Alright, so I got the results of Envie's fecal test and everything came back negative for any intestinal parasites. Which was very ironic because when the vet did the physical exam of her he pointed out about 2 or 3 possible parasites.

So I was definitely a litttle confused...

Envie is also in the process of finishing a bad shed. One of the possible causes of it was the antibiotics and the liquid diet he's on and the stress from being handled daily.

For the most part, the shed is gone but there's still some shedded skin left on his toes and part of his back leg and the end of his tail where it looks like the skin broke off as he was pulling.

This is his third shed since I got him and the first two were normal but this was the first shed after the weight loss and vet visit. At least it's a sign that he's growing again.

I'm actually thinking about buying a heat emitter for his cage along with the heat mat because I'm worried that the heat mat isn't producing enough heat alone.

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Live. Love. Laugh. :)

Have you checked the temp where the heat mat is? And how could he tell if there might be parasites by the physical exam?

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

I didn't think that the heat mat 'felt' warm enough in Matilda's tank (I thought there was no way that it was in the 95 degree range like I was hoping for), but when I got a thermometer with a probe and actually checked under the warm hide where she lays above it and it was perfect. In fact, adding additional heat (like I was thinking about doing as well) would have made it way too hot! My tank has a layer of repti-carpet and paper towels above the mat. Just a thought - may want to really check the temp before you change anything! It is probably warmer for them than you think! Hope she is feeling better!!

Do you not have a thermometer on there. This is amust have! You can't tell just by guessing. Since your body temperature is 98 degrees, anything below that is going to feel slightly cool.

I was wondering the same thing myself. There is a certain parasite that will develop bumps under the skin but with all the bumps that Leopard Geckos have naturally how would he know?

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

as far as the parasite that develops bumps under the skin, you cant tell those without scraping and and putting it under the microscope. I had a hamster that had that issue, I am not sure if it is the same parasite, but I do know they have to scrape under the skin to get a good sample and then put it under the scope.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Well from the way it sounds everyone is calling my vet's bluff! Yeah I was actually puzzled myself about how he could just point out possible parasites especially on a 6 gram baby leopard gecko... He literally turned Envie over and flashed a light through his body and pointed out a few spots that could be possible parasites.

I didn't say anything further because I knew the fecal test would yield the actual results. I had already got into an arguement with the vet's assistant because she said that an overhead light was all a leopard gecko needed and it could be turned off at night without any additional heat source... and she concluded the statement by saying that there's no need to change her tank because she's been living for this way for the past four years. Clearly, I believed otherwise...

If the vet was just making that up to establish some type of credibility than that's truly a shame because I got his name off of ARAV.ORG.

Yes I do have a thermometer and a humidity gauge in the tank.... I'm actually going to reposition it closer to the heat mat to see it I can get more accurate readings... Right now it's closer to the top.

Does anyone know the average temperature of the repti-tank heat mat?

I thought it was around 95 degrees fahrenheit.

I'm sure it's because of the antibiotics and liquid diet... because he's been kept under the same conditions and had 2 normal sheds prior.

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Live. Love. Laugh. :)

is he talking mites maybe? those are the only things that can be seen with the eye.

I find the whole thing weird

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Yeah, I was thinking maybe he meant mites, because technically speaking, they are a parasitic life form - that is, they require a host to live/procreate.