ohh great.. Here we go.

[CoolioTiffany]

Last night I was spot cleaning my geckos cage so I decided to pick her up and handle her for a few. I noticed she was making this odd popping-ish noise with her throat. I opened up her mouth to check for bubbles but I found nothing. The only bubble I saw was this sort of large bubble going from her top jaw to her lower jaw. This bubble popped right away once her mouth opened up. Any ideas if she has an RI?

[RichsBallPythons]

whats the setup like.

With all my leos i like to give them a 92 warm side 77 cool side and a 40% humidity MAX.

[CoolioTiffany]

whats the setup like.

With all my leos i like to give them a 92 warm side 77 cool side and a 40% humidity MAX.

I have her on sand (she's not a hatchling or juvenile), have 3 hides (2 on warm, 1 on cool), 75 watt infrared heat bulb, water dish large enough for her to soak in, some plants, and that's about it. Her warm side stays in the low to mid 90s, and she eats superworms, crickets, or mealworms dusted with Calcium every other day. I offer the Calcium a few times a week. I only put a moist hide in when she is going into shed and I'll keep it in there once she's done with shedding.

[RichsBallPythons]

I have her on sand (she's not a hatchling or juvenile), have 3 hides (2 on warm, 1 on cool), 75 watt infrared heat bulb, water dish large enough for her to soak in, some plants, and that's about it. Her warm side stays in the low to mid 90s, and she eats superworms, crickets, or mealworms dusted with Calcium every other day. I offer the Calcium a few times a week. I only put a moist hide in when she is going into shed and I'll keep it in there once she's done with shedding.

This is what you need to change. You need to have 3 hides one on cool side one in middle(moist hide left is at all times) and one on the warm side. Keep a small cap of calcium powder in at ALL TIMES along with meal worms is at ALL TIMES. Wehn keeping in meal worms keep count on what you put in each day so you know how many to have in daily.

Also take her off sand and put her on papertowel or newspaper. Sand is not good for leos at all.

As for heat i would advice ditch the lamp and go with the UTH. all my leos are kept in a rack with flexwatt. And also keep only a small cap of water, they dont soak.

[Clementine_3]

This is what you need to change. You need to have 3 hides one on cool side one in middle(moist hide left is at all times) and one on the warm side. Keep a small cap of calcium powder in at ALL TIMES along with meal worms is at ALL TIMES. Wehn keeping in meal worms keep count on what you put in each day so you know how many to have in daily.

Also take her off sand and put her on papertowel or newspaper. Sand is not good for leos at all.

As for heat i would advice ditch the lamp and go with the UTH. all my leos are kept in a rack with flexwatt. And also keep only a small cap of water, they dont soak.

+10
While I know the whole sand topic is a heated one and I don't really want to fuel anything, I feel it's best to keep Leo's on solid substrates. Two things that you said are my biggest concerns; she is (it appears?) fed on the sand so can ingest it and the sand IS her calcium in between offerings. It's just, to me, a worrisome situation.
I do agree with everything flameethrower has suggested, especially now since there are 'noises'. She may have ingested some sand or it may be too dry (sand is particulate and the finer bits can be inhaled) and is causing a 'cough/dry mouth' or it could be absolutely nothing but it's there none the less.
For right now I would switch to a safer environment and see how she fairs.

[coldblooded]

The heat bulb may not be providing enough heat. I, too, highly suggest a UTH and the removal of the sand, especially if it's the "digestible" kind.. (because it's not digestible at all and will cause impaction.) Temperatures should be mid 90s on the warm side. Make sure you are measuring the ground temperatures with a digital thermometer or a infrared temp gun.

If you suspect an RI you will need to take her to the vet to confirm it. If she does have an RI I would suggest injectable Baytril over the oral Baytril if you have a choice. Loki had an RI when he was younger and did NOT do well at all on the oral Baytril (he'd spit it out, it made him ill because of the sugar solution, and the final straw was when he aspirated it and nearly choked.) Injectable Baytril works very well. I gave Loki his shots at the base of his tail and he did great.

In addition, Leopard geckos do not generally soak unless they are in some sort of pain. Have you noticed her soaking? You also have to make sure to watch that humidity level but if you're in AZ it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Good luck

[CoolioTiffany]

Thanks for the replies, I will change what I need to tonight. I'll put her on paper towels tonight and clean out her entire enclosure as well as add in a humid hide.

I have never seen her soak. At night she'll hang out by the water dish by sort of leaning over it; her hands will be on the dish while her feet will be on the ground.

She does go to the bathroom normally and she is fed from tongs. I will rarely ever leave food in the enclosure.

[Big Gunns]

There is a problem with only using a UTH peeps is that if it's kept in a room that's only 70 degrees, the UTH side is the only side that will be warm. It works fine in a rack, but not a tank. You need to heat the ambient air in a tank some way.

BG doesn't like sand either, although they do live on it in the wild.

[Clementine_3]

There is a problem with only using a UTH peeps is that if it's kept in a room that's only 70 degrees, the UTH side is the only side that will be warm. It works fine in a rack, but not a tank. You need to heat the ambient air in a tank some way.

BG doesn't like sand either, although they do live on it in the wild.

That's why I use radiant heat panels in addition to UTHs
I have RHPs attached to the screen tops and then a piece of plexi-glass over the top to hold the heat in. Works like a charm!
Oh, the things we end up doing for these little critters!!

[CoolioTiffany]

There is a problem with only using a UTH peeps is that if it's kept in a room that's only 70 degrees, the UTH side is the only side that will be warm. It works fine in a rack, but not a tank. You need to heat the ambient air in a tank some way.

BG doesn't like sand either, although they do live on it in the wild.

It gets kinda cold at night in my room, most likely down to 70F. My heater isn't working so the A/C is blowing cool air--I have no way to heat my room. This is why I use a heat lamp for her. In the Summer, I would understand using a UTH would be much more acceptable, but for now, I need the heat lamp until Winter passes.