Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so i took my leo to the vet because she stopped eating, the vet did an x-ray and it appears as though her stomach is swollen. The vet said it is likely do to some sort of a partial obstruction and has be giving her .1cc of mineral oil twice a day to help clear it out. I was wondering if anyone else has done this and weather or not it worked and also if there is anything else i should be doing for my leo

Thanks
Ktulu654

I haven't had that happen to my leo, but it did happen to an anole I had once. Mineral oil seems to help if it's a small obstruction. What I've actually found to help out a lot, but I'm not so sure you'll want to try, is cat hairball medicine. If you give it a little tiny bit, it does wonders. But I'm not a vet, and I do know that too much can be harmful.
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0.1.0 Leopard gecko
1.0.0 Fat Cat

Yes, I had this happen to a leo a long time ago, and the vet gave her mineral oil, and it fixed her. I was keeping Jewel on Calci-Sand at the time (didn't know any better), which showed up as a solid white blob on the x-ray. No question in her case what the problem was. The vet gave her mineral oil via a stomach tube once a day for 3 days. Lil Jewel started passing crunchy poop and after a few days started eating again. She recovered completely. (and I tossed out about $30 worth of calci-sand).

What would your gecko be impacted with? I mean, what substrate would she have eaten?

What you can do for her: Get her off whatever substrate may have impacted her. Make sure she has water to drink to keep her hydrated, this will help her pass the stuff. Watch for the stuff in her poop. If she starts passing it, that is a good sign, and you and the vet need to know if she's passing it, or not.

as i hang my head in shame i will have to admit that she was on calci-sand. Ok i will admit it i didnt believe all the stuff people said about sand and impaction. The good news is its only a partial obstruction and she can still eat and pass small amounts of food so she is not at a critical junction i know any obstruction is bad but i would like to help this move as naturally as possible with out using surgery or anything drastic like that. I was wondering if i should try to give her some type of an electrolite solution like pedalite because she has not been eating much and i wonder if that would help her out.

Thanks again
Ktulu

The people who talk about sand impaction are not talking out of their butts.... Experiance is everything..... When you see so many people saying sand can cause death and only a handful of people saying it is fine, you should go with the majority especialy if your leos life depends on it..... But sometime the best lessons are those learned on your own.... Thats why I say experiance is everything..... You have experianced this first hand and now you know better..... I am glad this did not turn out as bad as it could have been....