Leopard Gecko Health(Is this compaction?)

[The Bear]

Hello everyone!

I am concerned about the health of my male leopard gecko.
2 days ago I cleaned out and changed paper towel bedding which is always some what stressful to the geckos but hmmm... its hard to explain this.

He started to make some sound like he was farting or something I assume this is some defence mechanism. At the same time he lifted his leg and began licking an area around where his tail goes into his body. Then some strange hard goo came out but is attached. Its not sticky and has now hardend,its brown maybe a scab. Its more to the right underside part of the tail not directly under. I poked it gently with tweezers and he reacted to it like it was skin and not just poop or something attached.

I wonder if this could be some sort of compaction or if he was getting ready to severe his tail in defence or what. He has recently pooped out the white kind of discharge but not the dark yet and thats what worries me. He is kept on paper towels so I don't know how compaction could happen.


Any advice or experiance with this would be greatly. The rep. Vet is over an hour away so I hate to go there for nothing. Can someone direct me to a good website about gecko anatomy with some pictures?

Thanks, Brad

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I'm not sure either, but the word is *impaction*. Which this definitely is not, because the whole reason an impacted pet is bad is that they CAN'T get it out of their bodies. So that's one possibility ruled out. :?

 

[The Bear]

Thanks for the help Mushroom Spore. The good news is this morning I woke up and found more poo in the corner so its not impaction. It looks like a scab so I think it was him getting stressed out. Maybe his tale was reacting to stress and he didn't really want it to come off or something like that and then I let him calm down. Now its healing I hope. If it doesn't get better soon I will go to the vet.

 

[xchondrox]

Sounds like it maybe a prolapse colon or hemipene. Its hard to say without actually seeing it though but thats the direction I'd go in. Colon prolapses are caused by constipation/impaction, Its the animals colon actually coming out during or after a bowel movement. Hemipene prolapses will usually stay back in once they've been rehydrated and retracked. With either case its very important that you keep the tissue moist, If it drys up and dies youll have to freeze him. Move him into a deli-cup or KK with damp paper towel for afew days and dont feed him for a week or so, when you do start feeding him again only give him small meals. Sometimes doing that will solve the problem, other times in bad cases youll have to take it to a vet and have a suture put in to keep everything in place. Pics would help. Good luck!