Dirt Eating

[Geofft]

Last night i watching my little guy hunt... he saw the cricket and lunged. He got it... but picked up a dirt clod in the process.. He didnt have the sense to spit it out... so i picked him up. He started twisting his head, and then spit the dirt quite a distance out of his mouth.... could this soil cause compaction? should i change substrate?


thanks,
Geoff:grab:

[adamofsound]

Hi,
one of my cesteds ate a rather sizeable chunk of bark when it was quite small (filled its entire mouth) and seemed to have come through ok.
it has been 8 months or so since the incident, so no ill effects.

[spidergecko]

Originally posted by Geofft
Last night i watching my little guy hunt... he saw the cricket and lunged. He got it... but picked up a dirt clod in the process.. He didnt have the sense to spit it out... so i picked him up. He started twisting his head, and then spit the dirt quite a distance out of his mouth.... could this soil cause compaction? should i change substrate?


thanks,
Geoff:grab:

Could it cause impaction? Yes. Would it? Probably not. Generally things that cause impactions are things that get lodged in the intestines. These are things like sticks or twigs, or things like silica sand where the physical shape of the sand makes it more prone to stick. Soil isn't really like this. But it is still possible. Note, however, that the gecko can pass pretty large stool if it needs to so what might seem to big to you might be perfectly fine for your animal.

If you are debating whether you should overhaul your vivarium or not I would say, don't bother. But if you are creating a new viv, you could look into a different bedding to ease your mind.

[CDN-Cresties]

They can choke on it. I have read posts on cresties choking to death on loose substrate. I actually seen one of my cresties choke on loose substrate and I immediatly switched to paper towel. Its up to you what you do.

[adamofsound]

I agree with the paper towel thing, I switched immediately after my little one ate the bark

[AnthonyC]

Impaction isn't the problem, but choking to death is. I know a breeder that lost several babies last year because they choked on small clumps of finely milled sphagnum/peat. I've also heard of adults choking on pieces of bark substrate.

Even if the chance is fairly slim, I wouldn't risk it with my geckos. I would keep babies on paper substrates only and for adults, you could use something very fine, such as coconut husk.

[Geofft]

my cresteed is about the length of my middle finger, then plus tail... so hes a juvie... I am using peat accutally, not soil. It is pretty fine, but when i mist it sticks together. then it gets clumpy...

[AnthonyC]

Geoff,

At that size, he should be OK. Even though my adults are kept on newspaper, a lot of times, their crickets get into the nest box (which is full of coconut husk) and I've never had any trouble.