Leopard Gecko Puke

Hello again everyone! I have a bit of a problem... I just got my leopard gecko about a week ago from petco (I know, not the best place to buy animals from but I fell in love with her and couldn’t leave her there). I had been planning and researching about leopard geckos for some time now but I am very concerned about her right now.

I was holding her in my hand and she leaned her head over the rug and puked... the pile of puke was just a smidge smaller than the size of her head... and I did everything I could to not get freaked out. She did a “tail wag” immediately after (which to my understanding means she felt threatened). I put her on the carpet and backed away (there’s nothing that could have spooked her, I was the only one there and no other pets or distractions were present). After putting all of the decorations back in her tank, I gently picked her up and put her back in her home. She went into one of her hides and fell asleep.

I’m really worried about her and hope she isn’t sick. My only thought would be that she somehow got spooked and that it’s something they do when their scared? A picture of what came out of her is attached below... any and all help would be greatly appreciated. (Sorry this was so long... I’m still a bit freaked out)

 

I wouldb;t worry too much. Just watch her closely for the next few days. I have 2 myself and plan on adding 2 more this weekend or next. I love them. Can you post a picture of yours along with diet, tank size, and form of heating? I would just like to make sure that all of that is okay and check her health.

 

I wouldb;t worry too much. Just watch her closely for the next few days. I have 2 myself and plan on adding 2 more this weekend or next. I love them. Can you post a picture of yours along with diet, tank size, and form of heating? I would just like to make sure that all of that is okay and check her health.

Her diet is mealworms dusted with calcium powder but I plan on adding crickets to her diet soon (I make sure the mealworms are gut loaded before I feed them to her anyways). Tank size is 10 gallons to start but I will eventually upgrade her to a 20 long when I can free up some space, as for heating I have a heating pad on the bottom of her tank. Below are some pics of her

 

From what I can tell, she looks pretty healthy. I wouldn't worry. I would definitely add crickets to her diet soon. I buy mine from Pet Supplies Plus. I get 50 medium crickets for $5.

 

Oh my gosh you guys... You make me want a Leo so bad! She's so cute!!

I've recently read a bit about reptile vomiting and it seems like the most likely cause of this is that she's eaten too much. I agree with Katie and wouldn't worry too much over a single occurrence. Since she's very new, I would not handle her very long or even every day. She's just been through a big change but she looks great and it sounds like you're taking good care of her. I'd change her diet sooner than later though... crickets or roaches are a much better staple insect than mealworms.

 

From what I can tell, she looks pretty healthy. I wouldn't worry. I would definitely add crickets to her diet soon. I buy mine from Pet Supplies Plus. I get 50 medium crickets for $5.

Sounds good! Adding crickets to her diet is definitely something I will do. Thanks for the quick response as well!

 

Oh my gosh you guys... You make me want a Leo so bad! She's so cute!!

I've recently read a bit about reptile vomiting and it seems like the most likely cause of this is that she's eaten too much. I agree with Katie and wouldn't worry too much over a single occurrence. Since she's very new, I would not handle her very long or even every day. She's just been through a big change but she looks great and it sounds like you're taking good care of her. I'd change her diet sooner than later though... crickets or roaches are a much better staple insect than mealworms.

You need one! I should hopefully have 4 by the end of this week! I have a friend who is planning on giving me their two adults!

 

Oh my gosh you guys... You make me want a Leo so bad! She's so cute!!

I've recently read a bit about reptile vomiting and it seems like the most likely cause of this is that she's eaten too much. I agree with Katie and wouldn't worry too much over a single occurrence. Since she's very new, I would not handle her very long or even every day. She's just been through a big change but she looks great and it sounds like you're taking good care of her. I'd change her diet sooner than later though... crickets or roaches are a much better staple insect than mealworms.

Thank you! I will definitely change her diet in the near future. I will also feed her a bit less and see if that makes any difference. I appreciate your response!

You need one! I should hopefully have 4 by the end of this week! I have a friend who is planning on giving me their two adults!

They really are great pets to have... they’re cute, funny and (seeing as this is the first reptile I’ve ever owned) pretty easy to care for. Good luck with the new Leo’s you're getting too!

Thank you everyone for all the great feedback!

 

Guys it happened again.... she puked and it looked the same. This time, she threw her head back and forth as if gagging and then the puke flung out. Should I be concerned? This is the second time this has happened in less than a month....
This time I know it wasn’t that she ate too much or ate too fast because I think she is going to molt soon and she has had very little to no appetite over the last two days or so

 

Guys it happened again.... she puked and it looked the same. This time, she threw her head back and forth as if gagging and then the puke flung out. Should I be concerned? This is the second time this has happened in less than a month....
This time I know it wasn’t that she ate too much or ate too fast because I think she is going to molt soon and she has had very little to no appetite over the last two days or so

Was she in her enclosure when she did it this time or were you holding her? •What are you feeding, •how much, •how often, and •what time of day?

Also what is the temperature on the hot side? It sounds like it may not be hot enough for her to digest her meals so she’s throwing them up because they’re rotting in her gut. They need belly heat in order to do so. If you can get your hands on a temp gun (like $8 at Walmart) you can check the temperatures to see exactly where they’re at.

 

I have a LEO named Geddy. I have had him for over a year. I feed him meal worms, crickets, and the occasional special treat of a hornworm!! He LOVES those!!! To the best of my knowledge, he has NEVER puked. Based on the pic of what she threw up, it looks like an un-digested piece of something. Is it possible the worms you're feeding her are too large for her??
P.S. She's a cutie!

 

Was she in her enclosure when she did it this time or were you holding her? •What are you feeding, •how much, •how often, and •what time of day?

Also what is the temperature on the hot side? It sounds like it may not be hot enough for her to digest her meals so she’s throwing them up because they’re rotting in her gut. They need belly heat in order to do so. If you can get your hands on a temp gun (like $8 at Walmart) you can check the temperatures to see exactly where they’re at.

She threw up outside of the cage while I was holding her.... is it possible something spooked her and it’s a defense mechanism? It’s ~85° on the hot side and 70° on the cool side. I feed about 10 small (1 inch or less) mealworms per day until she gets a little bigger (it turns out my local pet store only sells large crickets which she wouldn’t be able to eat) and I feed her at night. I think she is digesting properly because she poops every day, but I could be wrong. I will look into getting the temp gun

 

She threw up outside of the cage while I was holding her.... is it possible something spooked her and it’s a defense mechanism? It’s ~85° on the hot side and 70° on the cool side. I feed about 10 small (1 inch or less) mealworms per day until she gets a little bigger (it turns out my local pet store only sells large crickets which she wouldn’t be able to eat) and I feed her at night. I think she is digesting properly because she poops every day, but I could be wrong. I will look into getting the temp gun

I would just stop taking her out of the tank for a little while after she eats. I would also suggest trying another pet store for crickets or ask your local one to get small ones in your you. Mealworms are really high in fat and they’re not the greatest daily feeder, she may be having trouble digesting the high amounts of protein and fat in them. Another great feeder are dubia roaches or discoid roaches. Don’t be freaked out because they’re roaches (...I was too at first), they can’t live in your home so they’ll die if they get out.

 

I would just stop taking her out of the tank for a little while after she eats. I would also suggest trying another pet store for crickets or ask your local one to get small ones in your you. Mealworms are really high in fat and they’re not the greatest daily feeder, she may be having trouble digesting the high amounts of protein and fat in them. Another great feeder are dubia roaches or discoid roaches. Don’t be freaked out because they’re roaches (...I was too at first), they can’t live in your home so they’ll die if they get out.

I don’t think my local pet store sells the roaches because I looked for them before and they didn’t have them, but I can go and look again (it has a very limited stock of live foods and reptile stuff in general).

On a side note, I give the mealworms either pieces of a carrot or lettuce about 12 hours before I feed them to her to make sure they get “gut loaded”, does this make any difference in the fat/protein they carry? I just heard gut loading was a good practice,and didn’t look much further than that into it.

On another side note, I handle her before she is fed, so maybe she just overeats? Should I feed less and see what happens?

 

I don’t think my local pet store sells the roaches because I looked for them before and they didn’t have them, but I can go and look again (it has a very limited stock of live foods and reptile stuff in general).

On a side note, I give the mealworms either pieces of a carrot or lettuce about 12 hours before I feed them to her to make sure they get “gut loaded”, does this make any difference in the fat/protein they carry? I just heard gut loading was a good practice,and didn’t look much further than that into it.

On another side note, I handle her before she is fed, so maybe she just overeats? Should I feed less and see what happens?

That’s totally good practice! Though I would skip out on lettuce because that has no nutritional value. Otherwise carrots are great, I use them for all of my feeders. I wouldn’t say it makes a difference in the amount of fat/protein your gecko is getting, but instead your gecko is getting all of that plus maybe some extra vitamin C from the carrots. You can order roaches online as well and just keep them in a black bin with some ventilation and egg crate. Toss in some carrots every few days and they’ll live just fine I prefer keeping roaches over crickets because crickets absolutely stink! And I would try not handling your gecko all together for a few days and see if she’s able to work herself out. She may be stressed out, and as we all know stress can definitely cause an upset stomach! Keep updated though, best of luck!

 

So food for thought Because of the fact that she seems to do it while you are holding her, I think it is possible that something is spooking her, and I would guess that it's being held. I know a lot of animals particularly reptiles try to make themselves as light as possible when threatened, and by throwing up her last meal she would be lighter and faster in order to avoid predators. For example, if you ever pick up a wild toad it will most likely pee on you and snakes will often regurgitate their food as well when scared. It may be because she is not used to you or people in general, you may or may not already do this but try not to grab her, more slide her onto your hand or gently scoop her up. But before that probably best like others are saying to give her some time alone. Best of Luck!

 

oops just realized that this was posted a while ago . Hope your Leo is doing better now!

 

oops just realized that this was posted a while ago . Hope your Leo is doing better now!

Thank you! She is doing much better. Going back to your previous post, I think she might have just gotten spooked because she no longer pukes (yay!) Thank you for your response!