Yes you read that right! This blog post is about leopard geckos and regular bowel movements. As with a lot of things in life, what goes in must come out, and from that we can gauge the health of the creature. It’s important to know some details about this as an owner so that we can ensure that we are caring for our leopard geckos responsibly and properly. So…
How often do leopard geckos poop?
Perfectly healthy baby and juvenile leopard geckos should defecate regularly (2-4 times) over the day. Adult leopard geckos are a lot less frequent and may poop every couple of days as their diet is different as well as their metabolisms.
With the younger leopard geckos, the constant feeding that you are hopefully giving them in the younger stages should be a factor. Their constant growth that their body is going through is taking a lot of nourishment from the constant and having to release it so that they can grow healthily.
Adult Leopard Geckos only really need to be fed every 2-3 days and will produce excrement at roughly the same frequency.
So now that you know how often your leopard gecko should be pooping, you can put your mind at rest. If this is not the case right now with your leopard gecko there may be a few other factors that we can that will help you understand further.
What if my leopard gecko isn’t defecating?
As mentioned before, adult geckos defecate every few days and it often matches up with the frequency that they eat. so this is perfectly normal however it is worth checking with your vet (reptile specialist) to understand better why this is the case. It could be be a few of the following factors which you are in control of, so let’s cover them now.
Vivarium Temperature
Unlike lot of other reptiles, leopard geckos regulate their body heat from the belly upwards from the warm ground of natural habitats in northern Indian subcontinent. this method of heating up their body also helps digestion of any food that they may have. so it is important to monitor and regulate the temperature in their vivarium quite closely.
The leopard geckos enclosure should have something cold and gradient heat, temperature one end is different to the temperature of the other to simulate night and day temperatures from where they are used to being. at one end it is commonly recommended to be 90 degrees and at the other end 70 to 75 degrees so that they can expose themselves to what their body needs. For a more detailed explanation, please see our Leopard Geckos Owners Care Guide
Dehydration
Another reason why your leopard gecko may not be pooping is dehydration. the school needs to have enough moisture to pass through the tiny digestive system of the gecko and and a lack of this can cause constipation. geckos get hydrated not only from water board also from the moisture from the food and the live insects that they have.
The signs of a dehydrated leopard gecko are quite obvious. Its beautiful eyes will seemingly be slightly sunk with a drawn look with their skin exhibiting signs of creases in its skin and some wrinkliness.
Impaction
This is when the digestive system of the leopard gecko is blocked. one of the most common reasons is a result of using the wrong kind of substrate in the vivarium. Using substrate that is small and fragmented or even smaller such as sand can be ingested when the leopard gecko eats and cause impaction. Common types that cause this are:
- Silica Sand
- Calcium Sand
- Sand In General
How to handle Leopard Gecko Poop
So if you are still not sure and need to take a stool sample to the vet, please use take some precautions to ensure your safety! Needless to say, don’t handle with bare hands, wear latex gloves, or use large enough tweezers. Do not use paper, tissues or towels. Put the stool in a plastic sealable bag or container and take it as soon as possible. Freezing it is not advised either, as it can affect the results significantly.
So enough of all of this endless stool chat, we have resisted numerous jokes in the course of this article, it’s been fun, we’re POOPed!
