Pooping or defecating is one of the most important body functions in many organisms, including leopard geckos. Leopard gecko need to poop regularly, but infrequent pooping happens with many leopard geckos. In this post, we will discuss reasons why a leopard gecko is not pooping, how often your leopard gecko should poop and how to help your leopard gecko poop regularly.
How often should a leopard gecko poop?
Most leopard geckos poop once a day, but some (often babies) can poop 2-3 times a day. But even more leopard geckos poop only few times a week. Everything depends on age (babies poop more often) and how often you feed it – if you feed your leopard gecko every day, it will poop more.
How long can a leopard gecko go without pooping?
Generally, leopard gecko can go without pooping for 5-7 days. If it’s been longer than this, there might be something wrong – such as indigestion, constipation or impaction.
Why is a leopard gecko not pooping?
Reason number 1: Your leopard gecko is not eating enough
If your leopard gecko is not eating regularly, it will not be pooping regularly. There can be many reasons why your leopard gecko won’t eat – these can include constipation, low tank temperatures, bullying, stress, impaction, breeding, parasitic infections and more.
Adult leopard geckos (18+ months) need to eat 2-3 times a week, hatchlings and babies (0-4 months old) – every day, and juveniles (5-18 months) – 5 times a week.
If your leopard gecko is not pooping because it won’t eat regularly – you need to find out what is causing it first. Read a full post on possible reasons why your leopard gecko is not eating here.
Reason number 2: The tank temperatures are too low, so your leopard gecko can’t digest food
If the tank temperatures are too low, your leopard gecko won’t be able to digest food. This will cause poor appetite and poor digestion, and your leopard gecko won’t be eating much. It will also be hard to pass the food that is not digesting properly.
Make sure that the temperatures in a leopard gecko’s tank are optimal at all times, by using digital thermometers on both cool and warm sides of the tank. Also, using an infrared gun thermometer like this will tell you the temperatures in different spots of the habitat.
There should be ideal temperatures in a leopard gecko’s tank at all times. Any fluctuations might cause stress to your leopard gecko. Make sure to check temperatures and automate heating devices as much as possible.
- Floor temperature right underneath the lamp/under a warm hide/in the heated spot with an UTH should be 88-92 (31.1-33.3 Celsius).
- Air temperature (4-5 inches above the ground in the warm spot) should be 77-83 Fahrenheit (25-28.3 Celsius).
- In the cool side, air temperatures (4-5 inches above the ground) should be 73-76 degrees Fahrenheit (22.7-24.4 Celsius).
- At night, drop the temperatures to 66-74 degrees Fahrenheit (or 18.8-23 Celsius). Try to stay in the range of 70-74 degrees.
Read everything about heating, lighting and humidity in leopard gecko’s tank in this post.
Reason number 3: Your leopard gecko is not pooping because you changed the tank or the setup
Leopard geckos prefer pooping in one spot, and this is very common. If you have recently changed leopard gecko’s tank, it might be still adapting to new conditions and might not poop for a while.
Same can happen when you change the setup dramatically or move the accessories around in the tank.
Give your leopard gecko around a week and it should poop again after finding a new spot. Place a paper towel or something that you used before for an easy cleanup and to help your leopard gecko find a spot again.
Reason number 4: Your leopard gecko is not pooping because it is dehydrated
Dehydrated leopard gecko is less likely to be pooping regularly. Water is very important to keep your leopard gecko’s digestive tract healthy and working smoothly. Leopard geckos rely on moisture from insects, so always offer moisture to the feeder insects when gut-loading.
Signs of a dehydrated leopard gecko include sunken eyes, folded or wrinkly skin, not pooping or pooping with small/or without any urates. Urates are a solid form of urine, and should be yellowish in color.
You can also pinch the skin and see if it goes back to normal after you release it. If it doesn’t and stays in this folding position, then your leopard gecko is likely to be dehydrated. Many leopard geckos don’t drink from the bowl often. Make sure to have a water bowl in the tank with fresh water and a humid hide.
If your leopard gecko seems very dehydrated, place a wet napkin in its tank for a while so it can lick some water off of it. If it’s still disinterested, you can give it a bath, but don’t mist the tank.
Reason number 5: Your leopard gecko is not pooping because it is constipated/impacted
If you are using loose substrate in the leopard gecko’s tank for any reason, your leopard gecko might become impacted and won’t be able to poop. There is a big risk of ingesting the loose substrate, especially with younger leopard geckos who are learning about their environment. Don’t use loose substrate in a leopard gecko’s tank.
Leopard geckos might also ingest sand when you place their feeder insects right on the substrate. While you shouldn’t use any sand, but if you do, at least make sure it’s an adult leopard gecko and place its food in the bowls.
If your suspect that your leopard gecko is impacted, give it 2 drops of vegetable oil, such as olive oil (or other non-solidifying oil) every other day.
You can also place the drop on top of its nose, but don’t get it in the nostrils. Apart from the plant oil, you can give it one drop of mineral oil, too. Don’t feed your leopard gecko until it poops out the impacted matter.
What is more, give it a bath once or twice a day, while massaging its belly from top to the vent. Make a bath with lukewarm water (around 86 F, or 30 C degrees water) with water touching its belly, and keep your leo submerged for around 25-30 minutes. Mineral/vegetable oil will act as a laxative for your leopard gecko.
Signs of impaction in leopard geckos
Leopard geckos that are impacted will have a bad appetite, bloated belly, be lethargic and won’t be pooping at least once in 5-7 days. If your leopard gecko is impacted with sand, you might notice some in the poop.
You can also confirm that your leopard gecko is impacted with visual examination – shine a bright light on its belly and you will be able to see a dark/yellow spot. An X-Ray will also confirm impaction.
When looking at its belly, don’t confuse ingested substrate with internal organs. If your leopard gecko is pooping fine, dark circles are often leopard gecko’s organs. They are more visible through the skin with babies, as they have thinner skin.
Leopard gecko poop stuck?
If you notice that your leopard gecko’s poop gets stuck on the vent, it is a bath time. Give your leopard gecko a bath with lukewarm water (around 86 F, or 30 C degrees water) and use a wet cotton bud to remove the stuck poop carefully.
But make sure not to push it in, or pull too hard as you can break the skin and cause an infection.
Reason number 6: The food that you offer your leopard gecko is too big
Leading to the previous point, your leopard gecko might become constipated or impacted if the feeder insects are too large for it. Make sure that the insects are not larger than the width between your leopard gecko’s eyes.
Insects that are too big or have a very hard shell (which you need to remove in this case) can cause impaction and even paralysis.