g and 1 was 9g when he brought them home) she took the longest to adjust and start eating (thus the fatty wax worms to help with her weight). Her weight has concerned me but she has consistently been eating now and has regular stool so I have just been continuing to track her intake and weight.

 

[katie_]

It's my opinion that we over supplement. I only dust with vitamins once a month as well.