Paper Towel Substrate!?

[Joker9]

Is this safe for an adult Gecko? Call me a silly goose but couldn't it catch on fire if it got too hot in the tank? Would she try eating it?

Thanks

 

[Srt14292]

Your head pad should not get anywhere near as hot as your core body temp 37C, so unless you are the human torch and when you touch it it spontaniously combusts you have no reason to worry, yes if the pad malfunctions it can get seriously hot, but this is why we use thermostats.

 

[gixxer3420]

I use paper towels in all my gecko racks and Ive never had a problem. I also use it in my bearded dragon tanks, crested gecko tanks, and chameleon tanks. I have never had a problem and it makes for easy cleaning.

 

[bman123]

Are you using a tank or a rack? If a rack I say go for it, if it's sort of a display like a tank in a big room then I say no, only because it doesn't look nice.
If it is a tank use tile, you said it's a adult right? If so you can use play sand.

I am using newspaper right now and I hate it, it looks like crap even tho i have the pieces cut to fit the tank. I'm gonna switch over today to tile or play sand. Mine is a adult and he is big around 9 inches long.He also gets hand fed so I'm not worried about impaction, he won't chase his food I just hand him super worms lol.

 

[bman123]

I have never tried papertowels but I would think the gecko would get it's toes stuck to it. It won't catch on fire either, even if the uth malfunctioned i highly doubt it could get hot enough to catch on fire.

 

[mascutt]

That's what I have. Tile in my tank with some play sand underneath it to help spread the warmth. I make sure every day that the sand hasn't gotten above the tile, and if I ever see any, I clean it up. But my geckos spend more time on the ground now than they did when I had paper towels. I think the tile gets a little warmer??

 

[Northstar Herp]

No fire worries at all. Paper towels, IMO, are the most convenient substrate you can use. Maybe the most aesthetically pleasing, but def. the most practical.

 

[bman123]

Yeah papertowels are easy to clean but it looks awful. I'm gonna try to find some cheap tile that I like at lowes. I'm getting ready to leave soon on my tile search.
A bag of play sand that covers 5 cubic feet is only $2.89 at walmart so it's probably cheap at lowes also..

 

[Northstar Herp]

Yeah papertowels are easy to clean but it looks awful. I'm gonna try to find some cheap tile that I like at lowes. I'm getting ready to leave soon on my tile search.
A bag of play sand that covers 5 cubic feet is only $2.89 at walmart so it's probably cheap at lowes also..

Dude, don't say the "S" word around here too much, you'll get tarred and feathered.

 

[bman123]

I like the look of sand with leopard geckos. Play sand causes such a debate tho with some people. My Leo gets hand fed so I have no impaction risk since he won't even hunt. I like the sand and the tile. I will get both and switch it up every now and then probably.

 

[bman123]

I'M not worried about it lol. I see why some people are afraid of it but I'm not, but I'm gonna end up using tile anyway since it looks so clean and nice

 

[Northstar Herp]

I like the look of sand with leopard geckos. Play sand causes such a debate tho with some people. My Leo gets hand fed so I have no impaction risk since he won't even hunt. I like the sand and the tile. I will get both and switch it up every now and then probably.

Just say it quietly, dude. Some of trees are on her side...

 

[bman123]

Well worded I gotta give you that.
The tiles you guys use are just ceramic right? I'm getting ready to go now I just wanna make sure i get the right kind of tiles. Wouldn't play sand underneath the tiles distribute heat better and kinda act as grout in between the tiles?

 

[bman123]

After seeing some more pics of tile set ups Im definately getting tile and I'm gonna get it now lol. The tile looks sweet, it's nice and clean looking compared to newspaper, paper towels or any kind of bedding I've seen.

 

[Joker9]

I like the look of sand with leopard geckos. Play sand causes such a debate tho with some people. My Leo gets hand fed so I have no impaction risk since he won't even hunt. I like the sand and the tile. I will get both and switch it up every now and then probably.

Yeah, I hand feed mine too so the "S" word doesn't concern me much either. Paper towels does look pretty trashy ha ha ha :main_laugh: but ya gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes.