young leopardgecko died - impaction?

[mike76]

i bought two young leopardgeckos (one 3/4 years old, the other a few months) from a local breeder about a week ago. they looked healthy to me. the first day i got them i offered them some zophobas, which i did cut in half. i didn't expect them to eat, since i've heard that they sometimes don't eat for days when they were transported, but to my surprise the bigger gecko was interested right from the beginning and ate. the little one didn't seem to care much for the food i offered, although i cut them in small pieces, so i left them in the terrarium. the following evening when i cchecked on them again, the little one had a swollen, dark belly. i panicked and googled and soon was pretty certain that he was impacted. the previous owner did let them live on some kind of red sand, most of his other geckos were on calci-sand. my terrarium has a stone-floor and no loose substrate. i planned on observing him closely for the next two days, so that if his situation would not improve i'd call a vet at monday. after reading about tipps on how to treat impaction, i gave him warm waterbaths and a few drops of oil to help him pass the food/sand. it seemed to work and he did poop, although it was mostly diarrhea and didn't look like the impaction was gone. i stayed awake all night, checking on him every now and then. the next day he did much better, atleast i thought so. his belly was almost not swollen anymore and less dark. i gave him another waterbath in the evening, when he suddenly started spasming violently for a few seconds and then stopped breathing. i totally panicked again and tried to give him cpr for about 20 minutes, but he died. i'm devastated and worried for my other leo. can anyone tell me why the little one might've died and whether the big one is impacted or not?

my setup:
https://ibb.co/dcVfwJ

dead gecko:
https://ibb.co/h9BW3y

other gecko:
https://ibb.co/kw6sAd

 

[acpart]

I'm sorry for your loss. I don't know what the problem was. You can check the feces of the healthy one. If they come out sandy then there is a chance it was impaction. I hope you let the breeder know what happened. He or she should tell you whether any of their other geckos is sick (especially if they have diarrhea).

Aliza

 

[mike76]

thanks a lot for your reply, it really means much to me.
his diarrhea was induced by me with the oildrops(olive-oil) in an attempt to clear out his intestines. i will contact the previous owner anyway though, as i'm still worried about the big one. today when i checked his belly i noticed that his hemipenes are prolapsed slightly. i did some research and read that impaction can do that to a male. his belly is also dark (as can be seen in the photo i posted), but not swollen, and i saw him lick his hemipenal bulges. he doesn't seem to be very sick to me apart from the mentioned symptoms, he's active and drinks, but i am worried nonetheless. i won't feed him for the next few days and watch him closely.

 

[acpart]

Keep us posted!

Aliza

 

[mike76]

today he did shed and seems to do well so far, also didn't find any leftover shed. i didn't feed him for about a week now and will wait until monday until feeding him and see how things go from there.

 

[acpart]

Great! I hope things continue to improve.

Aliza

 

[mike76]

this is the last update (i hope). he is a happy and curious gecko, loves eating, is active and poops normally. he also gained 2g and is back to his old weight. i don't feed him zophobas anymore and bought dubia roaches (glad i did, he LOVES to eat them).
thanks again for your responses.

 

[acpart]

I'm glad things are going well.

Aliza