undigested mealworms & waxworms?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend has a several year old leopard gecko that she rescued from a friend. It's conditions were poor, he lost several toes from stuck sheds.

Things are much better for him now. He's eating well, and has put on lots of weight and looks like a healthy leopard gecko. His enclosure is a rubbermaid tub, with high side temps in low 90s and cool side about 78-80 degrees. Humidity is 60-70%. No supplemental light cycle.

One thing I have noticed is that in his "leavings" there are undigested mealworms. I even tried cutting them in half to make digestion easier, but they still appear largely undigested. They definitely look like they have gone through his system, so I doubt they are regurgitated.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is this normal? Should we switch to a smaller size mealworm?

Mr. Wiggles thanks you,

JonV

[Clementine_3]

Is the 'low 90s' on the hot side on the substrate and measured with a probe or temp gun? Also, the title says waxworms too, how many are you feeding? They sometimes act like a laxative None of my girls will eat mealies anymore but when they did there were always bits of chitin in the poop, I don't find that with superworms or crickets. Do you mean little flecks or still formed, big chunks of worm?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

I forgot about the waxworms. The waxworms are large, so I only feed him about 4 at a time. Do all leopard geckos get bumped up to waxworms as they get larger?

The temps are measured with a temp gun.

JonV

[Clementine_3]

I don't feed waxworms at all, they are pretty high in fat (I believe around 20% but don't recall exactly) and some Leo's will develop a taste for them, and only them! They are sort of like junk food...who doesn't love cake...a tasty treat but not a staple. Mealies, crickets, superworms, Phoenix worms (fly larvae) and silk worms make great staples.
Cut the waxies out of her diet for right now, just offer the mealies and see if that doesn't fix the issue.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Hi, thanks for your response.

The leopard was on mealies, then the pet store ran out so we switched to waxworms. The digestion problems were occurring before the switch occurred. Could the mealworms have been too big? Too many at once?

JonV

[Clementine_3]

They probably aren't too big if it's an adult. Could have been too many at once but I'd almost guess not, they can put a lot away with no trouble typically. Your temps sound good, 88-92 is the norm for the warm side substrate, you could up it a bit, that may help. Have you had a fecal done? It's possible she has parasites...

[nevohraalnavnoj]

They probably aren't too big if it's an adult. Could have been too many at once but I'd almost guess not, they can put a lot away with no trouble typically. Your temps sound good, 88-92 is the norm for the warm side substrate, you could up it a bit, that may help. Have you had a fecal done? It's possible she has parasites...

That actually may not be a bad idea....

JonV