Make Your Own Hides and Substrate: Excavator , Is it healthy?

[Graystripeandmisty]

So I just brought home my gecko today and he has Zoo Med Excavator substrate. When it dries it gets a little crumbly but so far he has made no attempts to eat it. I'm wondering if it is healthy for him to stay in there or if he needs to switch. I just set up the tank and I think he likes it. The stuff is really hard to get out so if I had to change it would be extremely aggravating, but I want to make sure he'll be okay. (By the way does size make a difference in ingestion because he's pretty big.)

 

[Crux]

You should have researched before doing anything like this. With excavator it can be a hit or miss. But majority vote goes with that it's just a too big of chance. I had a friend who ran into a very big problem with this stuff. It does look solid at first but 1 month in it just started to crumble way to much. Since geckos love to climb they tend to test out the area by licking the surface to both get bearings and to make sure it wasn't too foriegn. So chances are even if you have a constant supply of food he will still probly end up ingesting bits here and there.


As for the size, your gecko may look big but his organs may remain small. I remember taking a course in zoology back in college and we disected leopard geckos. Sad as it was I found out many things I didn't know. Their digestive tract is actually fairly small compared to their size. So even if your gecko is big, even a small bit of sand can cause impaction. So even if you don't think he's eaten any of the substrate he might get some from licking his body and other general licking geckos tend to do. You might not see any change from your gecko but he could end up with internal bleeding or a bruised belly. It's always better to be safe than sorry so I suggest to just change everything out. It may be a hassle, but isn't that a better trade off then coming home and seeing your poor gecko dead? Switch to tile as its both aesthetically pleasing and easy to spot clean.