Why does everyone go on about impaction?

Question

when you hear about impaction it does my head in with beardies and geckos when their natural environment is naturally sand if these reptiles are designed to adapt and survive in deserts why does impaction happen

Answer 1

Their natural environment is NOT sand.

They wouldn't fare well if you forced them to live in water their hole lives either.

The word "desert" does not translate to "sand". The Arctic is a desert, but it has no sand.

A leos natural environment is rocky dry grassland and hard packed dirt. (according to Wikipedia and other sites)

As for sand and impaction, Ron Tremper (leopardgecko.com) is the fore-runner in leopard gecko breeding and he acknowledges that sand may cause impaction in leos and recommends a solid substrate.

You don't have to like my answer but my info is supported and verifiable.

Answer 2

the substrate and sand we use in a lizards habitat is not always what a lizard will be on in the wild most lizards in the wild will hunt in bushes trees and  on and in rocks and rocky places not on open sand, so the sand we use is not natural to them it is just a substitute to try and help them fit in in captivity and most people go for a non reptile sand dessert sand is the best as it is the most natural and safe for use with lizards, the ones that are not safe are the sands that cause impaction, people go on about it as it can cause the death of a lizard is people are not aware of it

Answer 3

They go on about impaction because they need an explanation for an animals death. In over 20 years of reptile keeping I have seen only ONE case of impaction. I have kept lizards on sand, bark, cypress, crushed walnut, potting soil, aspen, etc. and I have NEVER had an impaction from substrate ingestion. I don't use corn cob because it swells considerably when it gets moist. The only REAL case of impaction I have ever seen was an impaction of meal worm exoskeletons. A lizard that was normally fed crickets and some meal worms was brought to me when it died. I opened it and discovered it's intestines totally filled with worm skins. After further questioning the owner told me the pet shop had been out of crickets and only had small meal worms and the lizard had been fed 25 to 30 of them. It stopped eating and died 3 days later. It was fed too much skin and not enough flesh.

Answer 4

They live more on dirt and rocks than sand, but other substrates beside sand can cause impactions, and the reason people "go on" about them is they can cause death.    Also ANY reptile snake or lizard can have an impaction not just from the substrate, if a lizard is too small the hard shell of meal worms and superworms can cause impactions.  People want to help others avoid that if possible.