New Habitat

[SuperHypo1]

Hello. Just wanted to relay some info...I changed the set-up and my juvenile is now eating....

 

[SuperHypo1]

Enigma crossed with tangerine giant...

 

[MissJess]

I like it, but isn't it a bit small?

 

[miggiesmallz97]

Poor guy is incredibly thin. He wasn't eating before?

 

[SuperHypo1]

She was stressed out and not eating...her other set-up was black calcite with dark granite rocks...too much light was another factor...she stopped feeding...I made some corrections and she settled in and started feeding again...now she will eat from my hand...

 

[Snowbug]

Aw bless her, she's very thin However if you've got her eating again that can only lead to better things. Take it steady with her, let her build up slowly. Hope to see pics of her looking much better in the future. Good luck with her.

 

[miggiesmallz97]

I'm happy to hear she's doing better. I hope she recuperates fully and gives you many healthy years to come

 

[SuperHypo1]

Thank you. I know that it will probably take a while to get used to her new surroundings.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

Awh she looks thin but I'm glad she's in good hands now

You know what would help a lot? Changing the substrate! If I'm correct, it looks like you're using sand. Loose substrates such as sand or Eco Earth or any thing if that kind is extremely dangerous for lizards, especially leopard geckos! They like to explore with their tongue, therefore they are licking up the sand but their bodies can't digest it! This leads to impaction. Impaction can most of the time be helped by a vet but not always [emoji17]

A good substitute for sand is repti-carpet or tile! Both look much better than sand too and are a lot easier to clean! With tile or carpet you just take it out, rinse it off, and put it back. It's a lot less of a hassle, trust me!

But by having a leopard gecko on sand is an endangerment on their life and sadly will lead to impaction. But changing to tile or carpet will eliminate that risk!

I'm speaking from experience. It was very sad to watch my gecko slowly die and I didn't know why because I was young and didn't know about the dangers of sand

I hope you switch to a safer substrate as soon as possible! Good luck


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[SuperHypo1]

The substrate is calcite. I have in all my tanks. Too many times of teeth clinging to the carpet. It looks painful.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

The substrate is calcite. I have in all my tanks. Too many times of teeth clinging to the carpet. It looks painful. [emoji17]

Like I said, you could use tile much prettier and easier to clean! Calcite is still a loose substrate, so if you keep your little gecko on it she's still going to develop impaction. Albeit, it may take a while. Even years, possibly. But it will happen eventually. Although you're seeing an improvement in her now, you'll see a decline :/ I would suggest getting repticarpet for now. Teeth clinging is still a lot better than death. For the sake of your geckos life please take her off loose substrate!


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[SuperHypo1]

Thank you for the advise. I am comfortable with the set-up though. The objective is to create an environment similar to the natural surroundings found in the region that the leopard gecko's come from...sometimes you have to take your eye off what the "world" says, and look at what kind of environment the "creator" created for them. Good luck with your leopard gecko's!

 

[Neon Aurora]

Actually, leopard gecko are more accustomed to living in rocky terrain with only a small amount of loose sand. Piles of loose sand aren't natural to them, and this is likely why they frequently get impacted. They haven't evolved to live in sand.

Leopard Geckos in the Wild - the Natural History of a Popular Pet
"Leopard Gecko habitat is characterized by sandy-gravel, rocks, hard clay, coarse grasses and drought-resistant shrubs (please see photo)."

 

[bronxzoofrank]

Actually, leopard gecko are more accustomed to living in rocky terrain with only a small amount of loose sand. Piles of loose sand aren't natural to them, and this is likely why they frequently get impacted. They haven't evolved to live in sand.

Leopard Geckos in the Wild - the Natural History of a Popular Pet
"Leopard Gecko habitat is characterized by sandy-gravel, rocks, hard clay, coarse grasses and drought-resistant shrubs (please see photo)."

Thanks for your interest in my article, Frank

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

Actually, leopard gecko are more accustomed to living in rocky terrain with only a small amount of loose sand. Piles of loose sand aren't natural to them, and this is likely why they frequently get impacted. They haven't evolved to live in sand.

Leopard Geckos in the Wild - the Natural History of a Popular Pet
"Leopard Gecko habitat is characterized by sandy-gravel, rocks, hard clay, coarse grasses and drought-resistant shrubs (please see photo)."

This person is exactly right! Leopard geckos DONT live on sand. They live on hard packed earth. And if they do come in to contact with sand, they can easily leave that area. A leopard gecko in a tank with sand underneath them CANT leave that dangerous terrain.

Why would you put your geckos life at risk just because your "comfortable with the habitat"?

Calcium sand— or any sand, for that matter, is the literal devil when it comes to herpetoculture. That and heat rocks and any products that insist a thermostat isn’t necessary. 

Sand has been known to cause horrific impactions that have an extremely high chance of killing your animal. Even if the animal isn’t necessarily eating the sand, they still can pick some up when eating their insect feeders if they don’t munch them straight out of a bowl. Grains getting lodged in the gum tissue can cause everything from swelling to abscesses to horrific infections right to necrosis.

And then, if your pet does have an infection, the chance that that infection will get septic is a real possibility, which would likely ultimately end up killing your animal even if you see the vet (which is why for infections, it’s always important to see a vet ASAP).

Sand can also get embedded in the soft tissues in and around the cloaca when the animals are defecating. 

Overall, sand should never be used and absolutely should not be on the market.


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[pixiepurls]

yeah we had the teeth problem on carpet too.. if you actually read those little pamphlets the pet stores put out they actually said not to use sand for the first 6 months. we just use newspaper but if you are using a mealworm dish the sand wouldn't really matter.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

yeah we had the teeth problem on carpet too.. if you actually read those little pamphlets the pet stores put out they actually said not to use sand for the first 6 months. we just use newspaper but if you are using a mealworm dish the sand wouldn't really matter.

Sand actually does still matter, even if using a dish! As I stated before, geckos love to explore using their tongues. That means that they are licking the floor (sand) when they are walking around. As also stated before, even when they are not licking the sand they are also sleeping on it. This means that sand is getting in through their vent. And when they lick the sand there is a possibility it can get stuck in their gums, causing an infection which can easily kill them if not treated quickly.

By having your gecko on newspaper you're posing a 0% threat to his/her life! How great is that I suggest keeping him/her on newspaper it's entire life!


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[gomugomuking]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.940775562617358.1073741912.207897745905147&type=3

Ballpythoncrazy is right. This is no baby either. Almost can never save them.

 

[gomugomuking]

But that is a wicked cool leo