Is Reptile Carpet Dangerous?

[GHolmesRage]

I have a young Leo whom i feed mainly crickets but some meal worms as well. I have been keeping him on the reptile carpet i got from my local pet store. However, I have been noticing that when he attempts to strike a cricket about 30-40% of the time he accidently bites down on the surface of the carpet while he has the cricket in his mouth. I know this because I see him struggling to pull his head back up after he strikes. I am scared he could be tearing out small fibers from the carpet and digesting them which could potentially be hazardous to his health. I just want to know could this be harmful to him, and should I switch him to paper towels or some other substrate?

 

[EnchantmentGecko]

Most people prefer paper towels or newspaper if money is short. I keep mine on tile as do many others. The only problem I've ever heard of through my research on substrate is that leos get their claws stuck on carpet and may even rip a claw or toe. The chances that he could pull out enough fibers to hurt him (if he could pull any) are most likely small.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Not sure about being dangerous as in life threatening, but as stated above they can rip toe nails off if they get caught good. A lot of people started off on repti carpet because that's what pet stores recommend and sell. But eventually after seeing their geckos get their teeth & toes stuck a few times, they just couldn't stomach it anymore and switch to either slate/ceramic tiles or paper towels.

Not only are repti carpet potentially harmful, they are unsanitary. They're like carpet, they trap bacteria, and it's very hard to clean them well. Where as if you use tiles for an example, you can spot clean and it'll be like new again. Paper towels are also good because you can simply replace it with a new sheet whenever needed. Neither would get your gecko's teeth & toes stuck again.