Medical Attention?

[adam_c]

okay, so here's the deal. this past december my girlfriend surprised me with a hatchling crested gecko as an early christmas gift. now, before i EVER venture into a new species of animal i ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS do bucket loads of research on them to make sure i am 110% confident in my ability to care for them properly. so, she surprised me with the gecko which made me have to take in a lot of research fast. (i know the basics as i own a few different lizards, but i have little experience with cresties) i know my temperatures are correct and my husbandry is spot on but she hasn't gained any weight since i have had her (and she is definitely eating, i have her on paper towels to monitor her defecation) but she doesn't seem to be growing at all. when i got her she was about 9 grams. now she's down to 7 grams. (her diet consists of repashy crested gecko diet) i am not sure of the growth rate of these lizards but i would guess that they would gain atleast a couple grams in 3+ months. so if someone can inform me or help me out with this, that would be great. and as i said before, i know the basics, i am not a total noobie, i just need some input.


my next problem is, i noticed that "she" has a LARGE bulge near her vent (but it SEEMS to be far larger than hemipenis. so either "she" is a he with big hemis or something is wrong) so i am wondering if something is going on down there (i.e. infection, or some sort of growth) that needs to be seen by a vet. the pictures are quite blurry and its hard to see but i just had to snap a few pictures with my cell phone just so someone can get the idea and try to guide me.


now i don't want anyone on here to associate my name with bad care, carelessness or anything like that because its not like that at all. i deal primarily with ball pythons and leopard geckos. and i can't blame my girlfriend either because she clearly didn't know or think of it like this. i am posting here strictly so someone can tell me if its something i need to really worry about (vet visit asap) or if its something else? i really don't know. i just don't want to take "her" to the vet and have them tell me its nothing. oh yeah, i forgot to mention, my girlfriend purchased "her" off of kingsnake and the seller said she was a female so this is really leaving me worried and wondering (about the "bulge"). one of the pictures is with no flash and the other two have flash. the flash actually makes it look a lot worse then it is in person. its not that red. but like i said before, i apologize for the picture quality i just had to snap a few quick ones to post here. she wouldn't sit still so it made it 10x harder to get a crisp photo! (if anyone is interested i can probably get better pictures for you) so please, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SnowShredder]

I think you should try to get clearer pictures really quick, because it's hard to tell.

As far as feeding, I've had a female that just has never grown, hardly at all. But I did notice when I added extra protein (crickets at least once a week) that she had a small growth spurt. But even with that she has never grown like any of the other cresties I've had. Besides that she's healthy and I think just small.

If that bulge is more than just boy parts I'd be worried that she isn't gaining weight and a vet visit would be in order, and would make me worry a lot more about her weight problems

[adam_c]

I think you should try to get clearer pictures really quick, because it's hard to tell.

As far as feeding, I've had a female that just has never grown, hardly at all. But I did notice when I added extra protein (crickets at least once a week) that she had a small growth spurt. But even with that she has never grown like any of the other cresties I've had. Besides that she's healthy and I think just small.

If that bulge is more than just boy parts I'd be worried that she isn't gaining weight and a vet visit would be in order, and would make me worry a lot more about her weight problems

thats what i am thinking. but what is making this confusing is that she is definitely eating and going to the bathroom. i have to change "her" paper and wipe down the sides of her tank all the time. i will probably give the vet a call asap. thanks for the reply!


if anyone else wants to chime in with any more information, feel free.

thanks again!

[OctagonGecko729]

I'm not trying to say that your care is wrong but I do need your care information to know if it is right. Many folks will say they are doing the proper thing but actually are missing something or were misinformed by others. Please do post enclosure pics, temps, humidity cycle, and feeding schedule.

That is not a normal looking vent by any stretch. I'd guess its either an infection or a parasite load of some kind. Are the feces runny? If you have a good exotic vet and have the cash I'd take it as soon as you can.

[Annarose15]

I agree that something looks very wrong with that vent. I'd get to a herp vet.