Impaction is defined as something which is blocking the intestine, and this is a very common problem in leopard gecko. Impaction is often caused by ingestion of food that is hard to digest or cannot be digested at all. It is a serious problem and may lead to death of your leo if it is left untreated. In most cases, the number one cause of impaction is ingestion of a loose substrate, food, temperature, and hydration comes next. Any of these causes can lead to difficulty in passing out stool. This will cause sickness to your leopard gecko. Images on the top causes of impaction will be visualized in this article.

Loose substrate

Using loose substrate such as sand, gravel or coconut husk on your leopard gecko’s cage will require a lot of attention. Loose substrate is the number one cause of impaction because this can be swallowed by your leopard gecko. Because substrates cannot be digested, it can lead to impaction. Better yet, you should not use loose substrate on your leopard gecko’s cage at all. Follow the guidelines on the list of what specific substrates should you use in your leopard gecko cage.

Food

The rule of the thumb is, when deciding on the food that you will give to your leopard gecko, you should consider the size of your leo’s mouth. Thus, the size of the food should be appropriate to the size of the mouth of your leopard gecko. The rule of the thumb to follow is, the food of the leopard gecko should not be larger than ½ of the size of the leo’s head. If your leo has eaten something that is too big, he might have consumed it but it does not mean that he is able to digest all of it. The same goes true with small foods. He might have consumed the entire serving but the quantity that the gecko has taken might be too much to be digested. This will also lead to impaction.

Hydration

The same with the human beings, hydration in your pet is very important to keep a healthy bowel movement. When not enough water is taken the tendency for the body is to get water from other parts of the body and the digestive system is one. If this happens, more water is taken from the digested food. Thus, it will result to constipation which will make it harder for the gecko to pass out his stool.

Temperature

Leopard geckos are cold blooded animals and in order for them to survive, they need constant heat to give balance to their body temperature. Heat is usually attained from an under tank heater. The metabolism of the leopard gecko is directly affected by its body temperature. Cold temperature leads to a slower metabolic rate and a slow metabolic rate results to improper digestion of food.

To treat the problem of impaction, you need to take your leo to the veterinarian. Medical professionals will definitely know how to exactly treat this problem.