Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to take a sample of my imaciated baby's poop to the vet to check. Can it be several hours old and dry? It seems that geckos go overnight, not during vet's business hours!

I'm so glad he's still with us! I wanted to post and ask for an update, but was afraid that no news was bad news. And dont apologize for asking for help. We're all happy to help!

My vet's rule is the poop should be less than 24 hours old (as in, less than 24 hours from the time it leaves the gecko to the time you hand it to the pore girl at the reception desk at the vet's) and keep it refrigerated meanwhile (dont freeze).

But that's if they are doing tests for worms etc. If you want the vet to see and confirm the sand in his poop then I dont think it matters how old it is. The fact that he did poop is GOOD. And the sand in the poop is both good and bad - bad that he ate it, but good that there's evidence that he's able to pass it.

I think it's ok for you to wait till tomorrow to go to the vet. IMO, dont rush to take him to any vet, only if you find one that sounds like he/she has ever seen a leopard gecko. The trip will be very stressful for the gecko and I doubt that there's much a vet can do for him right now that you can't.

Now for is funny coloring "it's translucent and I could see a lot of dark in its belly". It's typical for a baby patternless to have a translucent belly and some dark coloring in there. A LOT of dark could be from his being so thin and possibly dehydration. It could also mean massive liver damage but then I think he'd be acting a lot sicker, so lets assume not.

Make sure he has water to drink. Since he tried to catch a cricket but couldnt, see if he will take a cricket from your fingers. Also you might try feeding him a tiny amount of turkey babyfood mixed with warm water. I offer it to them on a plastic spoon and let them lick it off. This will give him some liquid plus a tiny bit of nutrition in watery form that maybe can be digested even if he's still blocked up with sand.

And give us updates ok?

Thanks, Leaftail, for always giving me such thorough and useful help. I really appreciate it. Anyway, nothing new. He hasn't eaten yet, but he moves around alot and I'm just leaving him alone until tomorrow. I'm going to try the baby food idea. If he doen't eat it off the spoon, I'll put a drop above his snout. That's how I got him to take a drop of water.

BTW, after he pooped, most of the "black" cleared up and his overall coloring improved. Now his underbelly looks more like my healthy one.

Welks, and I'm really glad he's doing better.

Because that will distort the parasite eggs. Make sure it's less than 24 hours old and still moist. Even if you can't get it to the vet right away, at least try to retrieve the sample after it's been pooped and keep it in the fridge.
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