ground walnut shells

[geckonewbie213]

i know that sand is awful for leos, but im curious to know if the ground walnut shells are just as bad?

 

[TokayKeeper]

I wouldn't say aweful.

But pertaining to crushed walnut....it's probably the worst substrate short of razor sharp glass slivers that you could house a leo on.

 

[Wbrown5496]

I believe the consensus is that the are actually worse. Sand, due to it's shape, can cause blocks and lead to impaction. Walnut shells, on the other hand, are quite sharp and can actually cut the digestive track. The most recommended substrates are: Paper Towel > Tile > Carpet (reptile of course).

 

[geckonewbie213]

alright, well i was just looking at it today at the local petstore while i was picking up mealworms. i have my leos on tile right now and its exactly what i want but im moving them into a larger tank and the tile i already have wont fit because of an excess amount of glue in the larger tank that i acquired. i dont really want to mess around with cutting more tile and im just trying to find a new type of substrate that will look remotley nice. thanks for the information!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Glad to hear you didn't buy the walnut

 

[geckonewbie213]

any suggestions to what i should look into?

 

[Wbrown5496]

If you don't want to use real tile I believe some people use linoleum tile or whatever it is. Thin, plastic, bendy, what ever. Its easy to clean and cut. I'd double check to make sure it wasn't coated with something toxic. Once again research, I'm not 100%.

 

[LZRDGRL]

any suggestions to what i should look into?

I use hydroton (which you can get at amazon.com) and put a few loose tiles (not artificially squared ones but broken ones) on it. Looks great and natural, and stimulates digging instinct. Of course, the clay balls are far too big to be swallowed. Spot cleaning is easy; just scoop a handful out and replace (or: recycle)!

Chrissy

 

[ElapidSVT]

i think a good test for leo substrates is to eat a handful yourself.
if it goes well, by all means use it.
if not, at least you found out before letting the leo eat some.

 

[geckonewbie213]

i looked into using those clay balls a couple of days ago and i really considered doing what youve suggested but now i no longer need to find a new substrate, with a little bit of patience and a few sharp objects i cut out some of the excess glue in the corners of the tank and now ill be able to use my tile! thank you everyone for the help!

 

[LeopardShade]

Any loose substrate = bad & potentially harmful

 

[Chosen010]

Use the tile you have, fill in the gaps with reptile or play sand...
That is what I do and as long as you're providing calcium in the tank then your gecko shouldn't seek out the sand and ingest it, and the small amount used to fill the gaps of your tile severely reduces the likelihood of accidental ingestion.

my .02

 

[ieatfish]

Use the tile you have, fill in the gaps with reptile or play sand...
That is what I do and as long as you're providing calcium in the tank then your gecko shouldn't seek out the sand and ingest it, and the small amount used to fill the gaps of your tile severely reduces the likelihood of accidental ingestion.

my .02

I concur, we have our tile sitting on about 1 cm of reptile sand. It brings it above the silicone and lets the tiles settle without touching the glass.

 

[blueappal]

I recommend just cutting the tile. I will never use another substrate other than tile again.