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unusual stools?

K

kelz0429

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I am concerned that my newly acquired leo is having unusal stools.

This morning, I noticed that he/she had a stool that consisted of two meal worm exoskeletons. They looked only partially digested. Tonight, he had another stool, this one had a slight greenish tint mixed with the brown.

I just got him/her on Saturday night (it is now Tuesday night), so I think it might have something to do with the stress of moving to a new home. Nonetheless, I am concerned about his/her health.

Does this sound like a problem.

Thank you for you help.
 
Kelly,

First let me say welcome to Fauna, as I told you in the other forum you will find all the breeders here very helpful.

Remember that he/she is still getting used to his new home, and is stressed like you said, but not as much as you are over this. Everyone here is going to want to know some background so they can help you.

Obviously he has finally eaten for you. Right? Sounds like he either passed the worms without digesting them or he regurgitated them.

I can't remember if I asked you before, but where you bought him, what kind of substrate did they have him on?

Did you manage to measure the floor temps yet?
 
Thanks for the invite and the welcome.

Yes, he has eaten for me. I am not sure he has eaten since, but I am keeping close tabs on the number of food items in the tank. It seems he has eaten at least two mealies and, possibly, a cricket or two (they went misssing and I thought I saw a cricket leg in his stool.

I got him from PetCo, which was against my better judgement, but he looked great at the store. He is a high yellow with bright lavender and had the brightest eyes. They had him on sand, which I know is really bad. I knew better than to do the same at home, so I use reptile carpet. I am considering a switch to paper towels or newspaper, but the carpet seems nicer (I haven't noticed his claws getting caught in the fibers but I know it is possible). To make a long story short, I will definitely get my next one from a reputable breeder.

I am unsure whether he regurgitate the worms or passed them, but they were in his usual litter spot, so I guessed that he passed them (I have heard that they will sometimes pass the outer layer of the worm). When I cleaned up the stool from tonight, I did notice that, on the piece of toilet paper i used to pick it up, it did look brown, but it seemed to have a few areas of greenish tint--it also contained a piece of white matter. It was formed into a tubelike shape, but was very runny.

I have been able to measure the floor temps with a thermometer featuring a probe. The u.t.h. seems to run hot but varies throughout areas of the substrate. I measured temps as high as 97 degrees, so I bought a lamp dimmer and hope that this will help me keep those temps in check. The majority of the time, however, i measured a temp between 90 and 95 degrees. I have it dimmed a bit tonight, so I will see what happens. Is this the type of dimmer I should be using? Should I just let the temps raise to 97 without worrying? Also, b/cthere is a great variance across the warm side, I am afraid the temps in his humid hide will go too low.

I have also lowered the wattage of my sunglo bulb, from a 60W to a 15W. I did this in order to keep one side of the tank at a warm room temperature between 75 and 80 during the day. At night, that side of the tank tends to drop to about 70.

What do you think so far?
 
Without pictures of the stools I cant be exactly certain, but he may have a bacteria/parasite problem. It may be in good interest to take a stool sample to a local vet, it is relatively inexpensive. A lamp dimmer will work, anything that lowers the wattage going to the UTH. How are you measuring the temps? With a temp gun? The ultimate goal is 90F, but usually will get +/- 3 from that in areas of the UTH. For all new geckos the best thing to do is handle them/disrupt them very little for the first week, they will use this time to become acclimated to their new surroundings, best of luck. Chris.
 
I am measuring the temperature with a battery operated digital thermometer made for aquariums and terrariums. It has a probe, which I let sit on the floor of the terrarium. I have measure several spots along the floor, all coming up with different readings--I think this might have to do with the fact that some areas have more air under the carpet than others, allowing them to get hotter. I have not been able to measure the temp in thehumid hide, as he/she spends a lot of time in there.

Has my disturbing/handling/adjusting the environment possibly had a detrimental effect on the leo's health? I will take a photo of the next stool. I have attached two photos of the gecko that I would like for you to look at if you would--they were taken on Sunday and give you an idea of how he looked then and still looks today. Does the gecko look healthy?

Thanks for your help. By the way, how long should I leave uneaten food items, specifically, crickets, in the terrarium with him? They are so hard to catch and pull out. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks, Kelly
 

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Crickets are a pain in my opinion :). I wouldnt leave them in longer then overnight, it also helps to have a little piece of fruit/veggies/cricket quencher (your choice) in with him as well (crickets will try to bite soft areas if the geckos if not provided such as eyes). An easy alternative to crickets is mealworms, but they arent as fun to watch (my geckos get excited and shake their tails and run around trying to catch any fast moving insect I put in with them), but is an easy alternative to having to take crickets out every morning. Don't worry about having handled him, getting a new pet is always exciting and sometimes hard not to, especially when your worried about his health. Also, your gecko isnt in any immediate danger as regards to health as far as I can tell. Probes are a little harder to get extremely accurate temperatures (in my experiance) as I could never get them to lay exactly flat on the floor. If your up for the reading here's some links to some extremely useful sites.
http://www.drgecko.com
http://www.goldengategeckos.com (look at their caresheet)
http://www.vmsherp.com/CarePages/CareLeopard.htm
 
Kelly, What a cutie, he looks great. As suggested, I would take a fecal in for testing too, and now that he has eaten you should be gettin plenty of samples now.
 
Welcome! What a darling little gecko! I agree that a fecal exam is in order, even if the problem does prove out to be a stress issue. Stress can cause changes in overall gastro-intestinal function, but also lowers the immune system which can spur the unusual growth of bacteria and/or parasites. Small geckos that are housed in large groups under sub-standard conditions (such as PetCo) are especially prone to these problems. Many parasitic infections can be treated if caught early enough.

Good Luck!
 
Update:

I called and made an appointment with a Specialty Vet close to me the morning. I am going to take the gecko and drop him/her off tomorrow morning, and they are going to give him/her a thorough exam. Fortunately, PetCo is going to cover the cost of the visit and any care rendered--hopefully, with no problems or strings attached. I am hoping that, if there is a problem, they will be able to identify it and treat it fairly easily. The reptile specialist at PetCo seems to think that the change in water (as I , currently, only use a Brita filter for the gecko's water) may have something to do with the loose, green stools. He seemed to insinuate that there is a 50/50 chance of either problem (parasite or chlorinated water). I have a water de-toxifier, AmQuel Plus, that I use for my fish tanks--should I start using that for the gecko's water?

I have recently had an extremely bad experience with a new puppy, which cost me a very large sum of money and a very large emotional stress (everything worked out for the best in that scenario, by the way). Because of that experience, I am considering my options as far as what my next step will be if this gecko gets a bad prognosis.

If things do not work out well with this gecko (cross my fingers that they do work out well), I do not want to give up and would like to acquire another gecko from a reputable breeder, not a pet store in which the animals are kept in sub-par conditions. The only problem I see with this, is that it seems breeders are so expensive! I cannot afford a gecko that a breeder is trying to sell for hundreds of dollars. Are there any affordable, reputable breeders from which I could pick out a new pet (again, only if this does not work out)?

How do parasite cases generally turn out? I am a bit stressed, can you tell?
 
Is this a PetCo recommended vet? I hope not, due to the fact that they are most like the ones that were treating them at PetCo to begin with.

There are many of the top breeders in here that have some non high end morphs and much more healthier than from any pet store for $35-55 (sometimes a little more) plus shipping. The shipping is what makes them a little costly when you are buying a Leo in that price range. But the peace of mind more than makes up for it.
 
Dechlorinated water is not needed. I have been using tap water for a few years with no ill effect (just make sure to change it daily). Parasites/bacterial infections are generally easy to cure, especially if caught early. Good luck, Chris.
 
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