Eco Earth as tank substrate

[gators0204]

What I dont understand is why everyone uses a loose substrate in the humid hide without a worry but insist that loose substrates are not good... LOL Pretty silly if you ask me...

Wondering that as well.

 

[Olimpia]

I use Ecoearth for all my adult leopard geckos and my adult crestie, and they are going great. I agree, that they don't live in loose particulate-free environments to begin with - if you ever go to any type of dry environment, even if it is mostly rock, you are always going to find a significant amount of sand and dirt. For crying out loud, leos have eyelids for a reason! It's to keep sand and dust out of their eyes because they live in dry, arid, and inevitably, sandy areas.

I say use the ecoearth without worry. Because the gecko of a friend of a friend's cousin's mother died from "eating her substrate" doesn't mean it is usual or probable. Trust me, I've worked at vet clinics and hospitals for years, and if you based the way you do stuff on what happened to one person, you wouldn't do anything. Ecoearth is not like sand where it's hard, ecoearth is soft substrate, so it's extremely improbable that it would cause any sort of harm to your gecko.

I've never had any problem with cleaning it either - I just scoop up the entire corner they use as their toilet and once every couple weeks I replace the entire thing. The final decision is up to you, but I've had my geckos on this stuff for some time now and they are fat, healthy, and breeding happily, so I take that to mean that they love where they live.

 

[Leopardo Geckaprio]

good to hear in plan on getting eco earth as soon as my baby becomes an adult

 

[LizMarie]

As long as its mostly dried out and doesn't put your humidity too far over the recommended I don't see the problem. Eco Earth from be understanding is all natural and should pass rather easily if digested, that's why I use it in my humid hide.

I don't know how you would clean it or feed on it because feeders could burrow into it.

 

[bonnie]

I just got some beautiful tile. Broke it up and put eco-earth in the spaces between. They sniffed it, and went back to their hides. I'm hoping they use it for the toilet instead of the tile, we'll see.

 

[Olimpia]

I never really have humidity problems with it because it's in a plastic bin drying out before we use it, and the humidity in the tank stays pretty constant. But for some of my geckos, who tend to have difficulty shedding, I actually keep it a little misted to help them and that works for me.

When I feed I keep the worms in a bowl, so they don't get out. The crickets can be a little tougher, but I always dust them in tupperware that I shake around, so they get kinda dumb. And then my geckos can just pick them right out agains the ecoearth. They usually get all of them, except for maybe one. And then the straglers always end up in the worm bowl for whatever reason haha and they get picked off there.

I guess if you wanted to you could feed them crickets in a separate enclosure, but that's what I do and it works for me.

 

[happy gecko]

I think Eco Earth is a great substrate and I feel it would work well for desert habitats too if you could find an easy way to dry it out. It's soft, seems fairly fine, and seems to be somewhat compactible so that you could add it to the cage lightly moist, pack it down really well so less chance of excessive loose particles, then let it dry out. Could do 50/50 mixture with sand to achieve a natural looking substrate.

 

[caKed]

Hey I plan on chaning one of my tanks to a more natural looking habitat and I am about to use eco earth as the substrate. Can anyone post any pics of their tanks with eco earth in it? Thanks

By the way I always feed in bowls so I dont think impaction will be a huge problem with my adult geckos.

 

[little98dime]

Personally, I wouldn't risk it. The only time I would use it even in the humid hide is when on of my females starts showing signs of laying eggs. After that, it would be taken out again. I found that 6 paper towels folded and moistened makes for a very nice pillow for them. Mine LOVE it.

 

[T-ReXx]

I think the biggest issue with a loose substrate like eco-earth isn't so much impaction(though it can happen, just because someone has kept their leos on loose substrate for years without impaction doesn't mean it's not going to happen to your animal(s). And in a enclosed space like a humidity hide the chances of the animal ingesting it are greatly lowered as opposed to an entire enclosure lined with it.) And the "in the wild" card doesn't work, captivity and the wild are two totally different environments, micro environments are totally different from the space involved in a macro environment. In fish, the rule is the larger the tank, the less room for error you have, and it's much easier to control water quality issues in a in a larger volume than a smaller one. And just because an animal is exposed to something in the wild doesnt mean I'm going to expose captive animals to it. There are predators in a wild leos environment, that doesnt mean I'm going to put a snake in my gecko enclosure. If you are setting up a large "naturalistic" setup with few adult animals, I don't see why using eco-earth would be an issue. However, in smaller environments, like tubs, ten gallons etc, or with a higher population density sterility is a much higher priority. In those cases I feel that non-loose substrates like tile, paper towels, etc are just safer and easier.

 

[ang3l3s]

Every rule has an exception regardless of logic, what works or fail for others does not guarantee you the same results so just use trial runs to see what has the best results. BTW eco earth is supposed to be safe but like i said....

 

[Blacksupra94]

Bumping up this thread, it's a good one.

I use eco earth on my crested, garg and half of my leo's 20 gal long tank is filled with it other half is tile. My question is about the mites. The ecoearth in the crested ( came from a brick) has had mites for the past year. I often find these guys eating the old CGD , never found any near or around him. I have no mites in my gargs tank ( eco earth from bag) whats up with that? The mites seem beneficial so I have not given it much concern, does anybody else have better details on the mites?

 

[Stl_Greaser]

I have kept geckos on sand for over a decade and have never had an impacted animal. If you have a clumsy eater you feed in an other enclosure. Most of mine have a food bowl with Dubia so they are not eating sand. Some people are just overly cautious.