Vent problems! Immediate action needed?

[Snuffles379]

Hello, I wanted to get your guys advice on a current issue with my older male gecko. About a week ago he shed and he often has trouble getting the shed on his underbelly so usually I give him a fair chance to get it off himself and then gently remove it or soak it if needed. I've noticed shed blocking his vent before making it tough for him to use the bathroom and obviously I soak him right away and the skin and feces has always just come off.

Well I noticed he was having a tough shed so I helped him along on his underbelly a bit and he made a fuss about getting the shed towards his vent area so I gave him a few days to see if he could work it out on his own (which he often does) but when I took him out tonight to check on it he had gotten everything but a piece of dried shed covering his vent and it appeared that it was blocking some feces again. It was lifting a bit so I just gently pulled to see if it was loose and it appeared that his insides were attached to it so I stopped immediately (I was not pulling hard at all, very minimal pressure, and it wasn't bloody or anything gory just a small bit of pale inner flesh attached to feces/shed) and ran to get him a soak. When I set him down after pulling on it he did appeared annoyed by it, trying to reach it with his mouth and trying to lick it. He was not aggressive when I picked him up though or wasn't in obvious pain. I soaked him and then gently rubbed on the area and the majority of the feces/shed fell off easily, there is still some in his vent and the one corner of his vent appears red (nothing like large red bumps in the pictures I googled of leopard gecko prolapses but still red) I did not want to rub too much because I've heard a tiny bit about prolapses or sperm plugs so I was worried about causing more trouble and even though it looked like feces I worried it was actually a more serious issue.

Basically I'm just wondering how worried I should be about this issue or if I've overreacting about some stuck feces. It really worried me to see him try and lick at it and get it off as I haven't seen him do that before and I'm not sure if licking is a sign of pain or just him attempting to pull it off like he would any shed. I'm also wondering if the bit of skin stuck to the feces/shed could that have just been a stuck piece of inner skin or normal reproductive organs (I've obviously never bred leos so I have no idea whats normal in that department) or could it actually have been intestines or something serious?

Obviously it'll be very difficult to get him to a vet in the next few days because of Christmas but I'd really like to hear your opinions on the issue and on whether or not this is needs immediate action or if I can just give him a soak for the next few days and see if there's a change. He hasn't eaten in about ten days but he shed right after his last feeding and his tail is still very large so I'm not very concerned about that.

As always guys, I really appreciate your opinions, this forum is so helpful for people like me who have no other reptile sources to consult. Thanks for your time.

Edit: Added Picture of area, what do you guys think? Just feces or a more serious problem?

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I can't give you veterinary advice, but hopefully someone else can when people are awake again. Posting a pic would be a good idea so people have a better idea what you're working with.

Why exactly does he have trouble shedding? What supplements do you use and how often? A vitamin A deficiency and a lack of a humid hide are (from my understanding) the most common causes of shedding issues, and it sounds like you probably have the latter covered.

~Maggot

 

[Snuffles379]

I can't give you veterinary advice, but hopefully someone else can when people are awake again. Posting a pic would be a good idea so people have a better idea what you're working with.

Why exactly does he have trouble shedding? What supplements do you use and how often? A vitamin A deficiency and a lack of a humid hide are (from my understanding) the most common causes of shedding issues, and it sounds like you probably have the latter covered.

~Maggot

Thanks for the response, I'm going to try and get a picture later today if it doesn't look better, I don't want to stress him out too much by taking him out multiple times so I'm going to wait until I do the second soak.

He has always had shedding issues since he was a baby, the vet thinks he's just one of those who have a harder time. I gut load his food and he has a mix of calcium and vitamins in his cage that he licks at. I do have a moist hide and have tried many different moist hides but he has never ever used them, I keep it wet for added humidity anyway and I also mist his cage daily and keep it at at least 60% humidity. So I'm not sure why the shedding issues happen, he's always had trouble with his feet but now that he's older he has problems shedding his head and stomach area. It may be because he is a larger gecko so he can't get a good grab on it and is around 13 years old so maybe his age is a factor.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Thanks for the response, I'm going to try and get a picture later today if it doesn't look better, I don't want to stress him out too much by taking him out multiple times so I'm going to wait until I do the second soak.

He has always had shedding issues since he was a baby, the vet thinks he's just one of those who have a harder time. I gut load his food and he has a mix of calcium and vitamins in his cage that he licks at. I do have a moist hide and have tried many different moist hides but he has never ever used them, I keep it wet for added humidity anyway and I also mist his cage daily and keep it at at least 60% humidity. So I'm not sure why the shedding issues happen, he's always had trouble with his feet but now that he's older he has problems shedding his head and stomach area. It may be because he is a larger gecko so he can't get a good grab on it and is around 13 years old so maybe his age is a factor.

That's interesting. I've never heard of a gecko just naturally having trouble shedding, but I suppose anything is possible. Hopefully someone can give you help with him.

~Maggot

 

[Lindz0518]

I am not sure about the vent area, I would be soaking him to try to get it cleaned up and maybe use a q-tip to clean him up a little. On a side note, how did he loose all of his toes? They look like tiny little stumps.

 

[Snuffles379]

I am not sure about the vent area, I would be soaking him to try to get it cleaned up and maybe use a q-tip to clean him up a little. On a side note, how did he loose all of his toes? They look like tiny little stumps.

I did a soak and clean again tonight and everything came off except for the piece to the left, which looks very similar to feces but would not come off when wiped and when whip downwards with any pressure it looks it is attached internally. I've decided to just go ahead and see if I can get an appointment tomorrow and just get it checked so I don't spend all of Christmas worrying about it.

They sadly are stumps but getting better slowly, he had a injury on that foot about a year ago now. I posted about it quite a bit trying to figure out what it was but I never found out what caused it, the vet's could not give me an answer, it was just a sore that covered the bottom of his foot. A lot of his feet have smaller toes from bad sheds when he was just a baby, poor guy. Though they're all doing good now.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Do you have a picture of his enclosure or can you describe what you have in it and how you're heating it? Also, provide details about how you're soaking him? Better yet, fill out the entire form in the sticky at the top of this section. That looks like more than one shed's worth of build up and it also looks like he's lost most of his toes. Knowing how he's being fed and housed might help people give better advice. Definitely looks like a trip to the vet would be a good choice if soaking him isn't helping.

Maybe providing a new picture of the clean area would help too. He may have a prolapsed hemipene which is a relatively common issue in male geckos that would need vet attention.

 

[Ozy]

Yea.. Sounds like his hemipene to me. You can soak him in some warm sugar water to get that to go back in.