Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all,

yesterday while feeding my geckos i watched in horror as my male juvi struck at a mealie i had accidentally dropped (normally i feed by tweezers) and swallowed a woodchip instead before i could do anything about it! risk of impaction?? on an estimate, the chip was about less than a cm.
to clear some more things up, i have them on a tile substrate, with a few woodchips filling the cracks, so it's just tough luck that
1) I had to drop the mealworm
2) He HAD to eat one of the woodchips

im going to make sure it never happens again, thus leading to my next questions : what is play sand?? and where would i find it?. would it be safer to fill in the cracks with it? i was still worried about the geckos ingesting in the search for calcium (though i have a calcium dish in the cage), so i stuck with woodchips, thinking that they'd never swallow them..but noooooo......

anyway, to round off, is my male facing a high risk of impaction now that he swallowed 1? thanks

drey

He might get impacted or he might digest it or he might poop it out. I dunno, they say sand impacts if its eaten and its a lot smaller than a wood chip, but they might digest the wood.

Hope he poops it out

>>hey all,
>>
>> yesterday while feeding my geckos i watched in horror as my male juvi struck at a mealie i had accidentally dropped (normally i feed by tweezers) and swallowed a woodchip instead before i could do anything about it! risk of impaction?? on an estimate, the chip was about less than a cm.
>>to clear some more things up, i have them on a tile substrate, with a few woodchips filling the cracks, so it's just tough luck that
>>1) I had to drop the mealworm
>>2) He HAD to eat one of the woodchips
>>
>>im going to make sure it never happens again, thus leading to my next questions : what is play sand?? and where would i find it?. would it be safer to fill in the cracks with it? i was still worried about the geckos ingesting in the search for calcium (though i have a calcium dish in the cage), so i stuck with woodchips, thinking that they'd never swallow them..but noooooo......
>>
>>anyway, to round off, is my male facing a high risk of impaction now that he swallowed 1? thanks
>>
>>drey
-----
**********************************
Tim W. My Pictures
0.1.0 Dumeril Boas
0.1.0 Kittens
0.0.1 Leopard Geckos

It rubs the lotion on it's skin. It rubs the lotion on it's skin or else it gets the hose again.
Bleach and Ammonia make Ammonium Chloride = Dead you

If you're totally freaked about impaction then use paper towel in between its really ugly but hey they're safe right?

Don't mean to scare you but the only thing i'd be worried about woodchips if its been treated with anything or if it was jagged edged. They do pass sand and if you're thinking about using sand filler get the play sand not the stupidly expensive "reptile calc-sand" I've fell for it and i've heard nothing but bad news about it either.
Just watch its stools and Good luck

Hey,

I've been worried about impaction too. I have mine in some rather large mulch/wood chips (Breeder's choice I think it's called) and he does come in contact with it as he munches on crickets. My reptile guy said that he will eventually learn to distinguish what is good to eat and what's not, sort through it in his mouth and spit out what he doesn't want. In the meantime, while he's still learning, he said that woodchips (as long as they're the type sold for reptiles and aren't treated with anything harmful) are ok for them to digest. They'll just pass. Please, anyone correct me if I'm wrong. I know this is a highly debated issue and I would love anyone else's 2 cents.

Beth

Your reptile guy?? I completely disagree. In my opinion you do not need to ever use wood chips because they are poisonous. I would change your substarte asap. Leos sometimes can't help it when they pick up some wood in their mouth and eat it. Try tile. It's cheap, easy to clean, and still looks natural.
-----
Katie
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

I have to agree with you 100% I have never heard of just using woodchips in a leos cage. I know some reptiles it is alright for, but for leos.

I would say that woodchips would cause impaction without a doubt. When we got our first leo we used calci-sand because that is what the pet store told us to do...well we learned the hard way because our leo got impacted and die from it. Now we have 27 leos and 4 in the incubator. We only use papertowels. I would never suggest anyone using woodchips, but that is just me. Most that I know either have papertowel or tile.

This is a few of my leos during cage cleaning time.

Thanks for clearing up the woodchip issue everyone. I've been worried about this since I got him (which was just 2 weeks ago). I'll get him out of there ASAP.

Any advice on tiles? Where to get them? I have a 10 gallon tank.

Thanks in advance,

Beth

Home Depot or Lowe's. I got the plastic bending kind so I could cut them to the size I needed for my tanks. You can pick which kind of pattern you want. These tiles retain heat easily so you might want to get two for the warm side (based on the fact you have a uth?).
-----
Katie
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

Awesome. I'm going to do that ASAP. Thanks for the advice. By the way, what do you use to hold it down in your tank, or does it lie flat? Do you have a pic. of a tank setup I could see? I want to make sure he's a happy gecko

Thanks,

Beth

You're very welcome. I'm sorry but I don't have a pic. Someone else probably does though. Yes, the tiles will lay flat. The plastic kind I was talking about has that sticky stuff on the back but you need to make sure they don't stick. It will be ALOT easier to clean them if you can take them out.
-----
Katie
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

Hey, you're awesome. You answer before I even leave the forum. I'm going to head to Lowes soon and see what I can come up with. Maybe I'll post a picture of the setup once it's done just to make sure I have everything he needs. I have a rock hide enlosure with spagnum (sp?) moss inside that gets misted frequently, a small dish for wax worms, a water dish and a few pieces of the round wood against the side (though he hasn't paid much attention to it). Any other suggestions for my setup?

Beth

LOL...thanks!
You said you had a small dish for wax worms..does that mean that what you feed him? If so that's another thing you'll need to change..lol. Wax worms are very addicting and are ver fattening. They should only be fed as treats. Try mealworms. There's a link at the bottom of the page that will take you to a page that has care of mealworms. Try adding a few more hides. Do you have a calcium dish and a uth??
-----
Katie
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

yes, I do have a dish of calcium (the kind with D3), and a UTH on the warmer side of his tank. There's also a red heat-light on this side. I don't feed wax worms primarily. Mostly I feed crickets that I've gut loaded and then sprinkled with calcium (the same kind that's in the dish).

I should get another hide? Perhaps for the warm side? I've noticed that he's always in there. Which side should the moss be in?

Thanks again!

Beth

well...an update on my male. he hasnt eaten for a day. which is unusual for him cause even if he's not hungry he'd eat at least 1 or 2 mealies. he just didnt seem interested in food when i offered it to him. He's been alil more skittish than usual as well. Should i be worrying? he hasnt passed the chip out yet as far as i can tell from examining the poop.