Impaction

From UroWiki

Contents 1 What is impaction? 2 How to avoid impaction 3 What to do if your uromastyx is impacted 3.1 See also

What is impaction?

Impaction is when loose material from the lizard's substrate - particles of sand or dirt, for example - are eaten or otherwise ingested, and collect to form a mass inside the lizard's stomach. This can cause numerous problems, including internal cutting and bleeding, difficulties in defecation, and large masses of material sticking together inside the lizard's stomach (a particular problem with fine-grained powdery substrates such as Calci-sand, which you should never use).

How to avoid impaction

The best method of avoiding the risk of impaction is to house your lizard on a non-ingestible substrate, such as newspaper, paper towels, slate, or similar. Additionally, you should always house young uromastyx on these types of materials; washed playsand is an acceptible substrate only once the lizard has exceeded 18cm (7") in length.

What to do if your uromastyx is impacted

Generally the problem should sort itself, but if you see any strange colours or lumps in your lizard's defecation, you should contact a reptile vet immediately - and try to make sure, if possible that the vet has experience with uromastyx, as many aspects (diet, conditions) of uromastyx care differ from that of other common lizards.

See also

For more on the dangers of Calci-sand and the effects of impaction following Calci-sand ingestion, we recommend reading the following articles:

• PetZoo.co.uk article on calcium sand and impaction - warning, this contains a potentially disturbing image
• Richard Brooks' essay on the dangers of calcium sand substrates
• Dissection is of a juvenile bearded dragon that died due to impaction - warning, this contains a disturbing images