leopard gecko has stopped eating and pooping

Question
Hi Thea I was hoping you could help me with my leo Sephy. She's about 6 months now and Ive only had her for 3 she eats silent brown/black crickets only and she's housed in a 2ft x 1ft tank with a thermostat, digital thermometer, an under heating mat, two hides one of them is moist and a dish of calcium powder and a water dish. she's been doing fine up until now she's gone right off her food and she gradually stopped pooing then only passed urates and urine but she doesn't do her business at all now this has all happened within 4 days and the temperatures are always between mid 80's to 92 farenheit and i dust the crickets with the supplements (nutrobal and calcidust) daily but now she doesn't pay attention to her food at all. I think i fed her crickets that were too big a few days ago but im not sure, could she have impaction? i found a tiny dark blue spot on her belly, close to her ribs and also I found a transparent puddle on one off the decorative plants with white patches in it, i dont know what it is but hopefully you do shes always sleeping and tired now, do you know what it might be and if so, how can i treat her? thanks for reading this!

Answer
Hi Alannah,

Thank you for supplying the details about your set-up, that's helpful. Impaction is always a possibility especially if she is on a loose particle substrate but it would require an x-ray to be certain. Be warned that even the "digestible" calcium based sands are frequent causes of blockages. The dark area on her belly may just be her liver. It is often visible on leos due to their white skin. It would be up near her ribs and slighty over on her right hand side.

Going off her food will obviously cause a decrease in her stool output but there are a couple things you can do at home that may help if she is actually impacted. Try soaking her in some just slightly warm water. This often has a triggering affect on the bowels of reptiles. It will also help with her hydration. Animals that stop eating often stop drinking as well which can, in turn, lead to constipation. You can also try getting a few drops of mineral oil into her mouth. Mineral oil can be purchased at any pharmacy and is used for human constipation. The easiest and safest way would be to mix a few drops of the oil into some chicken based baby food and dabbing that onto her snout. Most leos respond by licking it off.

You mentioned that you dust her food daily but I would suggest you reduce that a bit to 3 or 4 times a week. It is possible to have too much of a good thing! Once she is fully adult at around a year then supplementing twice a week is sufficient.

If you don't notice some improvment in the next few days then a vet visit is really advised. Lethargy and lack of appetite are general symptoms and could have several other potential causes.