Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this possible? I took my little baby patternless to the vet today because she hasnt been eating and is losing weight. They said that she could be impacted from the peat moss in her humid hide. I changed the humid hide to paper towels and successfully force fed her some diluted baby food with some calcium mixed in. I wasnt sure if the vet was right because she didnt really know anything about leos (she suggested that they needed a UV light and couldnt understand that they dont because they are nocturnal). Anyway, anyone have any input on this or anything else i can do for this little girl? She is at least four weeks old and only weighed in a whopping 7 grams. Oh yeah, I should add that i couldnt get a fecal test yet becuase she hasnt pooped for about 4 days. Thanks and take it easy
Jason

It could be. My first gecko Jake died suddenly (i came home from work and he was gone). The night before he had eaten a few crickets, chasing them around and wiggling his tail every time he went to pounce. I used only paper towels for substrate but i did have peat moss in his humid hide. Through the skin on his belly i could see a huge dark mass and blood all around it. I'm assuming that was the moss. Now i only use papertowels.

Red

A good example of why you NEVER use loose substrates for leos under 6 inches long. I use peat moss in all of my leos humid hides(the ones over 6 inches) and have never had a single problem. For leos under 6 inches only use substrates that cannot be ingested. Hope your leo gets better...
-----
Josh
My Email

i never even realized that peat moss could cause impaction, especially when it was only in the humid hide. i guess i know now. anyway, is there anything else i should be doing besides soaking her in warm water every once in a while? she took baby food by force today, but she still hasnt defecated in the last three days. am i supposed to give some mineral oil or olive oil or some kind of oil?? i think i read that somewhere on this board a while back. thanks again for your responses

Pete moss is too fine,I think.

I use Spagnum Moss (SP?) It has natural fungal resistance.

PEAT(not pete) Moss is much better than Shagnum for laying boxes/humid hides. Peat moss holds moisture really well and when females are going to lay it allows them to dig. The spagnum is too much like moss and it cant be dug in as good.
-----
Josh
My Email

However the spelling.....No need to take offence at my gramer...

Pete moss is too fine and is not sanitary. It is messy also. The fine particles will be eaten when catching crickets... Causing impaction. Unlike Sphagnum which has larger pieces and is not easily mixed with the food.

Sphagnum Moss holds moisture way longer than the pete and sphagnum moss is great for egg laying. It has a natural resistance against fungus and mold. (What more could you want?)

I have 5 Breeding pairs with Sphagnum in their hides and they have been laying tons of eggs. I use it for both their hides/laying boxes. And have NO problems. Also they DON'T EAT it. (What a perfect medium!!)

I dont know why you have crickets crawling in your leo's humid hides, but I sure don't. It isn't messy at all if you put the whole on the top, so it doesnt get kicked out. And I dont know why you keep spelling it pete, i even told you how to spell it in my last post...
-----
Josh
My Email

You must be really immature or wrong to take things so literally.

When the medium gets kicked out of the hide or is just brought out on their feet or belly. That is when it gets mixed up. I have never seen any Leo eat anything that is not moving or wont move. Most if the impaction stories are when the Leo picks up the PEAT (like that?) or sand while going for a food item. Not just sitting there and eating loads of peat or sand.

One more perfect thing about Sphagnum is that you can use it for hatchlings up to adults. I have mine on Slate and have Sphagnum in their hides (with the entrance/exit hole on the top of the hide).

Also what is it Leo's do when they are digging to lay eggs? OH they kick out the medium in the hide!!! And that is how it gets where the crickets are...

I've used both in my hides with equal success until last year when one of my new males decided that he was going to eat sphagnum (it was the dark green stuff sold for herps). I don't know what triggered it, but he's got bed-a-beast in his hide now. I've used bed-a-beast with 100s of hatchlings over the years and have never had an impaction.
Here's a pic of my moss eater (sorry, but he's in shed)

That brings up an interesting question...has anyone ever had their leos eat veggies, flowers, or leafy greens of any sort? I wonder how much experimentation along that line has been done. If they DO occasionally eat plants, it would explain your leo eating the moss. Then again, for all we know, some person out there has lost a leopard gecko to eating paper towel. Individual animals may do some strange things.

First off, you arent supposed to leave crix in the cage anyways. If the whole is on top, the crickets wont get in and the peat moss wont get kicket out becuase it is getting pushed to one side. You are the one getting immature about it by arguing that is is so much better. I could care less what you use for your 5 breeding females. It is all about choice, and what you prefer to use, so I will not argue with you about this any more.
-----
Josh
My Email

True, peat would allow for digging for egg laying, but I personally prefer plain soil for that. It doesn't stick to things as badly. But for a humid hide, the longer-strand moss is probably better. Peat is actually decayed moss. We use two different boxes for ours, one a humid hide, the other a laying box. We only put in a laying box if one of the females is gravid.

Yeah, sphagnum moss would be my choice, too...it has larger strands, and fewer small particles, so if they bite it, they would be a lot more likely to spit it out again. Peat moss is nearly a powder that tends to expand a bit when wet.

asdf

I have never once heard of an adult leo getting impacted on peat moss. If you know anything about leos, you know not to use loose substrates for leos under 6 inches. When you can provide evidence that a leo over 6 inches has been impacted on peat moss then maybe you will have something with your impaction statements but until then it is all just opinion and speculation.
-----
Josh
My Email

I thought you weren't going to argue anymore?

Just like above... Leos and animals will do strange things. A leo could eat anything.. Paper towel, poop, ..............

But a larger item will be easier to spit out and detect by the leo. And peat moss expands with moisture.

That is what I said, but something needs to be said becuase obviously you dont know what you are talking about. Peat moss is completely safe if you know where to put it and what you are doing. Please dont respond to this message because I am tired of wasting my time on this thread.
-----
Josh
My Email

Give it up Joshua

If your hear just to try and make trouble id suggest you leave.
MaC

If you are directing this towards me. I suggest you read the whole thread.
I was stating a point. First Joshua mocks me and the starts maliciously sending emails to my personal address.
I am stating a point and scientific facts about the benefits of Sphagnum Moss. I am not a "Moss Salesman" and I thought opinions in this forum would be accepted in a mature manner.
If no one has an opinion or a suggestion about a proven scientific fact, HOW can we make progress??

I never mocked you and the e-mail that I sent you was in no way malicious.
-----
Josh
My Email