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dark spot on under belly

S

stephh1

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Hi all,
I am noticing a dark spot on my leopard geckos belly, about half way down her body, on the right side. She's not a very big thing and is currently being hand fed. Could this be food showing through? I know don't think she is constipated as she went to the bathroom just yesterday. She did go to the vet yesterday and was given a dose of panacur and flagyl for possible parasites. I just haven't seen this spot before and so I'm a little concerned. Any ideas are appreciated.

Stephanie
 
Hi Stephanie!

If the dark area is large, it is her liver. This is commonly seen with small/thin geckos, or when the fat reserves are mobilized causing the liver to swell. If it is a small, black, circle, it is her gall bladder, which is visible as it fills with bile and invisible when it empties.
 
Hi Marcia,
This is a dark purple spot, it's probably the size of my pinky finger tip. It just appeared overnight, wasn't there before. Didn't slow her down this morning though, she climbed up on the foilage I showed you on the pics I emailed. My Mom went nuts in wal-mart today, bought her two new things to climb/hide in, one goes almost to the top of her screen. lol I'm planning on upgrading to a 20 gallon terrarium this summer, have to, this one is shrinking. :p

Steph
 
BTW we finally got the float portion of the stool sample done today, negative. I got a better look at the dark area tonight, from the way she breathes it appears to be right over the area of her lungs. I don't know if that's her liver, gall bladder, or just food however. Just keeping an eye on her and hoping for the best at this point. :)


Steph
 
hmm...

Well, if it is the size of the tip of your pinkie, it's most likely her liver. Since she has lost weight, it might be that it is easier to see her internal organs, or her liver is swelling due to the anorexia. The gall bladder is a little tiny black spot just at the ribcage a little on the right side. Sometimes when they have a full belly, you can see the food in their stomach/intestines... you'll know if that's what it is after she poops!

Steph, I would really like to suggest holding off on buying her more tank supplies for now, and use the money for a complete fecal smear and culture done in a lab... a negative float does not always mean that parasites aren't present. Also, if they grow a culture for bacteria they will be able to tell exactly what type it is and what antibiotic it is sensitive to.

You are doing a great job with this little one. Keep me posted!
 
Marcia,
I didn't realize that my Mom was coming home with those supplies yesterday. So while I thanked her for getting them my next reply was "no more" basically because I didn't want to confuse the little gecko and the enclosure looks complete now. The larger tank won't happen until she's large enough to need it, so that will be Sept. at the earliest. The good thing is I get my check in a few days so I should be able to afford the fecal smear & culture then. We are going to still continue to treat her for worms in the meantime. Hopefully we'll get a fresh fecal sample to take down soon after Memorial Day. I'll check out that spot when we get her out to feed her, it's got me bugged.

Steph
 
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