Substrate debate

[AmayaTenjo]

I wanted to know what everyone on the boards thought of the big substrate debate, Sand or any loose substrate vs. other

I've been doing a lot of research on this, and I think all of us can agree that pet store calcium sand is a BIG no no, period.

However, Steve Sykes of Geckos Etc. says that sand CAN be used, if you are careful about it. He suggests to use play sand from any hardware store. This sand is washed and processed, so it is clean. Also, the grains are usually round in shape (calcium sand is less processed, and is square shaped, a big contributor to impaction). He also says that a safe grain size for adults is 1.5-2mm or less, and that geckos less than 6 inches shouldn't be kept on sand.

I've also seen people use Eco Earth and aspen bedding.

I think I am gonna try sand with one of my Leo's, under close observation, just to see what happens. I am also a considering trying Eco Earth.

I think that the danger of impaction depends not only on the substrate, but the individual animal. If an individual is prone to ingesting substrate, then it is probably best that it isn't kept on loose bedding.

What do you guys think?

 

[katie_]

I think its a risk, and if youre willing to take it - its your choice.
I don't have an extra few hundred dollars I would be willing to spend at the vets if anything unfortunate happened.

Yes it may look nicer, but isn't your geckos well being more important?
I may look nicer after I've been tanning in a tanning bed, but the risk of cancer isn't worth it.

 

[grboxa]

My thoughts are this, of course people have used sand in the past and there gecko(s) were just fine, but there were a lot that became impacted, why would you take the chance?. Plus, your supervision wont be 24/7. I agree though that play sand would be the safest if you do decide to go this route. As for Eco-earth and aspen, Ive heard from a lot of people that aspen is horrible for your gecko if digested same goes for the Eco-earth. Also if I'm not mistaken, Eco-earth can hold a lot of moisture making the tank have high humidity levels. Sand can cause more problems than just impaction, it also can cause eye complications if sand debris can find its way.


IMO, slate tile is the best. It is more natural looking then sad, retains heat very well, imo it is more sanitary then sand, and no impaction:main_thumbsup:.

 

[grboxa]

Katie, couldn't have said it better my self:main_thumbsup:. These guys are small, but there vet bills are big lol. I just don't think its worth the risk

 

[ARC8745]

paper towels work great

 

[mwghinkle]

paper towels work great

but hold onto feces and other nasty things soak in, i would recommend it for a juvenile. i agree with slate tile, go to your local lowes and have it cut to fit the tank. :main_thumbsup:

 

[gmaier19]

everyone is going to tell you using sand is not worth it, and i agree. any time you post pictures of the sand or mention the sand, youre going to get an ear full from everyone lol.

i also agree about the tile. it can look really nice, especially if you makes some styrofoam hides and cover it in grout that matches the tile. if you're interested you should do a search here, you'll find loads of information tile, styrofoam and grout hides, and other things to make the setup look really nice.

tile is so easy to clean too!

 

[ElapidSVT]

leopard geckos live in rocky terrain in the wild and it is reflected in the structure of their feet. thin toes with sharp claws are quite adept at clinging to rocks. animals that live in sand have flattened toes to give them traction on loose sand. i'm not a fan of keeping leopard geckos on sand. imagine if your home had 1' deep beach sand instead of carpeting. it would make walking around the house pretty difficult since human feet aren't well-adapted for walking in loose sand either.

good luck!

 

[chalkolotcake]

Yea, I had my gecko and bearded dragon both on sand for a while. I had my leopard gecko on sand for most of her life. Like the past 4 or 5 years. Then just recently a few months ago I finally got around to changing it. I just got a white non adhesive shelf liner and put it in her tank. It was on clearance at lowes so I got it because I started freaking out about impaction because I noticed shes been missing more often when feeding her and shed get a mouthful of sand. Even though I do like the way it looks, I thought of how sad I would be if anything ever happened to her. She took a while to get use to its flat surface but I think shes gotten use to it. I changed my bearded dragon from sand to a tile from lowes. It only cost me like 4 dollars for 2 large tiles. I think ill be getting tile for my gecko too because it looks nicer and it doesn't get as dirty as the shelf liner. And it also makes the tanks alot easier to clean out and move when I'm moving from home to apartment for school lol

 

[ChristinaJ]

Honestly, I kept my leos on regular old playground sand that I sifted really well before I used it for years with no issue, including hatchlings for one year, then I started to read all the negative things that were being said about it.

Around the same time my collection was becoming to large for tanks and I started to use rack systems. That was almost 3 years ago and I have been using paper towels ever since with no problems.

While I never had a problem with using sand, I'm not sure I would recommend its use to anyone as a substrate at this point. There is just so little research done (not aimed at anyone in particular) by many leo owners, especially the new ones, that scares me into recommending it. I love it when people tell me they don't need to feed calcium or vitamins because it's already in their sand....
HOWEVER, if a person had used sand for years and only has one or two leos, who are we to criticize them? Not so long ago, not much information was available and people used sand as a norm. Many people seem to forget this

All in all, it comes down to personal preference and how safe you feel sand is...sorry for the super long post everyone!

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

Originally Posted by ARC8745
paper towels work great

orriginaly posted by mwghincle
but hold onto feces and other nasty things soak in, i would recommend it for a juvenile

i dont have that problem because my leo poops in the same spot so i lay a small piece there that i change daily and the rest i change weekly. its only paper towels so changing it is about a 1 min. process where as cleaning tile sounds time consuming but i guess its a preference thing.

 

[M_surinamensis]

When ready to put the answer into practice, there are no questions remaining.