I need some experienced Leopard Gecko keepers to help with an article.

[Savannah]

Hi guys!

I'm going to be writing an article about the sand controversy with keeping Leopard Geckos. I'm looking for a couple people to participate and give me their opinions. I do have a few requirements.

A) You must have at least 5 years experience with successfully keeping this species. More is better (However, if you are a new keeper but actually had a serious health problem caused by sand, let me know!)

B) You need to have experience using both sand and other substrates. Not just one or the other.

C) If you actually had a health issue involving sand (ie, sand impaction), it needs to be first hand experience. Not "well a friend of a friend of a friend had this gecko...etc etc"

D) And along with C, if you had a health problem when using sand, please have proof if was actually from the sand and not something else.

As a favor for your opinions, I'd be happy to link your website/youtube/or whatever you'd like in the article. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the pros and cons, not just bashing sand, or disregarding possible health issues caused by it.

If you're interested, please let me know in the comments, and I'll PM you. I'll only be choosing a few to participate :main_thumbsup:

Savannah

 

[STUTFL]

I'm not a long-time keeper, but I guess I can offer that when I put sand in my leo's tank for the first time, to fill the space between the tiles, I left a small patch of sand uncovered for a few days because I needed to fix the sizing of the tiles so they fit right. Pretty soon I realized I'd stopped seeing gecko poo in the corner ... and a little while after I'd covered up the "sandbox," there was an enormous sand-poop on the tiles. Poor kiddo. I was extra careful about covering the sand up after that, it couldn't have been comfy for the little guy.

 

[tlbowling]

I'm writing here and not PMing you because I've only been keeping leos for 3 years... so not long enough to participate. However, I have 13 leopard geckos, and have tried different substrates over that time for quite a few of them. I've used sand, tiles, sand and tiles together and in 3 years have NEVER had an issue with sand. I do have to say that I am very careful at feeding time, I tong feed one at a time over tile, to reduce the risk of impaction. Overall I prefer to have tile with a fine layer sand.

 

[Savannah]

I'm not a long-time keeper, but I guess I can offer that when I put sand in my leo's tank for the first time, to fill the space between the tiles, I left a small patch of sand uncovered for a few days because I needed to fix the sizing of the tiles so they fit right. Pretty soon I realized I'd stopped seeing gecko poo in the corner ... and a little while after I'd covered up the "sandbox," there was an enormous sand-poop on the tiles. Poor kiddo. I was extra careful about covering the sand up after that, it couldn't have been comfy for the little guy.

Poor little guy. That couldn't have been comfortable.
How was the health of your leo before you had the issue with the sand? Did he have any health problems, nutrient deficiencies, etc?

 

[Savannah]

I'm writing here and not PMing you because I've only been keeping leos for 3 years... so not long enough to participate. However, I have 13 leopard geckos, and have tried different substrates over that time for quite a few of them. I've used sand, tiles, sand and tiles together and in 3 years have NEVER had an issue with sand. I do have to say that I am very careful at feeding time, I tong feed one at a time over tile, to reduce the risk of impaction. Overall I prefer to have tile with a fine layer sand.

Very cool! It's hard to find people that use sand without an issue. I'll PM you.

 

[JordanAng420]

There is a user here, his name is Gregg, he has some really interesting theories regarding sand...if you're looking for a some "pro sand" arguments, he might be able to give you some great ideas. His screenname is GreggM. I think he fits your qualifications. You might want to contact him!

 

[STUTFL]

Poor little guy. That couldn't have been comfortable.
How was the health of your leo before you had the issue with the sand? Did he have any health problems, nutrient deficiencies, etc?

Nothing that seems to interfere with his appearance or behavior, though I'd be surprised if he had no problems whatsoever from his old home (poor care, no gutload/calcium and a light on him all day with just 1 hide - I wonder about that last part in particular because sometimes his vision in regular lighting seems subpar for a Normal). He's fairly old (possibly 10 or older depending on his age when he was purchased) but he's always had a plump tail, good appetite, good sheds, etc. I can't think why he would have wanted to just eat sand straight up (it would've been pretty awkward for him to try it anyhow) ... but a superworm did get away from me at feeding time, and I didn't want to destroy the new setup by finding it right away so I put a big hunk of carrot in a dish to lure it and then left for a bit. My guess is that when it found it the bugger burrowed straight into the sand (which wasn't super-fine either; silly me for thinking he'd be less likely to slurp it up by accident that way) and my leo got a few mouthfuls of sand by nearsightedly striking at it before it was recaptured and dispatched properly.

Ultimately my bad on that one, but still enough to scare me off of sand as a substrate. It may be fine when used properly, but it's not "convenient" enough otherwise for me to try again.

 

[Thorgecko707]

I had six geckos on sand from 2005-2011 with no health issues ever. All were fed crickets on the sand. I can't recall a time that there was a sand poop or impaction that naturally passed. We now use repticarpet, linoleum, and paper towels due to influx in population. Repticarpet works good after being roughed, otherwise the teeth may get caught on the loops. Just my two cents.

 

[STUTFL]

Yeah, sand's not the only one I had trouble with - that cheap astro-turf version of repticarpet I had for a while was terrible when it came to getting teeth and toes caught.

 

[leo_kid_21]

New substrate

Have you ever tryed using this stuff like soil? all it is is just coconut shrines but all of my geckos love it. The substrate cannot get stuck in the belly and cause inpaction because its a all natrual material.