Substrate Question~

[TaylorKun]

I've been using that green slightly fuzzy kind of stuff that's highly reccommend everywhere I go, but I've spotted a problem.
Everytime I feed my babies, tehy lunge at teh cricket and their mouth gets stuck to it! At first I thought they were jsut holding onto it and not letting goi, but even with their mouths open I've seen this happen. I don't know what they're sticking to, but it's not jsut one gecko, it's all of mine D:

I switched to paper towels today to avoid this, as it really freaks them out. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this ?

 

[Jaiden23]

Is the 'green slightly fuzzy stuff' a kind of mat? If so, it sounds like you are talking about the green repti-carpet/cage carpet.

I have had the same problem, and I know of several other people who have too. I'm not sure if it hurts the leos to get stuck like that... but it sure looks painful. You could try flipping the carpet over, as one side is a bit smoother than the other. This seems to work most of the time.

If you still have trouble with it, and your leos just don't like the papertowels, you could always try tile or slate.

 

[TaylorKun]

It's called repti carpet, I had to look it up

Yeah, it looks very unpleasent, especially the way they freak out right afterwards. I hate seeing then like that

 

[nats]

Yeah, I know what you mean.
I gave that stuff a try, I really wanted it to work out because I liked
the looks of it, and it was easy to clean.
But I had to take it out because of the problem you mentioned and
their little toes kept getting stuck to it.
And yes, I did try both sides.

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Yeah. My younger leos used to get their teeth stuff in the reptile carpet when they lunged for mealworms. I switched them to paper towels, and now they are doing great.

 

[LeoMartin]

I use paper towels

 

[TaylorKun]

So why is this stuff so highly recommended if it does this?

 

[Mel&Keith]

It's the only option available at pet stores that can't be ingested so it's the best choice in that sense. Another option is having tiles cut to fit the bottom of your tank. Most hardware stores will cut the tile for free. You can also use paper.

 

[lytlesnake]

I think the repti carpet is great for adults/adolescents, but apparently it's not so great for the babies. I've never kept a hatchling on it, just older geckos. I haven't noticed them getting snagged on it much at all.

 

[nats]

So why is this stuff so highly recommended if it does this?

Good question.
I guess for the same reason peeps continue to recommend loose sand and
"hot rocks"!! :main_no:

 

[nats]

I use paper towels

Me too, sort of....!
It's lab bench paper. Paper towel on one side, and lined with plastic on the other. Very soft and absorbent, but I guess you have to work in a lab to get it. Unless you want to spend $100.00 and buy a roll from Fisher Scientific!!

 

[leonut]

yeah i've noticed the same thing with babies but not adults. i guess babies are so tiny that they get stuck more easyily

 

[nats]

I will keep that in mind for when my little ones grow up.

I would love to be able to get rid of paper, so I will try the crapet again
in about 6 months!!

 

[nats]

I just noticed I said "crapet" instead of "carpet"! LOL :main_laugh:
Sorry about that, my bad!

 

[lil_angel]

same problem

my baby is a baby lol only about 8-9 weeks and its little toes kept getting stuck on the repti-carpet so i took it out and we were out of paper towels so for now since yesterday i have had it on newspaper. i get worried though even w/ that, but ive seen here that some ppl do use news paper. My ? is what is better papertowels or newspaper? i worried about the newspaper getting wet from water bowl n the ink. So any ideas?

 

[TaylorKun]

Watch out for the adults too :C My adult was the first one I noticed getting stuck. His feet are a little messed up from a previous owner, but it was his mouth gettign caught that worried me! He'd lunge at a cricket and he'd just get stuck! I don't even know what he was getting stuck on D:
Again- I'm using paper towels now, thinking about switching to tile, but that seems like more trouble then it's worth. Paper towels are so easy after all.
And also Heat rocks make me so mad. People think they're sucha good idea and they're jsut thrilled when they see their reptiles use them, but they don't know about the damage they cause >:C

 

[Bonney425]

My babies got stuck on repti carpet too. It can cause so damage to their lower jaw if they freak out to much. I use slate now its not as much of a hassle as you might think.