Vermiculite as substrate

[fallen_angel]

I was just curious, can vermiculite or a mixture of soil and vermiculite be used as substrate? Why is it that you never hear of vermiculite being used in anything but the incubation containers?

 

[Baker14]

Well, all loose substrates, in my opinion are bad news. Not that people can not use it with succes, but I feel, why take the risk? Second, the high humidity is not natural to leopard gecko environment and when exposed to it for to long, they can develop respiratory infections.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

ANY type of particulate substrate that might become ingested is not recommended for leopard geckos.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I know that we have a couple of females that really like to eat vermiculite out of laying boxes so I can only imagine that having it all over the floor would be really bad.

 

[ReptileMan27]

I would stay away from any loose substrate for leos..

 

[fallen_angel]

Okay, thanks everyone!

 

[eric]

golden poop not good!!

 

[traffic]

Last year I used vermiculite for my lay boxes with out any problems. This year however I have some new first year breeders and have had a problem with "Golden Poop", no matter how much food I gave them(bowl of worms, crickets, etc), two dishes full of water. They still ate it regulurary. I had to change to peat moss and have not had a problem since. I like how the eggs came out of the vermiculite nice and clean but as Eric said... "Golden Poop not Good".

 

[Mel&Keith]

We've substituted coco husk for vermiculite in the laying boxes and have great success with it.

 

[fallen_angel]

oh no!

golden poop not good!!

What does golden poop indicate? how serious is it?

We have vermiculite in the hideboxes, and I have noticed golden poo lately...so that means they're eating it? I can't buy moss right now, but I have a big bag of perlite, so what if I just put that in their hideboxes?

 

[david13]

that should work

 

[fallen_angel]

does anyone have any accounts of their leos eating perlite, or if it's harmful too?

 

[eric]

you would be better off using paper towels moistened. and keep an eye on your gecko for golden stools.

 

[eric]

vermiculite and perlite all absorb water and tend to clump together any animal ingesting this could be very harmful or even fatal!

 

[fallen_angel]

Sorry, forgot to mention my females are laying..so paper towels wouldn't work so well.. We were always told that vermiculite was the best lay box substrate, so this golden poo subject is brand new to us. We're going to buy some moss or coco husk tomorrow and leave the hideboxes as they are for the time being. Thanks everyone for all your help!

 

[eric]

cut up your paper towels into a bunch of thin strips. moisten the towels. this will give them the ability to dig. congrats on the eggs

 

[Surf_420]

cut up your paper towels into a bunch of thin strips. moisten the towels. this will give them the ability to dig. congrats on the eggs

but couldnt they still eat the thin cut up paper strips?

this seems like a touchy subject everytime it comes around.

personally, we use vermiculite in our "lay boxes" and have never

had them ingest or poo it out. That being said im sure everyone has

had different experiences and will always say something different.

 

[Sandra]

I use vermiculite in my humid hides, but two of my males ate it as if it was made of sweets. I'm lucky it's only the males and I can use papertowels with them anytime.

I bought coconut husk and didn't like it. I think it was because of the brand I used, but didn't hold humidity all that well and discolored a lot. All my geckos ended with their tummies all brown.

 

[fallen_angel]

Okay, I'll stick with the moss then