Type of sand?

[gurn911]

Hello all,

First post, so don't beat me up too much. We have decided on a leopard gecko for my 11 y/o son. He is very excited and we have bee reading about the care required and needs for the geckos. We have decided on a slate for the substrate. I also want to place sand under the slate, to help with the uneven slate and hold the heat better.

What type of sand should I look for? I have found different pieces of literature that lead us to 'regular' washed play sand or Repti-sand. I know to stay away from calci-sand. Most if not all should be covered by the slate. I just want to know your opinions. The Repti-sand is obviously a little finer. Play sand is much cheaper. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks all.

jim

 

[katie_]

As long as your gecko will never be able to eat it, I don't think it matters.

 

[gurn911]

I'm sorry, I guess I am really asking if one is more harmful that the other. I don't expect that they will be able to eat it, but hate to say 'never'.

jim

 

[katie_]

I would say no. Equally as "harmful"

 

[JordanAng420]

It's been said that the calci sand is actually worse, since it has calcium in it, from what I hear, it can be more attractive to ingest, I've also heard it can clump together and end up calcifying in their bodies. I'm not sure if either has any truth to it, however, most of us (here at this forum) try to stay away from it all together, to be safe. Maybe try using large stones, similar to what you would find in a fish tank. Welcome, BTW.

 

[Russellm0704]

The OP stated that the sand will only be to even out the slate surface. As long as their is no sand available for your gecko to ingest then no worries. Go with playsand because its way cheaper.

 

[BlondyBish]

+1 Russell

Just make sure that you do your best to fill in the cracks between the slate. It's not as if the gecko will search out holes in attempts for sand but it is better safe than sorry my friend. There are a ton of inexpensive grouts and silicones that are 100% safe when dry, and you can even match color with a little acrylic paint.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

If you are using sand under tile/slate, I would recommend plain old non-silica play sand.

 

[TANGERINEGECKO12]

Personally, I would not use sand as it may kill the gecko if consumed, that being said if I had to use a sand I would use Zoo meds Vita sand.

 

[Dimidiata]

Personally, I would not use sand as it may kill the gecko if consumed, that being said if I had to use a sand I would use Zoo meds Vita sand.

And if you can read you would see that they are putting it under the slate tile to level out the surface, the gecko wont be able to touch it. Besides, VitaSand it worse then reqular sand(same basic idea as Calcisand with a diffrent name.)