Elle's Home

[rottentreats]

Hello Everyone!!

I will be posting our introduction after this post. (not sure why I did this one first) I was just wondering if some of you experts could look at our first Leo's new home. We were unsure about placement of objects so we just kind of winged it. (We are using calcium sand substrate because thats what she was on in the petstore, we got her from PetCo) She does not eat the sand and seems to enjoy it very much. We replace her water daily, and mist her moss daily too. We keep around 5-6 meal worms in her dish at a time, and she seems to like those. But when we put "calcium dusted" crickets in there, she just seems to ignore them. We have only had her for about 4 days, so maybe she is still adusting. Either way, please give comments and let me know if I am missing anything.. Thanks!!!

The whole thing -


The warm side -


The cool side -

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Every thing looks great. But the sand. No sand! You are going to be razzed about useing sand. Just be prepaired....

Looks good though, just put him on tile, carpet or paper towels.

Emma

 

[marineman26]

looks really nice, I agree with emma you should ditch the sand as it can cause your gecko to get impacted. I like your setup though its nice.

 

[rottentreats]

Thanks for the quick replys! I definitely do NOT want our Elle to get impacted, to my knowledge that can lead to death. She is really really comfortable in the sand however, and if you think about it, it is VERY natural. (as far as habitat goes) She does not eat it at all... you people are the experts though, so maybe I will reconsider... time will tell.

 

[Bling_my_leo]

There is no time to tell. If she even gets one mouth full of sand she could get impacted. Please take out the sand. Never listen to what pet stores say. They always say to use snad, trust me I know. I told the pet store guy about my leos and he said they SHOULD be on sand. They know nothing, (No offense to pet store people).
So please take the sand out and change to a soild substance.

 

[bubblez825]

I agree. NO SAND. I personally use paper towels, as it is easily changable and you don't have to worry about leaving bleach residue as you would with the carpet. Also, my gecko's teeth were getting stuck on it when she dove for crickets. Tile is ok too, I guess, though I haven't used it... Also, you need a UTH and a thermostat or rheostat.

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Yea, bubblez pretty much said it all...

 

[LeopardGeckoMom52688]

Sand is not their natural substrate. Their natural substrate is almost like a clay material. There is nothing natural about calcium sand. I use all paper towel or carpet!

 

[Coreygecko]

yeah i agree, use something like paper towel,
thats what i used and my friend.
its really good

 

[GeckoTeach]

I learned the hard way that lil' ones and sand don't mix our lil' one died and I was so disappointed, then I got on here and found out that pet stores aren't always reliable. Ditch the sand.

 

[lilbaggs]

sand no go trust it. but looks great

 

[fallen_angel]

I honestly thought it was paper towels in the pic, I'm glad someone noticed it was sand!! But yeah, you don't want to have to learn the hard way about not using sand... Some people have, some people have been lucky enough not to have.. it's definitely a risk. I used sand when I first got my leo too, and she didn't seem to eat it either.. but the problem is, if you feed them live crickets, when they snatch at the crickets they can get a big mouthful of sand..

Cool setup otherwise and welcome to GeckoForums!!

 

[rottentreats]

Let me just start off by saying that there are somethings you never plan on doing in life. For me, tonight I took pictures of my leo's poop... not something I ever planned on doing. I come to ask whether or not there is anything abnormal about this? Or if it is even poop. (could be vomit?) It appears to be a half digested waxworm and mealworm. She has been eating both of those and sometimes crickets. She mainly seems scared of crickets right now, of any size. (I know, I know, yes that is calcium sand stuck to the feces) We are treading in dangerous water with that substrate, but we think we will give it a try for a bit. ( however stupid or irresponsible it may be )





So please let us know if this is a problem. This is the first time we have seen this. Usually it was just the normal looking stuff, black/brown/ and a bit of white. Thanks!

 

[fallen_angel]

My first thought was that there was some sand in the poo.. but I will take you word. I have seen this happen twice with my own geckos now.. One "poo" was really just some worms that seemed to be hardly digested at all, and it only happened once at the time. But just earlier today, I saw another poo from a different gecko that was also more of just a worm that was hardly digested... I too would be interested to know if this is a problem.

 

[ReptileMan27]

Thanks for the quick replys! I definitely do NOT want our Elle to get impacted, to my knowledge that can lead to death. She is really really comfortable in the sand however, and if you think about it, it is VERY natural. (as far as habitat goes) She does not eat it at all... you people are the experts though, so maybe I will reconsider... time will tell.

Not really true, calci sand is not natural for anything:main_thumbsup:. It is lab created:main_thumbsup:, just because she does not seem to eat it does not mean she wont ingest any by accident while eating. I would also reccomend removing the calci sand crap and go with something safe like paper towels,newspaper,tiles,or if you want something natural,go with slate rock. Congrats on the new leo

 

[CuCuRaChaFeA]

When i first got my gecko he had sand in this tank. The lady i got him from had four females in a 55 gal with sand for over 4 years. The reason i changed from sand to a solid sustrate was because of the odd chance that someday he might decide to start eating the sand or accidently swallow some when charged at a cricket. He seemed happy and healthy with the sand, but for my own peace of mind I decided to change. I think everyone in this forum has the geckos health in mind when they suggest changing from sand to a solid sustrate. I chose tile because its easy to clean and much more pleasing to the eye than paper towels. It cost me $10 for a 12X24 tank and i had cut for free at lowes. My gecko doesnt seem to care and seem very happy. This is what his tank looks like. Im sure you can use a diffent colored tile to achive a more natural desert look.
http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=21435

 

[GeckoTeach]

Check the underbelly of your gecko, if you are seeing any purpulish lines then he is most likely experiencing impaction issues, and a trip to the vet is needed ASAP. On the bright side it appears that your lil' one is pooping out sand, so maybe he/she is not getting huge amounts of it in its system?

 

[rottentreats]

Check the underbelly of your gecko, if you are seeing any purpulish lines then he is most likely experiencing impaction issues, and a trip to the vet is needed ASAP. On the bright side it appears that your lil' one is pooping out sand, so maybe he/she is not getting huge amounts of it in its system?

No purple lines on the belly. The grains of sand you see stuck to the stool are simply just that, sticking to it. Her stool this morning was completely normal and healthy looking.

**I wish she was eating crickets better however. They are being caci-dusted and gut loaded properly, but Elle does not seem to like crickets. When they touch her or are near her she is very jumpy and scared. Could she only want mealworms and waxworms?

I have ripped the legs off a few and put them in her dish with the worms, then she eats them. Doesn't seem to be much of a hunter yet... any ideas?

*edit* - we do not leave crickets in there at all times, we have read that the crickets can bite her and make her uncomfortable..

 

[Bling_my_leo]

That poo does not look healthy. Get him off the sand asap.

 

[Baker14]

Yes, there natural ahbitat consists of packed down clay, not deep piles of sand
I jsut saw the poo picture, and from what I can see, it looks like a partialy undigested cricket with some sand.