Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone....We have thought for awhile that our one female "Spike" was gravid, but we now think she is impacted. I called the only vet in the area who mainly takes care of reptiles and he told me to give her some mineral oil and see if that helps. She is our oldest gecko and the vet thinks that the stress of surgery would kill her, so we are doing what we have been told. Anyone else have any pointers? Spike is the "normal" in the picture.

Thanks..

1.8.1

We also don't have them on sand any longer. We didn't know any better before, but now that we do they are no longer on it.

Try to examine her belly .. maybe even post a pic.

When a leo is gravid, its pretty clear. I'll do my best to describe it:

On her underside, near her the base of her tail, close to each hind leg, you'll see a long (1 inch or so) and relatively narrow white / pink (remember, you're looking through the skin) bulge on either side of her spine.

You can put her in a clear plastic container and hold it up to see her belly.

So ... if you see this, then maybe she's gravid.

I've never seen an impaction, but it most likely won't look like what I've described. I've heard people on the forum say that it appears like a dark brown or black spot on her belly, but I've never seen it myself.

Best of luck,
Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

Yes.. this is true, I have had one case of impaction from when I was a beginner in leos and did not get proper instruction from the person at the petstore. But impaction usually causes internal bleeding which forms a dark black spot that grows each day (this is the blood) and impaction does not make them fat, but causes them to get skinny from lack of nutrition. It actually sounds like your gecko is gravid, so look on her underside like the last person had said, and everything will be much more descriptive, like you can tell the skin is stretched and more transparent. You will be able to see the spine and if you have a good light and a good way to look, you can see the outline of the eggs. She may be gravid and just have an egg blocked up in her that doesn't want to come out, how old is she?

My one female albino that was in the picture with her is gravid, and Spikes belly doesn't look anything like hers. My guess is that she isn't gravid. I gave her some mineral oil like the vet said and I'm hoping it works. Thanks for replying.

Why do you think she is impacted?

Is she eating and pooping? If she's pooping, she isn't impacted. Impacted leos will also usually have a diminished or have no appetite.

In most cases, unless there is internal bleeding, you can't see an impaction. If you're seeing lighter clolored masses you could be seeing abdominal fat bodies or she could be ovulating and you're seeing follicles. Sometimes females will go off food or eat less while ovulating, but they deficate normally just smaller quanities.

-Alice

She hasn't ate in 2 weeks, and isn't pooping either.