my male crested gecko

Question
hi ive had my crested gecko for over a year now say 13mounths and just recently i noticed he was not eating like he should and didnt have any strength i got some calcium and started hand feeding it seems to have worked and he has put on weight but ive noticed a bigger problem and don't know what to do i saw him try and poo and it wasn't nice the poo wont come out and its like a bloody colour he trys biteing it out but its no good it just sucks back in please help i dont know what to please get back to me it very important to me thanks nick

Answer
Hi Nick, I'm glad you were able to correct the earlier diet problem. You may want to try one of the commercial diets for cresteds. They are nutritionally balanced and will help you avoid problems like that in the future. Here's a link with more info http://www.pangeareptile.com/products.htm#superfoods

As for the bloody coloured "poo" that sucked back into his body. Nick, I strongly suspect that what you were actually seeing were his hemipenes. Male geckoes will sometimes evert them and then clean them by licking or biting at them, it is quite normal. It only becomes a problem if the hemipene prolapses which means it gets stuck outside of the body rather then going back inside.

The hemipenes do not tend to look how you might expect, they are dark red and oddly shaped. Here's a link with a photo of a male crested with his hemipene everted (outside the body)

http://www.crestedlady.com/hemipene.jpg