Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, today i got my gecko a brand spanking new terrarium, an exo terra one and its pretty nifty. its 450x450x450, so basically a 45cm cube lol. i also got a big sack of play sand, which was damp when i got it so i boiled aload of it to dry it and "clean it" (dont want to take chances, all the gardening suplplies are out in the open, many of which have tears in the bags etc so anything could have got in). but then when i was letting it cool down, i noticed it seems quite dusty, but that might just be the fine grains. i also seived it to make sure thre werent any little pebbles in it, and just wondered what you people thought of play sand and if you've had problems with it. i know all sand can cause impaction but read that fine grain play sand caused the least impactions. im not sure how to put multiple pics on here so im gonna have to post 5 times in a row, sorry ^^

sorry about the size and blurryness of some of the pics, i still dont get how to work with pics in forums ^^

tell me what you think bout it ^^

sorry about the triple post, but is there anyway at all to get my gecko interested in food. there are time when he looks like he gonna rip the heads off the crix, but he always looks like he chickens out at the very last minute, and will even follow them aswell. i managed to get him to eat them by all of a sudden covering the crickets in calcium dust before i put them in the tank, so they were all white. but now that hardly works, and i was so fed up i let him eat waxworms as a staple for a week or so but now he looks like he's had enough of these aswell. i've tried meal worms, black and brown crickets, and out of a box, he'll eat one, then i'll waste the rest of the box hoping he'll eat them but he never does and i kill them after a day or two.

long timers on this forum should know my situation.

oh, i've also tried "scenting" crickets and mealworms with the waxworms but that did nothing, and tried hand feedin him a mealworm and a waxworm at teh same time but he wouldnt touch them. also put a waxworm in with a brand new full box of mealworms, and either my leo at it, or the mealworms did. and there was noting left over, and i've tried this many times and there's always a trace left of the waxworm if i put the waxie in with them, but not in the cage.

sorry for talking so much ^^

well , i would never use sand ive seen pictures of what it could do to a gecko its not pretty ,
but thats your choice not mine -

it could be a few reason's why hes not eating.
what is your heating in the tank ?
whats your geckos weight ? did he/she lose any ( make sure you weight them)
do you have a humid hut,I dont see one? ( important for shedding )
and yes im sure you know all this from previous boards but there questions that need to be asked ?

have you got a stool tested ? for parasites could be another reason why your gecko my not be eatting?

well temps in his tank has always been fine, on a day cool end is 80, high end about 85-90, give or take.

as for a humid hide, is old one was in a bad state so im waiting until tomorrow for when the butter tub is empty, but yeah other than that he always has a humid hide.

as for his weight, he was 13g's when i took him to the vets last, and she said this was an ok weight, but he hasnt ever really grew in size. and as for a stool sample im never able to get a good sample. sometime in the past few hours he left a stool, and when i got back in i found him licking his b'hole and looked like he had a few little pieces of sand stuck there.

i think i read somewhere that this is a sign of a parasite isnt it? next week i have a great opening to get him to the vets, money will be in place and travel is already set up so that will be a go-go. i got something like panacure last time (cant remember what its called but its basically the same) and he picked up a little after that. im also going to get an xray for him incase of impaction as every stool that he pass's there was usually a few grains of sand in there. also, he tried a great escape and took quite a nasty fall and had the wind knocked out of him, but got back up on his feet after 15mins but developed slightly red blotches around his neck. he never looks like he's in pain and loves walking around in his tanks when the lights go out, but you never know...

1 more thing...i've asked once already, but does anyone else's leo avoid UTH's? i put my hide over the UTH at all time so he can thremoregulate while he sleeps or hides away, but he never sits on top of it. i've felt the sand and its warm to touch, and has about 1", 3/4" of sand over the top of it but he still wont sit on top of it..any insight?

Sand near the cloaca is an absolute warning. Your leo is in danger of becoming impacted. For those who think I might not know what I'm talking about, let me say this- I use all sorts of substrates, including sand, and speak with 6 years of leo experience. If your leo has sand in his poo, he is eating it. You should def not be feeding crix on sand, of course he will ingest some. And if you really have made an educated decision about sand, and it seems you have done some research if you've settled on the ultra fine play variety, you should also know that your leo is much too young for sand right now. You would best be to take the sand out, and if you like, replace it again in several months. I wouldn't use sand for any leo under at least 6 months, and certainly nowhere near 13 g!

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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 Normal from 2001 (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (unnamed yet)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50

Your safety margin is very small with that gecko too. Tail is way to thin - s/he doesn't have any significant fat reserve to live on with the loss of appetite that the probable impaction is causing. I sincerely hope the little one manages to pull through, but as geckogirl said, sand is completely inappropriate for a gecko that age. Personally, I don't even use it with my adult, but juveniles should 100% be on paper towels or similar - I had the misfortune to learn that one the hard way. The vet can give you a powder to mix with water that you can then hand feed by putting some on his/her nose, which will then be licked up, to ensure that s/he is at least getting some calories. First order of business though is get the gecko off of the sand so that s/he doesn't ingest any more of it.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

hmm im already thinking of doing that. believe it or not he is actually about 7months old. the whole time i've had him i've been battling to get him to eat anything, looks like he ate a cricket in the night and passed another stool. i cleaned his anus the moment after i posted last night, and checked this morning and i couldnt see anymore sand in there. the stool was bone dry so i couldnt see check if thre was any sand in it. the moment he designates a corner to pooping im gonna put paper towels down to try get a good stool sample.

please dont think im ignoring your advice, but until the trip to the vet, im trying my best to not bother him.

and i've tried all sorts of tihngs, including ensure and baby food, none of which made much of an improvment

Belive it or not , i had a gecko i bought from a snake show that would not eat at all and when she would eat she would be a monster ...
i took her to the vet ( her tail was slim like your little gecko ) and she had parasites ,
vet gave us stuff for it and now shes all better but that was the reason she was not eatting at all

( let me ask you a question .. when your gecko poops is it a normal looking poop or is it like all liquid ? and does not look normal.. normal stool should be like solid and have a white substance ..

i would not wait for your gecko to get to the vet ... you could alaways leave your gecko there and thats how they could get a stool ( and yes i know it costs money but ) you bought her .. you should care for her .. as much as you can
also if its parasites? then shes probley dehidrated alot .. only way to help her is your herp / reptile vet

good luck jamser .. and to you we little one too

christina

its stools are very varied. 75% of the time there normal lookin, urate included. then sometimes there's only the urate with a little dried bit of yellow something (5% of the time). the 75% ones im talking about are the brown log (lol) and a small urate. there are some after i've fed him waxworms, ensure or baby food and there half brown, half browny gray with the urate. some also are a little greeny/brown looking, but 99% of the time they arent runny or smell bad, so i've never assumed that it was diarhea (resulting from parasites)

this might be a stupid question, but do leo's urinate? i assume they do when they poop, as i've seen a wet patch around where he's dropped stools when he's been on paper towels, and i also almost caught my leo going to the toilet, it had just went, and had a bead of clear liquid on its anus, so i just assumed this was urinating. or am i wrong?

urate ( its the solid form of pee ) haha .. dif

gecko's urate , ( so there poop and pee are together .. ( it sshould be a brown color solid with on the side white ( the urate is white .

and yes diarhea is a sign of parasites .. !

well i would get your gecko to the vet to be safe
Jamster

good luck

ahh thanks for that man ^^

my gecko should be at the vets in the next 5 days so fingers crossed ^^

im female , haha -

but good luck ..

lol my bad ^^

Hey everyone! I haven't signed on in long ass time but here I am to speak of the evils of SAND. Change the substrate in this geckos cage, if he is not impacted already then it will only be a matter of time. This gecko is a juvenile and because of the smaller size of the intestine the sand can get stuck or build up to a point where the animal is no longer hungry because it has a bunch of sand in its stomach. Take the gecko to the vet, but first do your new friend a favor and take away a fatal element from its environment.