My geckos are ingesting perlite!!

[strigoii]

Yes - they have calcium dish with Namiba Terra Calcium D3 and some with Zoo Med ReptiVit and - yes I dust the prey almost every feeding. I use perlit in humid boxes. I have 8 adult geckos and 5 of them has perlit in their fecies... What should I do in this case - change perlite into somethig else? Maybe someone had a similar problem?

 

[acpart]

I had a problem with my geckos eating vermiculite and I switched to cocoa fiber (eco earth, bed a beast) and don't have any problem now.

Aliza

 

[BamaGirl]

I was on another forum and a girl was saying she uses vermiculite, or perlite, in her humid hides, but she puts it in the little sachet bags that you get at weddings, you know, the little drawstring bags that have bubbles or candles in them. She said that her geckos really like it, but they can't get to the vermiculite to eat it. Could be something to try if you wanted to keep using it.

 

[strigoii]

or - not in my case - I'm waiting for the eggs to be buried. I think I'll try to switch on cocoa fiber.
but I'm still curious of a reason this happens..

 

[fallen_angel]

We too had a problem with our geckos eating vermiculite, we even tried moss and it gave one of our geckos some weird rash.. we switched to the coco fiber and have been loving it ever since :main_yes:

 

[tronicsman]

I had a problem with my geckos eating vermiculite and I switched to cocoa fiber (eco earth, bed a beast) and don't have any problem now.

Aliza

Same Here I really like the cocoa fiber it also holds moisture longer it seems

 

[Lena]

I use Fluker's Moss, works wonderfully.

 

[strigoii]

all of my humid hides are full of fiber now - one female started to dig it to lay eggs - a day after it was changed))
maybe leos are eating fiber too and it's just hard to see it in their fecies?

 

[fallen_angel]

all of my humid hides are full of fiber now - one female started to dig it to lay eggs - a day after it was changed))
maybe leos are eating fiber too and it's just hard to see it in their fecies?

That is a very good point, since the fiber is the same color and all. Although the texture of the poo would still look "off" and I'm sure one could tell if a female were eating the stuff after close examination :main_yes:

 

[nats]

I use moss too. The fibers are to long for them to eat.
I shake all the loose stuff out first though.

 

[strigoii]

and they lay the eggs into the moss?

 

[GeckoGathering]

What do they eat?

all of my humid hides are full of fiber now - one female started to dig it to lay eggs - a day after it was changed))
maybe leos are eating fiber too and it's just hard to see it in their fecies?

Yes, this is a good possibility (mainly a problem if he doesn't pass it) but your choice in perlite was wrong anyway. It does not retain water. It is a drainage material. It allows water to pass to the bottom of your container. Thats why it appears dry and persons will keep applying more moisture to it. If a gecko would lay in it they would dig to moisture... the egg would set in water. Not good. If you did not find it right away the bottom of the egg shell can soften allowing a chance for some of the contents of the egg to be drawn out of it....
.Moss or Vermiculite retains water so the gecko finds conditions it is looking for. He doesn't want to lay eggs in perlite, but he will.....
.........Note erlight is the right choice for the incubation material though(let it look dry). It surrounds the egg with humidity and supplies the ideal hatching condition..No holes in the container lid..take care HJ

 

[strigoii]

oh - thanks - that was very useful info, because I was wondering about air holes and perlite as incub. material))

 

[OhioGecko]

I had a problem with my geckos eating vermiculite and I switched to cocoa fiber (eco earth, bed a beast) and don't have any problem now.

Aliza

Same here.

 

[MelissaDiane]

Where do you buy coco fiber?

 

[Tanner505Geckos]

here is where i get mine WWW.lllreptile.com

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I've had multiple species deaths from ingestion of water expandable substrates like those mentioned. If the geckos ingest it and drink water it expands - in their gut! Be careful and watch for any ingestion. I've been using vermiculite for over 20 years with a large collection of leopards and other species and initially they do ingest some as they are curious. This has yet to bear out any negative consequences, especially since they become bored with eating it soon enough.

Great explanation of the perlite for incubation use only! :main_thumbsup: