Impaction Symptoms

[sooner_fish]

Greetings All,

I did a search and couldn't find anything specific. What are the symptoms of impaction? I have a young (not hatchling) Leo that has quit eating. I'm pretty bumbed out.

Thanks....

 

[bacon]

There belly's become hardened and you can see dark spots.

 

[Inland Geckos]

well if they stopped eating you wont see them poo much. hopefully if you get their appetite back up you can see some poo laying around. ive heard you can give them mineral oil to help flush some impaction out. have you tried switching to a diet they might like such as wax worms? those usually get the attention of a gecko thats not eating. also try warm soaks in water that helps too. good luck and keep us posted.

 

[sooner_fish]

I haven't tried wax worms. That's a good idea. Right now she's not eating anything.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

First, check your terrarium conditions. Are the temps correct? What are you using to measure the temps? What are you offering as food and how often? What type of supplement are you using? Substrate?

 

[goReptiles]

lethargy, lack of appetite, lack of bowel movements, hard belly.

Waxworms is not good staple diet. Stick with crickets, mealworms, or silkworms as a staple. Make sure to always feed size appropriate feeders.

Don't house on loose substrates, as it can increase impaction risks.

 

[sooner_fish]

First, check your terrarium conditions. Are the temps correct? What are you using to measure the temps? What are you offering as food and how often? What type of supplement are you using? Substrate?

Temperature 95 on the surface. (using a common thermometer) It's a 10 gallon aquarium. I have meal worms in the tank at all times. I feed crickets every night. I supplement with Reptile calcium during the week and vitamins on the weekends.

 

[goReptiles]

The common stick on thermometers don't measure temps accurately. You need to find a digital thermometer with a probe. it needs to be 90-92F. What are you housing the gecko on? Is it eating? Defecating?

 

[sooner_fish]

I measured the temp with a glass thermometer pushed into the sand.

Temperature on the hot side is 95.

I had a coconut hut on the cool side but the crikets kept hiding in it and I was afraid she couldn't find them so I pulled it for now.

The tank is heated by an under tank heater.

She shed two days ago and the shed went great. She ate the skin just like she should

I hope I don't get flamed for this, I've been avoiding mentioning this but I am using sand. She's not a hachling. She pooped two days ago so impact hasn't been a problem. I have thoroughly read all the arguments against sand. What concerns me is how to distribute the heat through out the tank. I worry about her getting burned. I used paper towels at first but the heat wasn't distributed like it is with the sand. It's not calcium sand. My lps has bread leos for years and she has used sand the entire time; if for no other reason than to equitibly distribute the heat.

The only other possible issue is she is in my daughter's room and she sleeps with a night light. The room isn't that dark at night (at least not pitch black). I may move her to a darker area to see if a better night/day difference helps...

 

[Gecko Ranch]

There are a number of issues here, first being the sand. You cannot be feeling great about using it if you are posting about impaction symptoms. Best not to have that worry. I have never heard of heat distribution as a reason for using sand.

Second is the temp. 95F temp is too hot for leopards, low 90s at the most. Your heat pad is too hot, especially if it is still this hot with sand on top of it! Unless it has a thermostat then you should replace it with something that works correctly for the range that leopard geckos need. I always send folks to the Bean Farm http://www.beanfarm.com to work out good heating solutions. You may wind up with an infrared device, those work nicely and do not have many of the dangers of heating pads.

Third is crickets running around, if there are more than just a few this is a problem and you have overestimated your gecko's appetite. There should not be much food left over if you have this right. Loose leftover food is not a good thing for many reasons.

Fourth are hiding places, there needs to be at least one cool side hidey and one warm side. These need to be "private," not half logs that expose them greatly. Do you have some photos of your set-up?

One comment about seeing dark spots on leo bellies - be familiar with the dark spots they have normally before getting too wound up about these. When you think a gecko is sick you imagine all kinds of things and dark belly spots are one of those things that normally freak people out, much of the time without any real basis for concern.

Back to impaction symptoms, no poop (gecko is plugged up), belly distended, or sandy poop.