I circled the dots of maybe blood. My hand in the picture can give a size estimate. If it is blood it is from a closing wound that already has some clear liquid mixed wth the blood. The dots are where his right back foot was sitting. But he could have moved after they were made…
The gecko in question is a little guy of 16.7g and very scared of humans. We just got him today snd only noticed the red dots in the transport box after putting him in his “soft quarantine” terrarium. (Xaxim background that was in it already from havin isopods in there a good while ago, new cork bark pieces, paper towel ground and a fake plant)
Do we have to freak out and get him to a vet asap (I don’t think its emergency time but eho knows none of my geckos so far ever bled in a noticable way) or into a “hard quarantine” box with just paper towel and a paper roll as hide? Or will he be okay just like this? If we got him on substrate we would not even know…he acted normal for a new and very skittish gecko. Hiding behind the cork bark currently. All toes are there and looked fine from the top. No way he will let me just pick him up and look under his feet and he is not currently sitting on glass.
Picture of the dots (a tiny bit less red and more orange than in real life)
Is it possibly from a food that they were eating? Or poop with some food dye in it?
Even with the mentioned color being different irl…looks a bit off color to be blood to me, but I could be wrong. Definitely keep an eye on the little guy.
Is it possible they may have broken or pulled off a nail?
There was no food in the box. So if it was from food it must have been fed before the expo and brought some with it.
I am not sure about nails but its possible. I thought I saw them all but am not 100% certain.
The box had some somewhat sharp parts at the airholes so I assumed he might have a tiny scratch somewhere.
As said: if it’s blood it looks like the one when clear liquid mixes with it shortly before it stops bleeding.
He will be in soft quarantine for at least 3 weeks anyway. I just don’t want to disturb him every day if not needed. Normally I check weight once a week with new ones and change paper towel if pooped on or every third day.
Hope everything is okay with your new little guy. I’m not going to guess at what the dots are, but if I received an animal whom I suspected might have a wound, it would go into what you’re calling “hard quarantine” for certain. (That’s what I do with all new animals as a matter of course, anyway.) If he does have an injury you need to know whether it’s healing properly.
. Hopefully he is ok! 