Not sure what to look for

[Jenerally]

I've had my Leopard gecko, blue, for a year now. So she's most likely 1 and a half. Just recently, I decided to get her off of newspaper and on to an actual substrate so I went with Zoomed's excavator. I know its controversial.. but I decided to try it out. Anyways, she's been on it for about 2 weeks, and I worry about her getting impacted. She eats out of her bowl, so I don't know how to could ingest a large amount of it.
Her set up:
20 gallon high
The hot side is ~94 degrees Fahrenheit - I solved the insulation problem from the subsrate by just putting linoleium where the UTH is
The cold side is room temperature at about 70 degrees, but she doesn't go over there much anyway
And then she has her moist hide in the back

She's been eating meal worms regularly and pooping. From what I can see, there is no substrate in her poop, but today I noticed that she has a little dark circle on her stomach. But after I saw that, I put her back in and she ate.

Not sure if I should start giving her baths and going back to newspaper?
Please help! thank you.

 

[cricket4u]

I've had my Leopard gecko, blue, for a year now. So she's most likely 1 and a half. Just recently, I decided to get her off of newspaper and on to an actual substrate so I went with Zoomed's excavator. I know its controversial.. but I decided to try it out. Anyways, she's been on it for about 2 weeks, and I worry about her getting impacted. She eats out of her bowl, so I don't know how to could ingest a large amount of it.
Her set up:
20 gallon high
The hot side is ~94 degrees Fahrenheit - I solved the insulation problem from the subsrate by just putting linoleium where the UTH is
The cold side is room temperature at about 70 degrees, but she doesn't go over there much anyway
And then she has her moist hide in the back

She's been eating meal worms regularly and pooping. From what I can see, there is no substrate in her poop, but today I noticed that she has a little dark circle on her stomach. But after I saw that, I put her back in and she ate.

Not sure if I should start giving her baths and going back to newspaper?
Please help! thank you.
View attachment 28022

Hi,

It looks too dark to be excavator clay. Are you sure you grabbed the right bag? It's also not stacked, therefore the chances of ingestion are huge especially in such a small area with lack of temperature control. It will best to remove the substrate and use slate or ceramic tiles instead.

It's not always easy to confirm impaction just by looking at their abdomen. That's why prevention is the key. If he is defecating normally, there's a good chance he's okay. I would upgrade him to a longer enclosure (Exo Terra 36long would be good, at the least), which allows a proper temperature range necessary for proper digestion. A thermostats attached to the UTH, 2 digital thermometers,one temp gun, quality hygrometer is very important as well. I did not notice any of these in the picture.

 

[Jenerally]

Hi,

It looks to dark to be excavator clay. Are you sure you grabbed the right bag? It's also not stacked, therefore the chances of ingestion are huge especially in such a small area with lack of temperature control. It will best to remove the substrate and use slate or ceramic tiles instead.

It's not always easy to confirm impaction just by looking at their abdomen most times. That's why prevention is the key. If he is defecating normally, there's a good chance he's okay. I would upgrade him to a longer enclosure (Exo Terra 36long would be good). which allows a proper temperature range necessary for proper digestion. A thermostats attached to the UTH, 2 digital thermometers,one temp gun, quality hygrometer is very important as well. I did not notice one in the picture.

Definitely sure it's excavator. I don't think i added enough water. I have a digital heater for the hot side that remains constant. A bigger tank is not possible at the moment.
But my question was: since she is eating, is there any chance of impaction?

 

[cricket4u]

Definitely sure it's excavator. I don't think i added enough water. I have a digital heater for the hot side that remains constant. A bigger tank is not possible at the moment.
But my question was: since she is eating, is there any chance of impaction?

It's just not that simple due to the lack of temperature control. This is the reason I could not reassure you and stated what I did below.

If he is defecating normally, there's a good chance he's okay.

If there's no changes in activity, behavior, appetite and/or frequency of bowel movements, there's no need to worry. His body condition appears fair from what I can see, therefore the only immediate concern is the temperatures. It is important for your leo to have access to comfortable heating, especially if you're concerned she may have swallowed substrate. If the warm side becomes too warm, she will not utilize the necessary heat which aids in passing the sand. Makes sense?