SAND AS A SUBSTRATE

[geckogod]

For a long time now people have been discussing on whether or not sand should be used as a substrate for leopard geckos. Leopard geckos come from the arid deserts of Afghanistan and Iran where the substrate is mainly a mix of dirt, small pebbles, and sand. So sand being in there natural environment would make you wonder why they haven't adapted to not get impacted..well they have. With natural sands like beach or desert sand after being cleaned properly makes a great substrate that will not allow them to get impacted. ALTHOUGH with non natural highly processed calci-sand and other mass produced particle substrates it eventually does cause them to become impacted. I have two leopard geckos an one of them i have had on sand for 4 yrs and the other one two yrs and neither has ever had any prob with impaction even as a baby.:main_yes:

 

[Ozy]

The native habitat of the leopard gecko is the rocky, dry grassland and desert regions of south-Asian Afghanistan, Pakistan, north-west India, and parts of Iran. - from Wikipedia

Leopard geckos are from the rocky deserts of Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.Desert does not mean dirt and sand. In reality only 20% of the Earth's deserts are composed of sand. Nearly all deserts are composed of rock and pebbles. There are of course several different types of deserts, each with slightly different environments and characteristics, but that of the leopard gecko is that composed of rock and compacted sand. - from yet another website

Your leo comes from the rough, arid deserts of Iran, Afghanistan and the northern parts of Pakistan and India. There are two misconceptions about this natural habitat:

- There is no water. It is very arid and there is little water, but deep down under the surface, the leopard gecko can find the humidity it needs for shedding.

- It is sandy. When we think "desert," we always picture sand, but actually there is almost no sand at all in this region. The ground is made up of rocks and dusty, cracked earth. -from yet ANOTHER website

So actually it is NOT natural for them to be on sand. Slate Tile is the most natural substrate for them. They are from packed, rocky deserts. Not sandy ones.

 

[Ozy]

And leos aren't adapted to NOT get impacted from sand because there is pretty much no sand where they are from. Sooo.. yea.

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

+1

 

[marauderhex]

Have any of you ever been to Iraq or A-stan? Sand is more than just the SiO2 that you find in kids sand boxes. It is wind/water erroded stone (which you would expect to find in a rocky outcropping) and seriously, "no dirt" sorry, but I lived through Iraq's longest dust storm in living history. The air was so thick with the stuff that you were blowing black out of your nose and the sky was pure orange for over a week straight. To answer the OPs question, I recommend slate tile (or ceramic tile that looks like slate) with some smaller rocks and a little bit of sand to fill in the gaps and to aid in heat conduction.

 

[lisa127]

I agree with everyone above. I personally use newspaper. But if I want a more natural look, I use tile. Sand is not a good idea. I realize people say their leo's live on sand for however long and have not become impacted. No leo ever gets impacted......until the day comes when he does.

 

[pbgeckos]

The fact is that there are plenty of people out there that can attest to their geckos being impacted by sand and there are plenty of people out there that have never had a single issue with it. I choose to err on the side of caution and do not want to be one of the people telling a story about my beautiful leopard gecko being impacted because I was trying to beat the odds...I think slate looks great in the tanks and it is a lot harder to swallow!

 

[katie_]

Some people have used calci sand for 20 years without a problem. Is this enough evidence to say its totally safe? No.

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

The two oldest men in the world, one American man, one Chinese man, both world war one and two vets, both being interviewed on how they lived so long:

American man: "I fought two wars, smoked a pack of cigerettes a day,got drunk, and slept with a different woman every night!" ( sand)

Chinese man: "When I retired from the military, I engaged in daily exercise and had a healthy, balanced diet." (Paper towels, tile, etc.)

Both lived to be over a hundred and you can find them both in the world records book, but my piont is, how many people do you know or would expect to live a long time doing what the American man did versus how many you know or would expect to live long doing what the Chinese man did? One was lucky, one was smart. I choose smart, but thats just me.

 

[katie_]

chinese live forever!

 

[stager]

I feel why use it, it's harder to clean and has caused impaction before in some cases. Just not worth the risk IMO

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

Ah yet again a SAND thread.

If you haven't heard, holding a bearded dragon can cause them to jump and break a leg

Or going on vacation when your cockatiel is due to drop can cause her to withold and become egg bound.

And breeding a older tortoise can cause her to become egg bound and watch out, they get bladder stones so make sure they never have any unfiltered water.

Keeping reptiles/animals is FULL of dangers. Prevent what you can, but understand EVERY thing you do has risk...yes that includes newspaper and tiles. If your going to use sand do it with education and experience on the substrate and your gecko. Happy herping

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Calcium sand will clump if it gets wet, which is what makes it dangerous. Regular sand will just pass through (at least from my understanding). Though there's no reason for a reptile to ingest the sand to begin with, since they usually ingest the calcium sand because they're trying to acquire more calcium in their diets.

And as it's been pointed out, they come from rocky areas, but those rocky areas also have some vegetation. Vegetation doesn't grow in rock. Yes, the habitat is primarily rock, but not completely. I don't see anything wrong with natural sand.

Have any of you ever been to Iraq or A-stan? Sand is more than just the SiO2 that you find in kids sand boxes. It is wind/water erroded stone (which you would expect to find in a rocky outcropping) and seriously, "no dirt" sorry, but I lived through Iraq's longest dust storm in living history. The air was so thick with the stuff that you were blowing black out of your nose and the sky was pure orange for over a week straight. To answer the OPs question, I recommend slate tile (or ceramic tile that looks like slate) with some smaller rocks and a little bit of sand to fill in the gaps and to aid in heat conduction.

I like this post. Good insight.

~Maggot

 

[Kylerbassman]

I use about 50%+ sand in my 2 Leo's tanks. I think you just need to be smart about it. I all but hand feed so as to not let them eat there food off the sand. As was said before Leo's don't normally eat substrate unless they are not getting vitamins and calcium required. You need to watch them and observe patterns and weird behavior like eating substrate. The sand can actually help with giving them the ability to burrow and to lay there stomachs on for digestion. It also can help with there muscle and bone development. Sand is not bad, but If you see them ingesting sand even when your supplying calcium/vitamins, then it's time to change the substrate as Leos can be very different in there behaviors. My male Leo ingested some (not much) when I first got him, although I don't know if his previous owner was as diligent as I am on vitamins and calcium. My 2 Leo's love there sand areas, and they tend to like it more on the sand then anywhere else in the tank. Variation in the tank is key in my opinion. Your not a bad owner if you use sand, and things can happen no matter what you are using. Just keep an eye on newcomers and if you notice a change in behavior, that's usually a sign something is going on.

 

[KTyne]

Afghanistan is rocky, compacted dirt with lots of fine dust on top. Not much actual sand... or so says my Fiance who was there on tour for 7 months.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Afghanistan is rocky, compacted dirt with lots of fine dust on top. Not much actual sand... or so says my Fiance who was there on tour for 7 months.

I'm willing to bet it depends what part of the country you're talking about. The Hindu Kush mountains are obviously going to be rocky, while the Registan Desert is primarily sand.

~Maggot

 

[razorgecko1982]

I use a high grade calcium based sand and he rarely even takes notice to it, much less ingest it.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I use a high grade calcium based sand and he rarely even takes notice to it, much less ingest it.

Never, ever, ever, ever use calcium sand. Even if he doesn't chomp on it, he can still ingest it while feeding or take little tiny bits when you're not looking. Calcium sand clumps in their digestive tract. They can't pass it, which causes them to become impacted and possibly die.

~Maggot