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| PET GAZETTE | REPTILE
marked as ‘heavy’, this is a good sign that
everything was functioning well. The animal,
a female Leopard Gecko was on further
inspection found to be developing eggs
(gravid). The issue here was that the animal
was passing greenish stools, that the motions
were very granular and although not usual
for this animal, the animal had been seen
licking the natural stones used to create the
basking zone.
Again, the animal was not ill, it had been
checked by an experienced vet and had
a separate faecal screen. The animal was
however in a period of reduced feeding and
had taken longer than was usual to pass its
waste.
My first piece of advice was to collect the
faeces, to dry them out and to view them
under a microscope. I felt that the granular
appearance of the faeces would be traces
of a mineral rich soil-based substrate that
is now used in naturalistic enclosures. If we
could prove this, we would be able to see
that the animal was ingesting soil and that
the undigested parts were being passed
through the gut in the usual way, nothing
to worry about. Over time another set of
samples were collected, dried and viewed
under magnification. The results were quite
surprising and led onto a set of further
conclusions.
One of the first things that we noticed that
there were visible fibrous strands of coco fibre
within the stool. I have been saying for a long
time that coco fibre is not only an unnatural
compound to keep reptiles on, but that it is
also potentially dangerous. Wet coir can go
mouldy quicker, with some spores being very
problematic, especially in the respiratory
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system. It’s like wood shard substrates
are robust and quite sharp, increasing the
risk of eye and skin damage. It is also very
indigestible.
I view coir is a non-natural compound in the
scope that it is not found as a sole substrate
in the wild, as such a reptile would not have
had a chance to develop a use for, nor a level
of protection against the fibres. It is also very
dusty when dry, which poses even more risks,
especially to the respiratory systems and eyes
of those species living close to the ground.
It is also a very poor choice in terms of plant
growth as it is nutrient poor.
Being sharp, robust and stringy poses an
increased risk of direct compaction, if enough
is consumed, but also collective impaction
as the fibres can twist, are joined by other
poorly or undigested food particles forming a
slow-moving mass which can lead to a total
blockage.
This of course will usually then require the
assistance of a vet, if not surgery to remove.
This is particularly problematic in animals
that are either sick or more commonly,
under energised and/or are dehydrated. A
lack of water, in all of its forms of ingestion
slows down every cycle and process of life,
thus digestion and digestive transit can
be hampered greatly. This equates to a
reduction in normal organ function, blood
cycling, further slowing and in some cases, a
negation of the usual digestive processes.
Life is quite simply synergistic, without the
balance provided by all of the parameters of
supply in which the animal has developed,
this synergy is by very definition broken and
over time problems will start to occur in any
and every species.
We also know that most small reptiles,
lizards in particular, have a fairly fast time
frame between ingestion and egestion. It
is also common, even in Leopard Geckos to
see chitin rich wing cases in stools and for
stools to present as being differing colours
depending on the food items offered to
reptiles. As example black crickets will usually
be expelled as dark black stools and so on.
As already stated, most if not all reptiles use
geophagy in the wild and in captivity to self-
supplement, especially after brumation and/
or around the breeding season. This is also
an indicative visible sign of those animals that
are undersupplied via the poor use or non-
existent use of powders.
If an animal is spotted wilfully and regularly
ingesting soil, or is seen habitually licking
rocks it could be a sign that either the entire
diet is unbalanced, or that the animal is under
or improperly supplemented in both heat
and light and diet. An unbalanced powder,
even when used regularly may not be able
to supply the core mineral nutrients that the
animal requires. Warning bells should be
ringing, and changes be made if this occurs.
June 2019