Coco fiber

[STUTFL]

So, newish owner. I've got this block of incredbile-expandable Bed-A-Beast stuff. :tongue3: I figured it wouldn't work great for a dry-loving gecko, but there's always the humid hide.
Now, I know, I know, they can eat it and that's bad. But I don't feed him in his cage (except mealworms by hand), and he's not prone to just eating hunks of stuff off the floor when he gets bored....
Anyway, is already-wet coco fiber really that big a risk for adult (4+ yrs.) leos that aren't fed in the cage? Or should I just let the bugs play in it?

 

[Pepper]

In mt opinion you shouldn't use a loose substrate for a few reasons.

A.) They don't live in loose substrate, they live more in a clay based environment.

B.) They are very curious and may just eat it to eat it, since it's not natural to them

C.) If your keeping it wet, that's too much humidity

D.) There feet aren't designed for loose substrates

You can use paper towel in the humid hide and just mist it, that's what I do and it works fine.

 

[STUTFL]

Well, I definitely wouldn't use it for the whole cage. That'd be a mess.

Paper towels don't get mucky fast if you keep them wet?

 

[Pepper]

I change them weekly in the humid hide. Never had a problem. If you keep them constantly wet for like a month, yeah probably they would get nasty.

Some people use coco fiber or moss in the humid hide without problems, others wonder how their gecko is getting impacted when they are on paper towels, and then they remember the fiber in the hide..

 

[STUTFL]

I don't like the idea of him *living* on paper towels (at the moment I'm slowly moving the cage over from bark chips, which is what he was in for 4 yrs before I had him, to a bunch of big, thinnish flat rocks I have lying around) - but in the hide I guess there aren't many options for keeping something wet. Can't I just weight the stuff down with a few flat stones spaced so it stays moist but he can't get a mouthful? I already go through paper towels like nobody's business because the tortoise apparently prefers peeing on kitchen tile over peeing *anywhere* else.

 

[Holly12]

I use coco fiber in my moist hide and my 2 girls are just fine in it and it also holds in the humidity better my 2 girls have never try to even eat it so STUTFL if you want to use the coco fiber then I say great cuz it does work better then papper towels.

 

[STUTFL]

Holly:
How long have you had the geckos? Have you kept other leos before in a similar environment?

 

[triplegex]

I have used coco fiber for 5 years it works just fine! they bark chips dont sound like a great idea though think about using tile if you dont like paper substrate

 

[STUTFL]

Like I said, the bark chips came with him. I didn't choose them as a substrate, and I am replacing them gradually as I get the material. I may eventually use tiles for the sake of convenience (when I feel up to walking several blocks to get them - that is, if I can find something at the mall or Wal-mart :laugh4: ), but as he's managed to survive in pure bark chips for over 4 years, he should be okay on 1/2 bark 1/2 rocks for a few more days while I work out the rocks. :cool2:

 

[larry26]

I would say no because i had moss as a substrate in my humid hide and my gecko ate some and he was impacted for about 2 weeks. So i say dont risk it.

 

[Krow]

I have EcoEarth coco fiber in my moist hide & Kirsa loves it, I have also heard from other people that they can eat the coco fiber & since its coco they can digest it, bt I'm not sure on that...

 

[STUTFL]

I've heard that babies will get impacted, and adults can handle small amounts. I don't know if that was leos, though.

 

[Krow]

Babies should ALWAYS be kept on paper towels. But I heard from someone that her leos eat the coco fiber on purpose & they pass it ok to. My leo has no problem with it being in her moist hide.

 

[acpart]

My geckos are on tile and the adults have lay boxes with coco fiber in it. The lay boxes are in the cages all year around because they double as humid hides. I did have trouble with 1 gecko eating vermiculite when I had that in the humid hides and I got rid of it. I discovered it by checking the geckos' poops. I have been checking the poops consistently with the coco fiber and find no evidence that they're eating it. I couldn't imagine having anything in the lay box that the geckos wouldn't be able to dig in and anything they could dig in they could eat. I feel that coco fiber is the least dangerous of the other possibilities (i.e. vermiculite which comes in larger, sharper chunks, perlite which also comes in chunks and sphagnum moss which seems to me to be stringy).

Aliza

 

[STUTFL]

Well, my guy's not going to be laying anything :laugh4: , but I think I'll give the stuff a go once I've finished up the rest of his cage. If he seems overly interested in it, I'll scrap it.

 

[ajveachster]

We use coco fiber in our lay boxes which also serve as humid hides for our laying females. We have not had problems with them eating it, but all others do get paper towels in their humid hides.