Pooping is one of the most important functions in most organisms, including crested geckos. Some factors might cause your crested gecko not to poop. In this post, we will answer the question of ‘why isn’t my crested gecko pooping’, discuss possible reasons why a crested gecko is not pooping and give tips on managing these situations.
How do crested geckos poop?
Crested geckos excrete poop, urates (solid form of urine) and little or no clear urine from one opening – cloaca. Normal poop should consist of fecal material, some urates and little to no clear pee. Sometimes, you might only see white urates.
How often do crested geckos poop?
How often crested geckos poop will depend on what, how much they eat and what age they are. For example, baby crested geckos can eat and poop daily (or even few times a day), juveniles will poop 4-7 times a week, and adults – 3-4 times a week.
How long can a crested gecko go without pooping?
Your crested gecko can go without pooping for around a week. But once again, make sure that the poop is not hidden somewhere in the cage. It is easy to miss the poop as crested geckos poop in various places.
If your crested gecko has not pooped for 10 days or more, it could be a sign of impaction & constipation. Are you keeping it on the loose substrate? Does it eat properly? Have you just brought it home recently?
New crested geckos stress a lot in their new environment. You should keep small crested geckos under 20 grams in a 3-6 gallon Kritter Keeper like this. Once it hits 20 grams, you can move it to a 20-30 gallon terrarium. Keep a baby crested gecko on paper towels until it reaches at least 20-25 grams.
Crested gecko poop size
The size of crested gecko’s poop will also depend on crested gecko’s size and how much it ate. Small crested gecko’s poop will have the size of a rice grain or even smaller. Juvenile and bigger crested gecko’s poop can be as big as a string or coin.
Also, if your crested gecko ate some feeder insects, the poop will be bigger in size. And it can even have some pieces of poorly digested bugs, especially if they contained some hard chitin. Big poop in crested geckos is normal, sometimes even urates can be as big as the feces.
Crested gecko poops on me
Many crested geckos poop on their owners when being handled. There are few reasons why crested geckos poop during handling – these can be slight stress or being relaxed in your warm hands (less common). But most commonly – crested geckos poop on you so that you put it back in the cage.
If your crested gecko poops on you, don’t put it back in the cage for another 10 minutes. This will train it not to poop on you to be put back in the cage.
Why isn’t my crested gecko pooping?
Reason #1: You simply don’t see the poop
Crested geckos don’t poop much or very often, so it can be harder to notice their poop in loose substrate. You should be able to see the poop if you keep your crested gecko(s) on paper towels. Smaller geckos will excrete very small poops (rice grain size), so they will be harder to find.
You might be surprised by where you can find your crested gecko’s poop. Perform a deeper cleaning at least once a week and you are likely to find poop on top screen, glass, under the hides and leaves and more.
Please keep your baby crested geckos on paper towels until it reaches around 20 grams. This way, you will be able to watch the poop and avoid impaction.
Sometimes it might be hard to find the poop in the tank, especially if the terrarium is large or if you have various accessories in it. Crested geckos tend to poop in different spots, so make sure to check in hides, walls, foliage and other spots, too. They can even poop in the food and in water cups.
Reason #2: Your crested gecko hasn’t eaten much
If your crested gecko is not pooping for around 4-6 days, then there is a chance that it’s not eating much. Please check its food cup for lick marks. It can be hard to tell if your crested gecko is eating. No eating = no poop. This is especially true if you only find urates but no brown feces next to them.
Crested geckos don’t eat much – they get full from few licks to a 1/4 of a spoon, or 2-3 small crickets for example.
Hatchling crested geckos need to eat 4-6 days a week, juveniles – 3-4 times a week, and adults – 2-3 times a week. Try offering live gut-loaded feeder insects at 1-2 times a week. Feeder insects must be small, and not bigger than the width between crested gecko’s eyes.
Your crested gecko might not eat much during shedding, breeding season, after coming to a new house (it can take around 1-3 weeks to settle).
Poor appetite can also be caused by vitamin and mineral deficiency (unlikely if you feed CGD and gut-loaded bugs), parasitic infection, bullying and low temperatures in the tank. Please make sure to keep the daytime temperatures at 70’s (22-26 C) and night temperatures – at around 65 F (18.3 C).
You can read a full guide on possible reasons why your crested gecko is not eating here.
Reason #3: Your crested gecko is impacted or constipated
Your crested gecko might become impacted if you offer very large feeder bugs or have loose substrate in the tank.
Very large feeder insects (large than the width between the eyes) might not get digested properly and get stuck in intestines. Another reason can be bugs with hard chitin or sharp legs, causing difficult digestion and trauma in the guts.
Never keep hatchling and juvenile crested geckos on loose substrate. They are very curious and will ingest the substrate. While you might make the bioactive soil for your crested gecko once it reaches 20-25 grams, the risk of impaction is still there.
If your crested gecko has suddenly gained few grams (make sure to keep weighing your crested gecko weekly), then this could indicate substrate ingestion/constipation. Other signs of impaction in crested gecko include irritability, poor appetite, lethargy. Your crested gecko’s belly will feel tight (round and skin will be tight) as well.
If you think that your crested gecko is impacted/constipated, then think about hydration – have a small cup with water at all times and mist your gecko once a day. You can also offer your crested gecko some high fiber fruit and some puree (such as banana, raspberries, pumpkin) to relieve constipation. And lastly, massage its belly and make it a sauna.
Crested geckos don’t need bathing, so sauna is ideal. Place your crested gecko in a small container with lots of warm wet towels of room temperature. Close the lid for around 10 minutes. Swallowing a drop of mineral oil can also help with lubrication.
If your gecko was impacted/constipated, it should help clear everything. Otherwise, take your crested gecko to the vet.
Reason #4: Low temperatures in the terrarium
Low temperatures in the crested gecko’s terrarium can cause poor appetite and digestion. Cold-blooded lizards like crested geckos rely on environmental temperatures to keep warm.
- 71-79 degrees F (21.6-26.1 C) is optimal for daily background temperatures. Approximately 75 degrees (23.8 C) on the warm side & 68-70 F on the cool side would be optimal to create a temperature gradient.
- Make sure temperatures are not higher than 82-83 degrees F (27.7-28.3 C) right under the heat bulb if you are using any.
- At night, temperatures of 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20.5 Celsius) throughout the year and around 65 F (18.3 Celsius) during the winter are optimal.
- If the temperature in your house gets lower than 70 degrees F during the day, you will need to purchase a bulb. Otherwise, your crested gecko won’t eat or grow much.
Make sure to install a digital thermometer in the warm and cool sides of the tank. You can even use an infrared thermometer gun like this to measure temperatures in various spots of the tank quickly.
You can read a full guide on crested gecko lighting, heating and humidity in this post.
Reason #5: Your crested gecko is dehydrated
You must always have a cup with fresh water in your crested gecko’s tank. While small crested geckos are not likely to drink much water from the cup, they will definitely lick the drops from surfaces.
Make sure to mist your crested gecko and the tank 1-2 times a day. You will be able to see if your crested gecko is dehydrated if its skin looks loose. Pull the skin a little, and if it doesn’t go back to normal quickly, then your crested gecko could be dehydrated.
Dehydration leads to poor appetite and digestion, leading to constipation. If your crested gecko was recently poorly and suffered from diarrhea, it could lose a lot of water and it will need to be restored.
Reason #6: Your crested gecko is sick
Parasitic infections could also cause problems with pooping and general well-being. If your crested gecko is losing weight (neck becoming thin, pelvic bones sticking out), lethargic, pooping loose whitish substance, then your crested gecko is likely to be infected.
Runny whitish urates can also be normal in crested geckos, so weight loss would be the primary red flag.
While there is a normal level of microorganisms living in your crested gecko’s gut, high parasitic load needs a treatment. Cryptosporidium and
Entamoeba invadens are two of the dangerous parasites that can cause death in your crested gecko if untreated.
This is why it’s very important to quarantine your new crested geckos for at least 4-8 weeks to see if it’s fully healthy. Quarantining will help avoid contamination and passing of the infection to other crested geckos.
Would you like to learn more about crested gecko poop? You can read a full post here, on how normal crested gecko poop should look like, and learn why it can be white, runny or red.