# Is my leopard gecko sick or is odd poop just the result of laying first egg?



## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

Hi, my 3 year old female leopard gecko just laid her second egg about 24 hours ago, and her very first on the reptile carpet almost 48 hours ago. My concern is with her poop, only a couple of hours ago her poop was about 60% of this weird, wet, cottonball looking substance, the rest was regular poop and urinate. This is the first time she's pooped since she's laid any eggs so my question is if this is a parasite/illness or just some sort of after birth....

Also, about 12 hours before she laid her first egg, I saw her wriggling out a long, clear, mucusy trail at her poop station/corner and two small ones around the tank afterwards. 

I took the odd poop, labeled and dated it, and stuck it in my refridgerator in case I need to take it in to be examined.

Should I be concerened?

Thanks a lot,
Danielle: victory:

P.S. I have a labeled picture of her poop, how do I upload it from my computer? (Pictures folder)


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## magick (Aug 18, 2009)

l9i7y5r said:


> Hi, my 3 year old female leopard gecko just laid her second egg about 24 hours ago, and her very first on the reptile carpet almost 48 hours ago. My concern is with her poop, only a couple of hours ago her poop was about 60% of this weird, wet, cottonball looking substance, the rest was regular poop and urinate. This is the first time she's pooped since she's laid any eggs so my question is if this is a parasite/illness or just some sort of after birth....
> 
> Also, about 12 hours before she laid her first egg, I saw her wriggling out a long, clear, mucusy trail at her poop station/corner and two small ones around the tank afterwards.
> 
> ...


To upload a picture 
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/foru...4974-how-post-pictures-using-photobucket.html 
Hope that helps : victory:


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## ReptileLady (Feb 4, 2010)

What do you have in her moist hide?


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks for the link on how to do it


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

This is the incubator/humid hide which she has access to for two weeks. It has vermiculite









This is Stevie:


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## magick (Aug 18, 2009)

that poop does look rather strange but im sorry to say i have never seen anything like this before but im sure someone who knows more than i do will be along shortly to help : victory:


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks! Peace! : victory:


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## mandyT (Aug 23, 2007)

i would never use verm with a egg box... female tend to eat it and it can become toxic for the gecko, this is why her stools may be looking a little different (i cannot see the photos) i would remove the verm and replace it with Exo earth or damp moss.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

It is quite difficult to get a good look at the "strange" stuff but it will not be any sort of afterbirth - they don't have any.
Mucous in the stools indicates an irritation in the bowel. This may be due to parasites or possibly the vermiculite (as MandyT says - it is toxic if ingested and not a good choice for a moist hide / laying box). The strange white stuff may be undigested shed skin.
The first thing I would do is check what temperature you have on the floor of the warm side of the viv - should be 88-92F.
Then I would get faecal checks for parasites done. You can use your vet or http://www.palsvetlab.co.uk/


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## mandyT (Aug 23, 2007)

judging by jools answer of the photos i would get the stools sampled and see if there is any infections or possible parasites that have set in... better safe then sorry


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

thanks guys, I know vermiculite's no good now and I'm planning on using EcoEarth from now on, but what about when I'm not expecting her to lay? Should I use EcoEarth or damp paper towel?

And I don't know if this makes any difference but the poop itself was coated in clear slime too (sorry about the bad photos, I had to use my friend's phone). I only took my male gecko out 2 days ago and his poops still look normal, so maybe it's not contageous, but, then, what if it is? Could it be passed along to the egg? I'm definitely going to bring the stoll in to be checked out...it's just too risky not to

The tank is warm enough, that I know, I have a 75 watt spot heat lamp and a medium under tank heater

I'm going to go for the night, it's 4:30am here and I have school in the morning, but I'll be back noonish. 
Peace! : victory:


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## mandyT (Aug 23, 2007)

yes you should only ever use verm as a incubation media. 

if it is catchable then your male and possible the eggs will have what ever the female has... im not 100% sure about the eggs though. 

i wouldnt use heat lamps for the leo because they dont use them as they obtain their heat through their belly.


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

I use a heat lamp because the air temp in my tank is not warm enough without it. 

I heard that a drop or two of vinegar in the drinking water acts as a sort of anti-fungal/bacterial, is that true?


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## Phil75 (Nov 29, 2010)

I had something simular once.

A gecko didnt eat the whole time she was laying eggs and she had a stange white lump where she would poop as you say, turned out to be a reguritated shed bundle. Had to force feed her for a while and she soon came round and is now the picture of health.

This may not be the case for your but thought it might be a possibility.

Try something other than vermiculite as others have suggested.

Good luck 

Phil


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## mandyT (Aug 23, 2007)

now seeing the photos i can get a better idea of the whole thing. maybe its the fact that it has been getting too much calcium and is pooing out the un-needed stuff and thats the extra white bit within the poo (just a idea, want someone to back up on this)


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## ReptileLady (Feb 4, 2010)

Id agree it looks to me more like shed skin that hasn't been digested properly


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## mandyT (Aug 23, 2007)

ReptileLady said:


> Id agree it looks to me more like shed skin that hasn't been digested properly


 
or that... i remember my male went for a poo and it was a wired thing, but you could clearly see two un-digested mealworms and shed within their. i checked temps and the reader wasnt reading correcly, went out brought a new one and higher the temps slightly and all seems well again


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

It could very well be that. Like Phil75 said, she hadn't been eating. It wasn't until a week ago that I could finally get to to eat something, for 2-3 weeks before that she would not touch anything. She now has an enormous (for her) appetite, she's also finally moving around the tank, and she's doing so quite a bit. So, just looking at her behaviour, it would seem that she is all better so I'm just going to wait to see what her next poop looks like. Hopefully she doesn't have to go to the vet :2thumb:


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## nuttybabez (Jul 21, 2007)

Personally I would guess its shed skin. Wait and see what her next poop is like.


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

okay, thanks


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

okay so her poop looks normal but she has lost her appetite again and is pretty lethargic. I'm starting to feel pretty desperate, what is everyone's ideas on possibly feeding her a pinkie to get her health back up?


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Sorry to hear she is none too bright. There are 2 things that spring to mind - but I am not a vet and I haven't seen her or your set-up

I would definitely get her checked for parasites by the vet - as I suggested in my first post.

It might be worth looking at her supplementation routine. What do you dust her food with and does she have access to calcium at all times?


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## l9i7y5r (Feb 14, 2011)

She always has access to calcium, it's Reptivite without D3. And I always dust her crickets and mealworms, but I've been noticing that she doesn't want to eat mealworms that have calcium on them. She just tastes them and walks away; she didn't do that to the uncoated mealworms I decided to give her today though, she gobbled those up. Do you think she's avoiding the calcium because of the taste or because she doesn't want the calcium itself? Is it possible that she's getting too much calcium even though she just laid her first two eggs?

Btw my setup is pretty average, repti-carpet in 29 gallon tank with heat pad on one end and a UVB (20.0) and heat bulb (75W). I had to put the male back in with her because he didn't hardly have any room to move around in my 10 gallon temporary tank. I'm going to pull him out this week though and get a nice, large tank for him so they aren't forced to be together, as it obviously isn't healthy for them...


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