AndyBunn
Active Member
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Why does my Leopard Gecko poop so irregularly?
I love my leopard gecko and he gives me great joy. I care about him so much that I’ve fallen into that trap of worrying about substrate, pooping and impaction.
My gecko, Carrot has recently been going 9 days or so without pooping though he eats fairly well and I began to worry then try to work out what is going on.
I had though that impaction l, caused by Carrot eating the substrate in his vivarium was related to his irregular pooping.
I have used 4 different types of substrate since having Carrot in February 2020.
February 2020 Leo Life Sand Mix
December 2020 Leo Life Sand Mix and Desert Mat (half and half)
June 2021 Leo Life Corn Cob
December 2022 Arcadia Arid Leopard Gecko Mix
Over the years Carrot has only had impaction once therefore I don’t believe the substrate is the cause of his irregular pooping.
So what is?
Looking back at the records I keep of Carrot, I realised between the 14th and 22nd January Carrot was in the process of shedding his skin.Is this related to him not pooping?
I looked back at December 2022 and again Carrot didn’t poop between 14th and 22nd December at the same time as he was in the shedding process.
In November 2022 Carrot shed between 20th and 23rd and didn’t poop in this period either.
In October 2022 Carrot shed twice and during both times he did not poop. Its the same for September 2021 and 2022.
But in the Spring and Summer months this doesn’t happen at all and Carrot sheds his skin more often, some times twice a month but continues to poop.
For Carrot the shedding process takes less time in the spring and summer. About 5 days. In the Autumn and Winter months its around 9 days consecutively.
Why is this?
I don’t change the temperature in his vivarium to mirror seasonal change so conditions are pretty steady. Warm side between 31-33°c and cool side 19- 23°c.
The humidity does fluctuate more but never goes below 35% or higher than 65%.
The one thing I do change seasonally is the length of time the UVB light is on. Longer in the summer and shorter in the winter.
Could this be inducing the effects of brumination in Carrot?
Brumation refers to the dormant period many reptiles experience during periods of low temperatures, usually during the winter. It is essentially the reptilian equivalent of hibernation.
True hibernation usually involves a drastic reduction in metabolism.
However bruminating reptiles don’t have a drastic drop in metabolic rate.
But is it possible that the reduced amount of exposure Carrot gets to sun light and UVB light in the autumn and winter months is effecting his metabolic rate?
Is this slowing down the time it takes for Carrot to digest his food and to shed his skin ?
This seems likely to me.
This year I am going to keep the UVB light on for the same lengths of time and see if it has any impact on his pooping and shedding habits.
I wonder if any other Leopard Gecko owners have noticed this and if so please comment below.
Cheers all
andy and carrot
I love my leopard gecko and he gives me great joy. I care about him so much that I’ve fallen into that trap of worrying about substrate, pooping and impaction.
My gecko, Carrot has recently been going 9 days or so without pooping though he eats fairly well and I began to worry then try to work out what is going on.
I had though that impaction l, caused by Carrot eating the substrate in his vivarium was related to his irregular pooping.
I have used 4 different types of substrate since having Carrot in February 2020.
February 2020 Leo Life Sand Mix
December 2020 Leo Life Sand Mix and Desert Mat (half and half)
June 2021 Leo Life Corn Cob
December 2022 Arcadia Arid Leopard Gecko Mix
Over the years Carrot has only had impaction once therefore I don’t believe the substrate is the cause of his irregular pooping.
So what is?
Looking back at the records I keep of Carrot, I realised between the 14th and 22nd January Carrot was in the process of shedding his skin.Is this related to him not pooping?
I looked back at December 2022 and again Carrot didn’t poop between 14th and 22nd December at the same time as he was in the shedding process.
In November 2022 Carrot shed between 20th and 23rd and didn’t poop in this period either.
In October 2022 Carrot shed twice and during both times he did not poop. Its the same for September 2021 and 2022.
But in the Spring and Summer months this doesn’t happen at all and Carrot sheds his skin more often, some times twice a month but continues to poop.
For Carrot the shedding process takes less time in the spring and summer. About 5 days. In the Autumn and Winter months its around 9 days consecutively.
Why is this?
I don’t change the temperature in his vivarium to mirror seasonal change so conditions are pretty steady. Warm side between 31-33°c and cool side 19- 23°c.
The humidity does fluctuate more but never goes below 35% or higher than 65%.
The one thing I do change seasonally is the length of time the UVB light is on. Longer in the summer and shorter in the winter.
Could this be inducing the effects of brumination in Carrot?
Brumation refers to the dormant period many reptiles experience during periods of low temperatures, usually during the winter. It is essentially the reptilian equivalent of hibernation.
True hibernation usually involves a drastic reduction in metabolism.
However bruminating reptiles don’t have a drastic drop in metabolic rate.
But is it possible that the reduced amount of exposure Carrot gets to sun light and UVB light in the autumn and winter months is effecting his metabolic rate?
Is this slowing down the time it takes for Carrot to digest his food and to shed his skin ?
This seems likely to me.
This year I am going to keep the UVB light on for the same lengths of time and see if it has any impact on his pooping and shedding habits.
I wonder if any other Leopard Gecko owners have noticed this and if so please comment below.
Cheers all
andy and carrot
