For those of you who use bark substrate ( necropsy photos)

That's unfortunate Andrew. With so much bark and lack of anything else I have to assume it wasn't a mix but a top layer that she unfortunately ingested while hunting? She was absolutely beautiful and I am sorry to hear of your loss.

__________________
leachianus.com

Unfortunately I can only speculate, although I wouldn't bet that all of that was ingested once, or even multiple times from a hunting mishap.... I'd guess either ingested while rooting around during egg laying, or perhaps she had some type of other ailment and she intentionally ingested them to perhaps make herself feel better, or to help cure an issue and just made things worse. Geckos do weird things, so it's hard to say for sure. No different I suppose than dogs intentionally eating rocks or other inedible things and causing similar problems, no way to say for sure why they did it

__________________

We can all learn from your experience. What a relief to know it was a pre-existing condition. I'm assuming you have but thought it worth mentioning-contact the original owner with the pics, that's a horrible way for any creature to go and should be warned to all keepers! We have used cage carpet in all tanks for years and its worked fantastic for many reasons. Thank you for sharing, and of course I am sorry about your loss. I did enjoy the tank shot in the end, nice positive way to wrap up a sad story.

__________________
Love nature, study nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

BTW-kinda off topic...I have a customer who recently took her black lab to the vet for eating rocks! They even want to leave them there unless they cause distress-can you believe that! They have to re-landscape their entire yard. Awesome dog but it eats anything, she even said it ate, and passed, a ball of foil-I cant imagine what else that dog will get into in its lifetime! Thought it was funny so Id share.

__________________
Love nature, study nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

So is it safe to say in the wild, when a creature eats dirt/foreign material, they die or can die of impaction too?

Intense photos. =( Poor babe.

I don't think the two situations are comparable (wild and captive). If a gecko gets sick in the wild it follows instincts there, like substrate ingestion, that probably will not be of benefit in captivity (see my previous post).

__________________
Serving the gecko community since 1993

Man that was a sweet loooking gecko sorry for your loss, I had a question though. What would you reccomend as the best substrate for Uros?? or in my case lined leaftail geckos

__________________
Marc Garcia
3.2.4 cresteds
5.6.5 leopard geckos
1.1 viper geckos
1.1. day geckos
0.0.2 pictus geckos
0.0.2 gargolye gecko

the last few cages I've used pea gravel on the bottom, separated with a layer of fiber glass screen, and then a mixture of about 25% sand, 25% eco earth or peat moss, and 50% clean black topsoil. Then I put a few patches of sphagnum moss around the base of branches and cork bark etc. for suitable laying spots that maintain moisture better.

__________________

Thanks for the quick reply not alot of info on the lined leaftail geckos but i've researched alot and am getting a pair next week, One more question though I read that you house them in 55 qt with a cutout screen top I have that and a 20 gallon tall wich would you reccomend I house them in?

__________________
Marc Garcia
3.2.4 cresteds
5.6.5 leopard geckos
1.1 viper geckos
1.1. day geckos
0.0.2 pictus geckos
0.0.2 gargolye gecko

I would suggest using something even larger to be quite honest. I think what you put them in should be at least a 40 gallon tall equivalent. The last few pairs/trios of lineatus I've housed in custom made enclosures that are anywhere from 20" wide X 18 " deep X 3' tall, to the last one which was 24" wide X 24" deep X 4 ' tall. They're somewhat aggressive animals towards one another, and if not given enough space can easily stress one another. The last cage I had utilized a piece of wood that ran the entire height of the cage, and was about 1/2 of the depth causing a visual barrier which I think helped to create a bit of a sense of security between the animals so they're not always constantly in sight, as well as plenty of hides, and a lot of bamboo. That group was 2.2 . While I never witness obvious aggression between the animals, the females frequently had noticeable bite marks on their bodies, and the males would also have bite marks all over their bodies. They're also the most bitey of the Uroplatus I've kept as well, commonly lunging at you like a tokay to defend themselves.

__________________