I think it's what's described in the Leopard Gecko Manual which you should try to get a copy of if you haven't already. As great as it is to look up answers on the Internet, it's nice to have a hard copy reference.



Anyway, "clay-gravel soil covered by sand" doesn't sound like the 2-3" layers of sand that people put in their tanks. It's been found that leos naturally live in humid dens. Since I see how my leos burrow into peat moss to get the moisture level they're comfortable with--like when it gets too dry on the top or when it's freshly misted--and the fact that sand isn't the best at retaining moisture, I have to assume that the dens they live in are of the clay-gravel soil composition. So they're not living on the sand but under it. The sand is just a part of the geography.



If they lived on sand in the wild, it doesn't make sense that their babies would be so vulnerable to impactions. Fish don't drown in the ocean; they've evolved to thrive in that environment. So why wouldn't leopard geckos have evolved any kind of defenses for impaction? They don't lay thousands of eggs at a time and the babies make meals for other animals already, so it's not like they can afford to lose anymore to something like their physical habitat. My guess on the reason why they haven't evolved any way of dealing with impactions is that they don't live directly on the sand, and the babies (who are the most likely to suffer impactions) are safe inside their little natural humid dens. Based on observations of my own hatchlings, they just do better in humidity, and they spend most of their time hiding.



When you look at the anatomy of the leopard gecko, you can see how they would be able to live in the desert. They've got the fat tail to store fat and water. They've got eyelids to shield from wind blowing sand into their eyes. But I don't think they're very adept at travelling on sand. Their feet aren't designed to move speedily across sand; they look more like they're made for climbing rocks.



Obviously to get impacted a leo is going to have to ingest the sand. But sand ingestion doesn't just occur during feeding time. If sand gets in a leo's eyes, he's going to have to lick it off. If it gets stuck in his vents, he's going to have to lick that off too.
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chickabowwow





3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)

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