Warning for all those people who think that sand is evil and paper should be used.

[sausage]

Yeah so basicly I iv brought up and bread geckos for years on sand and had no problems what so ever! but I thought id give advice benefit of the doubt and try swapping one of my geckos from sand to paper towels just to see if it made any difference what so ever.
Well turns out paper towels are as much of a risk of impaction as sand can be, as now I have a very sick gecko on my hands as it appears shes eaten a load of it!! (most likely by accidence) This problem ='s a very large vet bill + an op to try and remove it and no guarantee she will survive
So it would appear any thing can cause impaction!!

 

[RampantReptiles]

I have never had a gecko eat paper towel...
Yes anything that a gecko cannot pass (i.e. undigestible things) can cause impaction. I still say paper towel is better, a gecko is more likely to repeatedly ingest sand when kept on sand substrate than to ingest paper towel. I guess tile or nothing at all is the safest route...

 

[marauderhex]

Just a quick question: did you shred the paper towels, or how did she eat it? I've raised numerous leos on paper and never had one of them eat any of it.

 

[sausage]

no shredding just flat paper towels. I think she eat it accidently when she was shedding.

 

[sausage]

Its just more annoying that in all these years iv had no problems then you change something as it supposedly "safer" and look what happens.

 

[sausage]

She threw some up an it wasn't a small piece :S I can take pics of it if people insist on seeing it.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Tiles for the win

And yes anything a gecko can ingest could cause problems. But you kind of have to pick the lesser of two evils. Paper towels are indeed safer and cleaner than sand. I've had a male that ingested a small piece of the paper towels while shedding, but he passed it fine.

 

[katie_]

Ive heard of leos eating large pieces of their paper too. Tiles are the safest.

 

[grboxa]

Agree, tiles ftw.:main_thumbsup:. I can understand if people have multiple geckos in racks with tubs, practical sense is to use paper towel, but for keepers with 1 or 2 tanks(like me) tile is the best way to go.

 

[coker101]

I'm going to tiles as well. If they eat those then we have a huge problem.

 

[RampantReptiles]

I'm going to tiles as well. If they eat those then we have a huge problem.

LoL Darwin award >_<

 

[sausage]

yeah i liked that comment to LOL

 

[PhoenixCoconut]

lol that post is funny............but does the tile let the heat through?

 

[RampantReptiles]

lol that post is funny............but does the tile let the heat through?

:main_yes: very well

 

[tiedxupxinxknots]

I thought it was nerly impossible to get impacted with paper towels , never happened to me though.

 

[im faster]

think about the numbers..NONE of us have never heard of a paper towel impaction..
but almost EVERYONE has seen a sand impaction..

paper towels are safer.

sorry to hear though..
also i dont see it being a problem passing paper

 

[gixxer3420]

Ive used paper towels in all my geckos tubs for the last 7+ years without ever having a problem.

 

[katie_]

Ive only ever seen one impaction PERSONALLY and it was from superworms.

 

[animeavatar]

Tiles are also cheaper in the long run and more eco-friendly( reuseable unless you break them).

 

[Dimidiata]

Tiles are also cheaper in the long run and more eco-friendly( reuseable unless you break them).

Even if you break them, hello silicone or sand between the cracks XP.