Switching from sand: a few questions

[ieatfish]

A few days ago we bought a leopard gecko (3-4 months old) from a local reptile store. They gave us some sand substrate which after much reading (both before and after) seems to be a very controversial topic. After seeing our gecko get a tiny bit of sand after pouncing on crickets, we are considering switching to shelf liner, reptile carpet, or paper towels but had a few questions.

1) If you use paper towels, do you anchor them down? I would think crickets and/or your gecko could crawl underneath.

2) Are there reptile carpets that don't have fibers that can catch on the toes of the gecko?

3) With an inch of sand, the temperature is sitting nicely at around 95 degrees. However, with a half inch or less, it was over 100. Wouldn't a thinner substrate cause the area to be much hotter, especially something as thin as paper towels?

4) Are there any known issues with the no-slip shelf liner? What about other similar materials?​

Those are the few that I am wondering at the moment. We really like our gecko so far and are definitely in this for the long haul so we'd like to do things right.

 

[Kat&Rin]

Well, I used reptile carpet for about a year and I can tell you that it sucks. Or at least, the one I had did. At first there was no problem but after washing it a couple times there were fibers everywhere and she kept getting her teeth and claws stuck. I switched to tile to eliminate the problem but they got too hot so, after a fiasco with putting paper towels under which didn't work, I used my brain and stuck the repti-carpet underneath and now there's no problem! So I can't speak for the paper towel or shelf liner but tile certainly works well

 

[Scubaf250]

If you use a thermostat the temps won't get too high. Place the probe over the uth.

 

[ieatfish]

Well, I used reptile carpet for about a year and I can tell you that it sucks. Or at least, the one I had did. At first there was no problem but after washing it a couple times there were fibers everywhere and she kept getting her teeth and claws stuck. I switched to tile to eliminate the problem but they got too hot so, after a fiasco with putting paper towels under which didn't work, I used my brain and stuck the repti-carpet underneath and now there's no problem! So I can't speak for the paper towel or shelf liner but tile certainly works well

That sounds like a smart solution. I was browsing the Show Off Your Cages thread and really do like the look of the tile.

If you use a thermostat the temps won't get too high. Place the probe over the uth.

Is that something the UTH plugs into? From what I can tell, our UTH just plugs in and gets hot since I didn't see any way to adjust the heat. Where would I get one of those?

 

[OnlineGeckos]

You can buy thermostats pretty much in any pet stores or online from places like amazon.com, lllreptiles.com, etc.. And yes you plug UTH into the thermostat, and you set the temperature you want on the thermostat. The thermostat will have a probe that you lower down into your tank floor for temperature monitoring.

And I second that tiles are awesome, slate or ceramic, buy them from homedepot or lowe's for a lil under $2 each 12x12 piece.

 

[ieatfish]

You can buy thermostats pretty much in any pet stores or online from places like amazon.com, lllreptiles.com, etc.. And yes you plug UTH into the thermostat, and you set the temperature you want on the thermostat. The thermostat will have a probe that you lower down into your tank floor for temperature monitoring.

And I second that tiles are awesome, slate or ceramic, buy them from homedepot or lowe's for a lil under $2 each 12x12 piece.

Home Depot wouldn't cut them for me but told me they rent saws...for two pieces of tile...:main_rolleyes: I just went by Lowe's and bought two pieces of slate and had them cut to size only to get home (it's 30 min away...) and find my wife didn't get me the right dimensions. I'll head back over there in a bit to get them cut down again.

Rather than get a thermostat just yet, I think we're going to leave the sand in the tank and set the two large pieces of shale over the top. That will regulate the heat much better as long as it gets warm enough and if it doesn't, we can just remove some of the sand. I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get it installed.

 

[ieatfish]

Alright, tiles are cut to size and installed. I left a little over 1/2" of sand and just laid them over the top. We like how they look but it seems we're going to need a new coconut since this one doesn't sit flat. I might just have to pull out a big sheet of sandpaper and grind it flat.

Before:

Tile after washing:

After:

The flash makes the slate look shiny but it is pretty dull in regular light. We had to shove a piece of shelf liner in the far left since I didn't want to confuse the guy cutting the tile and gave him pretty round dimensions.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

I have slate tiles that look just like that, hotness. So how goes the temperature readings after putting the slate tiles in?

 

[ieatfish]

I have slate tiles that look just like that, hotness. So how goes the temperature readings after putting the slate tiles in?

The hot side (left) is about 85 after an hour of being in. That's warm enough for my tastes (and our leo) at the moment and I'd assume it will raise up since it has been for a while. I'm guessing it will get to around 90 once it peaks out. The cool side is still at room temp (70-75). Tomorrow I'd assume most of the temps will have leveled off and we'll have a better idea.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Cool deal.

 

[LeoMerlin]

Looks great, yea after all the horror stories about what sand can do, I never put Merlin on sand. The man we got him from at the reptile show said paper towels work just fine, and that's what he was on at first 'till I read about reptile carpet. But if a cricket gets loose from the tongs when I feed him, he'll get stuck to the carpet sometimes when he hunts for the food. I want to switch to tiles, but worried about the temps going too high. I also want to get a thermostat but not sure which one to get for him. Paper towels are fairly good to work with though, cheap and easy to clean. He has paper towels on the bottom layer, then the 10 gallon repti carpet on the warm side of the tank. He has a 10 gallon 'cause he was in a 10 gallon tank before. I couldn't get him the 20 gallon repti carpet just yet.

 

[contracteryin]

I use a reptile carpet for one, and paper towel for the other. As far as issues with the repti-carpet go, I lightly run a match over the carpet to get rid of frayed edges, in other words melt them. It prevents them from getting their toes and stuff stuck.
As far as paper towels go, my leo doesn't go under them. Can't speak for other though.