Poop stuck on butt

Back again for some needed advice!

My 8 year old leopard gecko has poop stuck on her butt.. or what I am pretty positive is poop.
I noticed this a few months ago when I was soaking her to help her get the skin off her toes. It looked like poop and I tried to rub it off and it wouldn't come off and I pulled gently with tweezers but it seemed attached. I wasn't going to pull real hard and risk hurting her so I left it alone. I also noticed that she had mealworm poop that wasn't digested at all and the next day she did it again. This made me very scared since I lost my last gecko to impaction.

I made a vet appointment and his consensus was those were her "bones" sticking out and the pooping is because their digestive tract gets weak with age. I have switched her diet to crickets and waxworms.
I didn't agree but he is the expert no?

Well tonight I was soaking her again to help with the toes. She had some skin stuck on her anal area and I noticed the two poop looking things - "bones" - sticking out much farther now(Before they were still mostly inside her). They are brown and white and are on the far corners of her anal area on both sides and I don't know how else to describe them except that it looks just like her poop. I soaked her and rubbed her for the past hour but she was getting very anxious so she is sleeping now. They both seem like they could come off with a good tug but I am too afraid to hurt her in case they are something else. Both are mostly off except for a small area that appears attached to her skin.

Any help or has anyone else had this issue before?
I am thinking my vet is a quack and this is now the 2nd vet I will have to blacklist.
Wondering if I should just pull them off or make another appointment.

I will get some photos up with my cellphone ASAP... probably tomorrow.

Oh she has continued to poop normally ever since I have noticed these.

I will also fill out the caresheet:


About your leo:
- Female
- 8, not sure on weight. Last vet appointment said she was on target.
- Morph - not sure
- Almost her whole life. Got her when she was a baby.
- Bought in pet store
- Is your leo wild caught or captive bred - not sure. I think bred.

A) Health/History
- Frequently handled. I soak her every time she sheds and I generally check her out to be sure nothing looks wrong.
- Is your leo acting any different today? - no different behavior
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. None actually, not even once.
B) Fecals
- Describe-Do they look any different than normal. Recently not different.
- When was the last time he/she went. Yesterday.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem/issue you are experiencing and how long it has been going on - already posted above.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- 40gal tank.
- screen enclosure
- paper towel - switching to tiles soon
- 1 hot hide, 1 regular hide.
B) Heating
- Heat mat and basking light.
- Hot side runs 82-88. Cold side 70-80
- thermostat
- Stick on temp gauge.
- 40 watt basking light. It is kept on during the day and off at night.
C) Cage mates
- None
- Last cage mate died of impaction and had chronic infections under his eye for the first 4 years of his life. They were not in the same tank for the past 2 years tho.

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- crickets, mealworms(not anymore) and waxworms.
- Typically 1 dozen medium crickets over 1-2 weeks. 2 Waxworms every other day to help with digesting.
- Crickets are left in the tank with her. Worms I drop in with tweezers and watch her eat. She refuses to eat from a dish.
B) Supplements
- Reptocal.
- Vitamin - pretty sure reptocal covers this also?
-Crickets are dusted.
- Orange cubes

Pictures will really help here.

A quick note, your hot side should actually be 88*-95*.

Hi,
Besides his temps being low, he might be lacking fiber in his diet if all your giving the crickets is cubes.
They should be gut loaded with cricket gutload (grains). Waxworms are very fatty and poor in nutrition. Personally I don't feed them at all. I would try to vary his diet with other insects.

You might be right; it sounds like the vet is not very knowledgeable. Eight years old is not old if he is well taken care of. Just to inform you chronic eye infections can be due to nutritional deficiencies. Make sure all insects are gutloaded and variety is the key to good health.

It wasn't an eye infection. It was a type of cyst that was on his cheek below the eye. I constantly took him to the vet and did what I was told. The vet could never tell me what the problem was and why it kept coming back and believe me I changed foods and made sure his tank was constantly clean. Suddenly they just stopped and he never got them again. Keep in mind this was over 4 years ago.
He died about 6 months ago from impaction and I also took him to the vet and followed her orders. In the end I think I caught it too late a long with my vet not being completely knowledgeable.
That was also her mate, not her. I have not had one problem with her since purchase until now.

As for orange cubes, I was recommended them from this site.

The vet recommended wax worms and at least in that regard she is pooping normal.
I will be ordering phoenix worms soon since that seems to be the only food most herp owners can agree on.

Her temp is usually higher than what I posted.

Sorry for the delay on photos. I work 2nd shift.
These are taken from my cellphone. They are a bit bigger than they look.

Edit: Those cubes dry out fast and honestly I doubt they are nutritionally complete as it only states a few vitamins.

Darn, I had wrote about 3 paragraphs and I went back to edit one word and it deleted the whole post. Was it fowarded to your inbox?

no it did not

Does she actually have a large dark area in the center of the abdomen or is it just the picture? I don't want to scare you since their skin is basically translucent you can normally see the gallbladder, however it seems like a large area. If indeed the area is dark and very wide I recommend you take her to the vet asap. When was the last time she was examined by a vet?

Are you providing water aside from the orange cubes? If not I suggest you do so that the water is then passed on to your gecko. Water gels and/or water soaked paper towel which must be changed daily and far away from the dry food to prevent bacteria and mold. It sounds like she is constipated, either from dehydration or temps not warm enough for proper digestion.

If she does not mind being soaked I would continue soaking for a few days. Be careful with feeding a large amount of insects unless she begins defecating normally again. I would stick to feeding crickets since they provide a higher amount of water than worms.

Finally is your vet told you to feed waxworms I would not return to her/him. Please stop feeding waxworms(lard). If possible buy baby hornworms which are great for hydration. Hope to hear of some progress:)

You can continue to use the orange cubes, but I would recommend adding one of these as well.

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/feeder-crickets-worms-rodents-roaches-and-more/cricket-food/-/rep-cal-cricket-food-75-oz/

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/feeder-crickets-worms-rodents-roaches-and-more/cricket-food/-/flukers-cricket-feed/

The issue is not pooping.
She is not constipated at all.

The issue is those bits stuck on behind which is the reason for my whole post.
Yes she has been to vet. About 6 weeks ago.

What I meant by constipated was , having less or drier bowel movements whether it's due to temperatures or mild dehydration. If she was having normal firm feces it would not remain stuck in the vent. A reptile with a good amount of fiber and water in their diet will not have that problem(unless other medical issues are to blame). That is why I said to provide real water and grain food to the feeders.
All reptiles should have fecal exams once a year at least. Was her abdominal area transilluminated by the vet at the visit?

If it wipes away then the chances are it's feces. If it remains there dry and attached it could be tissue necrosis and should be evaluated by a qualified vet.

Are u sure your leo is a girl because those look like dried out hemipenes to me.

that is a female.

you just need to try to very gently pull those bits out as they look like plugs normally males get them but i have a female AFT that gets them, they are just a build up of retained shed which you should be able to pull out with blunt tweezers.