Vent licking?

[faix87]

My male gecko thats a little under a year old was licking his vent area today. There was nothing abnormal looking about the vent, but he was licking it for about 5 minutes but he eventually stopped and came to check me out.

Is this normal? Should I keep watching to see if he does it again?

 

[Smallidge]

I say keep an eye on him. Mine started doing this recently and a few days later he had feces stuck to his vent and his hemipenes were terribly swollen. It got to the point where he started biting them so bad that he drew blood.
)= I soak him a few times a day in warm water to loosen the feces and use a cotton q-tip to wipe away the loose poo, and use a fresh q-tip t dab a little neosporin on his hemipenes where he bit them.

 

[hoppslover]

Is he in a tank by himself or with a female?

 

[nats]

I have seen all my leos do this, but not for that long.
They give the area a few licks sometimes after they poop.

If he does it alot, I would think he has a problem.

 

[faix87]

Thanks guys I'll keep an eye on him and give him soaks if I see that start getting worse. He is in a 20 gal long by himself, but I just recieved a baby female within the month who is in a 10 gallon below him.

This isn't relevent but are they acute in their sense of smell enough to realize that there is another gecko above/below them?