Does calci-sand harm a gecko?

[BuryinDespair]

Thank you Nigel4less.
I was a bit surprised that noone mentiont this before the ending of page 4.
Deserts does not automatically mean fine grains of sand. And leos do not live on it in nature.

(A desert is a landscape or region that receives almost no precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres (10 in) per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation)

This is what I found in "The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos"

Leopard Geckos inhabit arid to semiarid areas with clay or sandy soils...

so it's both. I kind of trust Tremper since he has retrieved soem of his original specimens himself from India.

In captivity there have been experiments where Leos have been raised for generations on fine play sand without a single impaction related death. Furthermore, observing Leos in captivity has led some scientists to believe they get their calcium in the wild from mineral deposits(limestone, gypsum) and both clay & other loose substrates(alluvial soils), due to the fact that local insects have a phosphorus level much too high to have a beneficial level of calcium for the geckos.

 

[LilyLeopardGecko]

i use fine sand but i wudnt use calci-sand because they will get impacted with sand if they eat it which they wud do with the calcium in the calci-sand but i feed mine mealworms out of a bowl so my leopard gecko doesn't eat the sand

 

[jaspa]

Yes its bad ! I used it for my beardie for a week and took it off,
heres a thing you can do " anyone who is using calci-sand "
drop a tiny bit of water on it , and notice how it all bunches up , imagine that in your geckos body ! yikes.

 

[Malibu Barbie]

I stopped using sand 1,5 yrs ago.
I have never had a bad experience but why take the risk ???

My animals are very dear to me and their health is my responsibility!

 

[Olimpia]

Actually Leopard Geckos live in montane regions with a hard clay as the general terrain.

If you've ever been to a desert, even if it's a very rocky one, there is always going to be an amount of small rock particles (or sand). You can't say that their natural habitats are sterile enough to not have any sort of loose particulate subtrate.

I'm not saying that they live in the Sahara, but they are exposed to sand and pebbles.

 

[lar20]

any forum of sand is stupid. think of it like this. take a little sand and put a drop of water on it what happens? it clumps together. after awhile it keeps clumping in their intestines because of the moisture and their intestines are blocked. also i hear calci sand can cause impaction fast somthing to do with the calcium making it clump more or somthing idk exactly but either way its not good

 

[lar20]

If you've ever been to a desert, even if it's a very rocky one, there is always going to be an amount of small rock particles (or sand). You can't say that their natural habitats are sterile enough to not have any sort of loose particulate subtrate.

I'm not saying that they live in the Sahara, but they are exposed to sand and pebbles.

leos in their natural habitat go into caresses in the ground when they arent out on the rocks. and just because there may be a tiny bit of sand doesnt mean their gunna be walking on huge piles of sand like putting it in as your substrate would be doing

 

[Olimpia]

leos in their natural habitat go into caresses in the ground when they arent out on the rocks. and just because there may be a tiny bit of sand doesnt mean their gunna be walking on huge piles of sand like putting it in as your substrate would be doing

But what do you think the soil is made of? lol Guarantee you it's not nice brown potting soil. I don't use sand just because I don't like how dry it looks, but if these huge breeders that have thousands of gorgeous, healthy animals on super fine play sand with success, then obviously it's not that bad. You just have to use common sense - don't put babies on it, don't use large-grain sand... People on here tend to freak out too much and just stick them on something super sterile like paper or newspaper, and I think that's going to far. When I said keep them on something natural I didn't just mean sand, but use something that isn't going to bore the gecko to death. Use ecoearth, or dirt, with rocks, and pebbles and create something more stimulating to your animals. Whatever makes you feel comfortable (if it's not sand then hey, whatever) but unless you have a large number of geckos, I think it's just laziness to not make interesting enclosures for your geckos that stimulate natural behaviours.

 

[Zynx_Keekeio]

>.< lol you had to bring this up? lol XD at least we have two polls now we can recommend to people right

 

[M&I Gecko]

Remember there are other health concerns that can happen to a leo kept on sand besides impaction.

 

[Stomlin35]

IMO calci-sand could possibly be worse than normal sand because when it gets moist at all it like to clot then it becomes hard as a rock.

 

[Chibii]

I have my gecko's on paper towels now, but are their any naturalistic stuff that i can use for the ground. I feed my gecko's whit tweezers and they don't have a risk of impact any more.

 

[greedo11]

My gecko is on bark, the peices are over 1cm big so no risk of ingestion. Its probably frowned upon but it has caused no problems. I have a small patch of sand where she poos as it dries up the poo on contact, so if Im in work all day its not going to be spread around by a locust walking on it, also when dry it smells less and is more hygenic.
Also she is never going to eat in that area so i dont worry about her eating it.
As for sand all over a vivarium - Im not sure, too many storys that have put me off.

 

[Tassalat]

We just got our leo, Eureka on Monday. She was in calci-sand at the pet store. Plus they sent us home with some- saying how it was good if they ate a little because they need calcium and that is dissolves and/or passes right through.
I read up on that here and other places on the net and found that the general concensus is that it is not good, that it turns into a paste and the calcium does not get absorbed in the sand form.
Here's what we noticed:
On Monday night Eureka had a normal poop followed by a white poop. It was the same size and shape, only it looked like a little white rock. On Tuesday morning we put some slate tiles down over the sand. This reduced the amount available to her to eat. That night she had a normal poop followed by a smaller white poop. On Wednesday we took all the sand out of the tank and put in slate tile only. Her next poop was only followed by only the tiniest of white. And today, the 5th day she had a completely normal poop, no white poop afterwards.

This tells me that she was indeed eating the calci-sand and it was passing, but it also appeared to be turning into a paste that then formed into a solid poop-shaped capsule. It just didn't seem healthy.

 

[ang3l3s]

check this video
http://www.youtube.com/user/sasobek11
these guys have been on the cutting edge as far as geckos go and according to what i have read they eat a lil sand to help with digestion or for calcium, mind u mine r on towels

 

[BuryinDespair]

check this video
http://www.youtube.com/user/sasobek11
these guys have been on the cutting edge as far as geckos go and according to what i have read they eat a lil sand to help with digestion or for calcium, mind u mine r on towels

I actually said the same thing about sand a page ago, i'm just glad i'm not the only one who's learned as such.

 

[kaikara]

i keep my adult on a rock/quartz sand setup and never had an issue. The cali-sand I have heard about issues with so I have never used it. I have kept other desert lizards on sand and never had a problem. For juveniles I would stick to something else but for adults as long as the conditions they are kept in are proper and they are taken care of correctly I don't see sand as a concern.

 

[got spots?]

Oh my, glad I read this.
I have my gecko on Calcium sand, I was told that it would be the best choice since it would break down in his system so he can't get impacted, and it would be a good for him to get calcium when he misses his food and gets mouth fulls of it.

Repticarpet?
Lots of people have been mentioning that on this site, so I guess I should start looking for that instead?
thank you thank you thank you :O

eh paper towels do the job. I personally own repti-carpet you should only buy it when you know where your gecko uses the bathroom. But paper towel where ever she/he goes to the bathroom. That way it is easier to clean. But if you dont use a paper towel you just hose down the carpet and set up paper towels in the mean time tbh. Repti carpet looks nicer but since im a teen =] convince is better(lol I have repti carpet in atm :main_laugh: )

 

[got spots?]

sorry for double post

We just got our leo, Eureka on Monday. She was in calci-sand at the pet store. Plus they sent us home with some- saying how it was good if they ate a little because they need calcium and that is dissolves and/or passes right through.
I read up on that here and other places on the net and found that the general concensus is that it is not good, that it turns into a paste and the calcium does not get absorbed in the sand form.
Here's what we noticed:
On Monday night Eureka had a normal poop followed by a white poop. It was the same size and shape, only it looked like a little white rock. On Tuesday morning we put some slate tiles down over the sand. This reduced the amount available to her to eat. That night she had a normal poop followed by a smaller white poop. On Wednesday we took all the sand out of the tank and put in slate tile only. Her next poop was only followed by only the tiniest of white. And today, the 5th day she had a completely normal poop, no white poop afterwards.

This tells me that she was indeed eating the calci-sand and it was passing, but it also appeared to be turning into a paste that then formed into a solid poop-shaped capsule. It just didn't seem healthy.

sorry for double post, just if I had a problem with my leo I would want a reply asap. the white stuff is urine and brown is well poop. They r like birds which poop and urinate in the same thing. Not sure if you were asking this though. I would defintally get rid of the sand.

 

[Emma318]

Okay, I would just like to propose a little test for all you out there with leos kept on any amount of sand - especially for those of you that say that your leos NEVER eat sand:

Change your substrate over to paper towels for one week. And then make sure to come back and post how surprised you are at the amount of sand that you see from your gecko stools. Since I'm pretty sure you are not watching your geckos 24/7, this should be all the proof you need. After you see how much passes through, and think about the amount that could possibly be building up inside, then you can make one of the most important decisions of your gecko's life.

And if it's not obvious, I am 100% against particulate substrates.