Leopard gecko vivarium terrain

[Lucy Golding]

Hi everyone,

My name is Lucy and I have a leopard gecko that is about 2 years old and I've had him since he was about 4 months old. I had never owned a reptile before my gecko and setup my tank with everything the shop assistant sold to me and told me I would need. After about 4 months of having my gecko I noticed he wasn't eating or pooing and then one day I caught him with sand in his mouth it took weeks of warm baths, belly rubs and baby food before he was pooing again and eating normally.

Anyway since then I have had him on paper towels so something like this would not happen again but I feel he should have wood chips or something not just paper towels. So can someone recommend me a good terrain to try out please? I'm worried he'll be so used to paper towels now he won't like anything else.

I currently still have my plastic starter tank with no lamp or anything so could someone please recommend me a new tank and lamp.

Thank you for any help you can give me!

 

[acpart]

Terrain (usually called "substrate" here): I prefer ceramic tiles. I get the cheap ones (12"x12") at the Home Improvement store and I look for ones that are a beige color with a bit of texture. They look nice and hold the heat well. They also don't have anything that the gecko can ingest by accident.

Tank: I recommend a 20 gallon long tank (30"x12"x12"). Hopefully you have an under tank heater. With that you don't need a light at all.

Aliza

 

[Nooon]

Hi, Don´t give your leo anything that can fit into it´s mouth that is not eatable. When the leo is hunting a piece of whatever you use for substrate can get into the mouth an be swallowed. My leo also eats sand. When she is hungry she reacts to anything she thinks look like food or moves like food. I´ve seen her hunting and trying to eat a sprig, small moving shadows and a few times my finger. (Note - I don´t starve her.) Perhaps that is what triggers eating sand - it moves when stepped on. I keep her on tiles. Leos can dig and like to do so... but for "sand eaters" it´s just too risky. Sand with 1mm sized grains are said to be able to pass through a fully grown leopard geckos stomach... but that goes only for occasional grains. ...and finer grains turn into clay in their stomach and could also cause blockage. Instead - give your leo rocks and roots to climb and to hide under.

These are the tiles I use.


I´ve dyed them with strong organic tea.