Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I decided to write this for info for people desperate on finding info on impactions.
i hope this is found helpful and life saving to our little fat-tailed friends.

First of all, I own a bearded dragon, and three leopard geckos.
so i do have quite a bit of knoledge.

A year ago (or so) I had a leopard gecko that stopped eating, I took her into the vet and they said she seemed health and they couldn’t do anything for her.
I poked around on the Internet and found a good idea was to squish up mealworms, wax worms, super worms, and just about anything in their diet except for crickets because it is difficult and their exoskeleton is too crunchy.
Next add some calcium and a liquid appetite enhancer and mix it up.
I picked up a small plastic syringe and opened the gecko’s mouth and forced it down her.
She eventually would start puking the formula up and passed away.
I have another female that is starting to show signs of impactions, so I researched it more and found that giving them warm baths and a stomach massage their stomachs help the digestion process.
I searched some more, and not only just running them under water, but making them an actual Tupperware container and fill it part way with warm water and let them sit and swim around in the water for about 10-15 minutes a day.
This goes for any lizard. Most would rather defecate in water than standing around and pooping.
I tried this today with my female gecko and she seamed pissed off (like I would be if I got thrown in a pool). She kind of swam around trying to get out for a bit and settled down. She soon defecated in the tub of water!!!! What came out? Some sand and more stuff that was plugging her up.
I took her out immediately and put her in a fresh container with warm water and she did it again!!!
Repeat this process I imagine once a day to every other day, as I am sure it is a bit stressful to them.
Force-feed them with the syringe to help with the energy wasted from swimming around.
I was told by many pet shops it is good to get them to start eating again with wax worms because they are more appetizing and more fattening.
Leave out a bowl of calcium!!!! They apparently will lick it up if they want to.
Leave them crickets to try and eat.

If anyone has more hits and tips please add on.
I hope my baby comes out of her illness.
Thanks
madmaxx

steer clear of sand and any other loose substrate,

there is absolutely no reason why you should ever risk the life of your leopard gecko just because you want a natural setup

makes no sense to me...
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Dan Quinn

I suppose using hill's instructions for the fake rock would also make a good substrate, as long as it's sealed properly. It would look like rock, you can pick the color, and you can pick the landscape. Properly sealed, it would also be water-resistant and the leos couldn't eat it. Just an idea.

I agree that it is pointless to risk the life of a leo for a natural setup. It's like kids playing on the freeway. They may not get hit, they may get hit and live after a trip to the hospital, but why risk it?
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Tile would be easier and cheaper to use than the fake rocks. The best way to avoid impaction is to insure that all care and husbandry issues have been taken care of. Sand is not the CAUSE of impacton, poor husbandry is the CAUSE of impaction problems. In other words, impaction is a symptom of something else probably related to husbandry issues not being properly addressed. I use sand (as everyone already knows), I would not recommend using sand unless you are absolutely sure you have taken care of everything else. Sand is definitly NOT the substrate for novice gecko owners.
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www.hullabalooherps.com

Care to elaborate? I just started working at PetsMart, which hasn't opened yet (Grand Opening jan15), and I am a Pet Care Specialist. Unfortanatly, I have little exerpience other than my 2 pet Leos...

So, I know I will have stubborn customers and bosses, so I need as much info as possible Thanks!
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0.0.1 Chrysemys picta picta (Eastern Painted Turtle)
0.0.1 Teliqua gigas (Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink)
0.2.0 Eublepharis macularius (Leopard Geckos)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon (Northern Water Snake)
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus (Crested Geckos)
0.0.1 Python regius (Ball Python)
?.?.? Assorted goldfish, minnows and guppies
1.0.0 Ferret
1.1.0 Cats
1.0.0 Aussie Cattle Dog/ Border Collie Mix

I am really glad you are trying to find out more information for your customers. Reptiles magazine and this forum are great places of start. Click on links in this forum to find other great websites. Learn as much as you can! Ask lots of questions.

Allthough i am glad you are trying, i think it says something about large chain pet stores that they can make people "pet care specialists" when they have, as you said, very little experience. Do they offer any kind of training program?

Good luck with your research! I hope all goes well for you

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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

they dont get impacted from being on sand, they get impacted from ingesting a whole bunch of the sand that they're on. Baby leos might just do this because they're dumb, which is why we all keep our leos on paper towels till they grow a brain. But if an adult eats up a lot of sand on purpose, its more than likely a symptom of mineral deficiency, particularly calcium deficiency. The leo's body craves minerals which makes him want to eat the sand. (This isn't just my opinion. I can probably hunt down some links to where experts have explained this.)

The other "husbandry" issues (in my opinion) which lead to impaction is general poor health and too small of enclosures! Noboby ever talks about how leos need a little exercise to keep their bodies toned. Out of shape people have "impaction" problems too.

m
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe 100% het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino Hypo (Cloud)
0.3 Normal/Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Goldie (now w/SD), Freckles, Pepper)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.0.2 Corn Snakes (MIA)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

n/p
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

I might be wrong, but this is my opinion:

If a person uses sand or not might have to do with their point of view on keeping reptiles. If you take a more "European approach", one keeps reptiles to be able to observe and enjoy the reptiles in an artificial "natural" environment.

I think the using of paper towels as a full-time substrate probably originated in America, where people were going for ease and efficiency. They want to avoid all risk, keep it simple and still get good results. The people who first started using paper towels were probably thinking about breeding the animals easily, and making profit.(Im not trying to criticise America, I lived there almost half my life and I love the place) Im deffinately not saying that anyone who uses paper towels is just doing it for a quick buck (since, obviously, many private keepers use paper towel as well), or cares less for their animals than someone who doesnt use paper towels. On the contrary, its easily argued that people who use paper towel are MORE concerned for their gecko's health.

Its the same sort of situation as when u have people who treat their geckos (or any herps) as actual pets that are meant to be touched and pet etc etc, and the people who see them as wild animals that should for the most part be left alone. This is why I use sand. I realize it's an unneccesary risk, and there are people who might call me irresponsible for doing this, but trust me I care about my geckos' health probably as much as any other caring owner on this forum.... but I see a gecko as a wild animal. I dont see the point of keeping it if im just gonna put it in a box with paper towel on the bottom. Also, I think part of the fun in keeping herps is in the nice presentation.

A pretty gecko will be a pretty gecko in whatever enclosure you keep it. But if I were to see it in a natural looking terrarium, it would just make the experience so much better.

This is just my opinion though, if you disagree thats up to you....

I agree with you. The European approach of a more natural enclosure also includes a decently large sized enclosure - much larger than we Americans tend to use. I maintain that a gecko who has plenty of space to roam around and get a bit of exercise can eat and pass a lot more sand than a gecko kept in a tiny Sterilite tub with only enough room to turn around in. I mean, leopard geckos come from the desert!!! If sand were to impact all the wild leopard geckos that came in contact with sand, well.... it obviously doesnt. And I think its because geckos in the wild roam a long ways each night hunting for food and get their exercise. Tub-bound geckos dont.