Help prevent intestinal blockage in Sandfish.

[remainpositive]

Went to repticon today and got myself a sandfish, the breeder says he's been having problems with his getting intestinal blockage what would be a good way to prevent that or help it in the least bit. Some say they use ground english walnut instead of sand.

 

[Bigboy]

The name is "sandfish" for a reason. Use sand.

 

[Scorpionluva]

Yes use sand as I've read English walnut shells can be toxic to quite a few animals

 

[The Snark]

Yes use sand as I've read English walnut shells can be toxic to quite a few animals

That's something easy to forget. Juglone is supposed to be a growth inhibitor in competing plants but can easily cause similar effects in animals. Short lived, unthrifty, susceptible to diseases, etc.

 

[14pokies]

Use calci sand..its more digestible than play sand or beach sand..

 

[Cooper]

Feed out of a small dish to reduce the likelihood of ingestion.

 

[Entomancer]

I think you guys are missing something important.

In my experience (through reading and through owning terrestrial lizards), impaction via substrate usually happens when the animal ingests something that the gastrointestinal tract is not capable of "working out" or digesting. Reptiles, especially burrowing species, are usually better equipped to handle occasional ingestion of sand or soil, but if they ingest substrate that is not composed of the material found in their native lands, it may cause problems.

This is why it can be risky to keep leopard geckos on any kind of sand formed from stones; leopard geckos are adapted to living in dry soils primarily composed of clay; clay is not as likely to get stuck in the intestines and cause impaction, because when it absorbs moisture it becomes soft and pliable. Sand, especially quarts and silica sand, tend to have sharper grains that can get stuck in the intestines and cause impaction. Calcium sand is also risky for this reason, and also because many lizards will voluntarily eat substrate to supplement their calcium intake.

I cannot speak for the sandfish, but if you wish to avoid impaction, you should look up what the substrate is made of in their native habitat and try to emulate it. If you can find a very fine sand substrate (finer than play sand) or a sand substrate made of clay, that might help.

 

[Smokehound714]

NEVER USE CALCIUM SAND FOR ANY REPTILES!!! Just get some Quikrete play sand, it is non-toxic and safe for virtually any pet, You can even use it in aquaria!

It's not super-fine, but it's fine enough for these guys. Might actually be better than them, as the grains are larger, but still allow them to swim. might also assist in shedding, too!

 

[Galapoheros]

I've never had one of these but it makes sense to me that it could very well be something else causing the problem like internal bleeding, membrane rupture, tumor, etc. Unless he has cut them open to take a look, it's speculation. And if they are getting an impaction, it may not be because of the sand but something else, something else in the diet. Even if they are cut open and sand is seen there, it might not mean the sand directly caused the impaction but that something else in the diet that allowed it to happen. I've kept some lizards though and I've seen them deliberately pick up rocks and swallow them, specifically Alligator Lizards. They may be doing the gizzard thing with it, don't really know but VERY obvious to me they deliberately swallow a pebble now and then. And btw, they do live around rocky areas.

 

[Bigboy]

I think you guys are missing something important.

In my experience (through reading and through owning terrestrial lizards), impaction via substrate usually happens when the animal ingests something that the gastrointestinal tract is not capable of "working out" or digesting. Reptiles, especially burrowing species, are usually better equipped to handle occasional ingestion of sand or soil, but if they ingest substrate that is not composed of the material found in their native lands, it may cause problems...

...I cannot speak for the sandfish, but if you wish to avoid impaction, you should look up what the substrate is made of in their native habitat and try to emulate it. If you can find a very fine sand substrate (finer than play sand) or a sand substrate made of clay, that might help.

They quite literally live in sand. True sand, as in fine sand dunes of North Africa and Saudi Arabia. Their bodies are designed to move through it effortlessly and they even have a locomotor adaptation for swimming through it.