Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, i bought a leopard gecko from the pet shop about 8-10 weeks ago and everythign seemed fine. then he went of crix after 2 weeks, and for the next 2 weeks ate about 5 crix altogether so i tried waxworms. he loved 'em, for the first time, and since has eaten 3. then after a week of trying waxies, i thought he might have jst got bored so i got mealies and crix. he doesnt touch crix at all now, and eats the occasional mealie. when he stopped eating i noticed his feaces started to get smaller (only the darker part) and then they became almost unnoticable, which is when i put him on waxies. he wasnt losing weight, i dusted all the bugs i gave him, he has a little calci dish in his terrar, but his feaces didnt improve much. then about a week ago, i noticed one of his feaces looked almost as good as they did when i got him, but it had a green slimy layer on it and contacted many online vets asking about it but none replied. i used another forum for help, but didnt get much. i now know calci sand is a bad substrate for the gecko, which is why i now have him on kitchen roll. i fear he may have an impacted stomach, but he hasnt lost much weight (i got the waxies because he wasnt eating reuglary, as a way to keep him healthy-ish) and his tail seems as fat as it was when i got him. i suspect he has diarrhea, but impaction is also a possibility, although his stomach isnt hard, but heres the thing...when i shine a bright light through my gex's stomach, theres a shadow about mid stomach and goes upto his back legs. a friend of mine bought a rat (completely different animal i know) but it got pregnant at only 6 weeks old, and they didnt notice until a week after it gave birth. is this a possibility with mine? it isnt lethargic or anything, but im still worried. also, i smoke (a bad habit i know) and will smoke harm the gecko greatly (i know it will harm him somehow, or he may jst not like the smell) but i'd rather know coz google wasnt helping at all. help would be greatly appeciated, and i also apologise for the huge post, alot to take in but help is needed.

thanks

now that i am using paper towels for now, and will be moving my gecko into a glass tank, i was thinking of making a background as no pet stores near me sell suitable backgrounds. its a 20ltr tank i think and want to make the background so that he can climb on it, with a hide box somewhere on it. now, seeing as how im not using calci sand anymore and have a £10 bag sat in a draw, would it be suitable to make my own background, from paper mache, and cover it with the calci sand for something to grip onto for climbing..or would he be able to lick the sand off of the paper mache...i mean if its stuck down, then there isnt any chance of impaction coz he cant (or shouldnt) be able to pull any of the sand off...also, i want a substrate that looks good, but dont know whats what yet. my bro is getting a bearded dragon and has desert sand for it but is there anything suitable to use but looks good?

it could be a few things. well, im only 13, what do i know? i own a leopard gecko too, and it's a baby. Anyways, do you know if your gecko is male or female? My guess is that you should only feed it crickets for now, maybe once every week or every other week should you give it worms. I mean, they are healthy for it, but they're fattening. Make sure that your gecko drinks a lot of water, and maybe you should make it a habit to smoke outside because it will kill your gecko, no matter how healthy it is. It's lungs are much smaller than yours, and it can only hold so much. Good luck, I hope everything will be okay over there.

ok, jst got back from the vets, and she said everythign looks fine, he/she isnt too thin, but it is a bit pale and gave me flagy or something, 1 drop a day for the next 2 weeks, aswell as a vitiman E injection. so theres the good news....

bad news...the vet said it is possibly crypto, but unlikely, and will most likely be intestinal parasites =( thats what the flagy is for. i couldnt take a fecal sample because he hasnt been since i changed his substrate from sand to paper. then i got him home and attempted to give him a drop, but he jst licked at it til it was gone. then, he jumped off of my hand, hit my chair(about 10 inches away) and then fell another 12inches to the laminate flooring o.0 he sat still, and was very docile when i picked him up but regained his composure. then crapped. not on my hand but on the floor..and worst thing is, it was a sloppy green. and had a worm/parasite in it. the flagy is supposed to take care of the parasites, and im going to get him vitamin supplements aswell ASAP to try and improve his condition.

should i phone the vet and tell her what i found or should i consult the internet first?

also, how can i load pics up to the site from my comp? jst paste them into the message box?

thanks

You should always contact and listen to your vet before anything or anyone you read about on the internet. They are great for opinions but that only.

What are your temps? Humidty? I love that he is on papertowels now that is great. Do you use a UTH (undertank heater)?

im not sure what the humidity is like, but i have a humid box, jst a plastic container, padded with kitchen roll which i pour water in to every day, and i also spray the whole terra with water about twice aday, as the lamp tends to dry out the paper quickly, and the lid and terra has alot of ventilation (like slits cut out all around the top, and the lid is like a mesh) so i spray twice aday to keep it a bit humid. i also have a UTH (i know what it means now lol ) but yeah, i have the heat mat which covers 1/4 of the tank, and put the humid box on top to make a kind of "L" shape. i also rang the vet, but she was consulting when i rang, but the receptionist told her and said to jst keep him on the flagy for now, and if im really concerned i can go in on fridya morning, but dont fancy spending another £30 (about $50) for a 10 minute consultaion. if the flagy doesnt improve his condition then i'll definately go back to the vets. ^^

im not sure if i forgot to mention but it turned out he wasnt impacted at all, it was his internal organs lolol

SOME THIGN VERY WORRYING HAS JUST CAME TO MY ATTENTION.

since many of my friends own leopard gecko's and my bro will be gtting a bearded dragon, i thougth it might make sense to breed my own waxworms. i did it following easy-to-do steps and things seem ok with them. but most of the ones i keep for my gecko were making there own caccoons which i jst throw away, as i dont want 20 moths in a very small container. so i picked one that wasnt in a caccoon and jst mushed it about abit (i didnt kill it in my fingers) but i noticed that there were many slivers inside it, which looked freakishly similar to the one that was in my gecko's stool. i got a knife and cut it open, and there were loads of tiny worm looking things and they were see through. then i cut open the rest of the waxworms not in caccoons and they were all the same. then i moved onto the ones with caccoons, they too were the same. i then opened up a few mealies and thankfully they didnt have worms in, but they had very fine small blacks thigns that resembled fibres. i would phone the vet's, but its closed by now. i've taken all the of the food out of my gecko's terra until i know if its normal or not. waxworms are all dead, but i still have a tub of mealies and a tub, 50/50 (dead and alive) crickets. can anyone shed light on this?