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

[martinez2828]

i need advice!

i need to know what type of heat mat i should buy. i have watched alot of reviews and not found any good ones. i have a semi adult leopard gecko and its in a 20 gallon tank please i need to know which one is the best

 

[Dimidiata]

There is no best, just preffered. As of now many of us use the Zoomed heat mat. Youd be best off making your own thread.

 

[gordo84]

Just to throw something else in the mix, I use reptile carpet, I think its by zoomed, I think its great, they can't eat it, its not expensive, easy to clean and there's no chance gordo will burn his pattes...also a little more aesthetic than paper towel.

 

[LeoLover101]

I have changed from the Repti-Carpet to tiles. I kept my Repti-Carpet under the tiles to keep the heat from getting too high. This seems to be perfect. I clean the tiles with a warm wet rag every morning after the morning feeding. I use paper towel in her moist hide, and so far she has never ingested any of it, however, I've only had her a couple of weeks.

 

[im faster]

No carpet sucks... Read the thread u will read y

 

[Kat&Rin]

Well, I started out with Rin on a reptile carpet. I used that for several months, but seeing her constantly snagging toes and teeth on it was driving me crazy. We bough a fairly bumpy ceramic tile from Home Depot -not having a Lowes or another hardware store near us that we knew of- and I then placed rough terrarium rocks over top of the tile so she has "grippier" areas to go to. Rin is thriving in this set up, she absolutely LOVES the rocks I added and the tile has a fantastic aesthetic appeal.

I never got rid of the reptile carpet though, in a pinch its still better than nothing, and I use it under the tile to help manage heat. I know I've heard of several people who have zero problems using sand or even the repti carpets, but in my experience its just a bad idea. Seeing how Rin hunts -when i have crickets- there's no doubt in my mind that she would gobble up mouthfuls of sand if left on it. I actually can see impaction by paper towel as a possibility, not likely maybe, but possible.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I just saw this post. I have never had a gecko eat paper towel in 17 years. Since the geckos shed and regurged, could it have been regurgitated shed that was observed? This is not too uncommon when they get a big piece of skin stuck in their throats.

 

[vinnie-gecko]

id like to know how your gecko managed to eat the paper towels. i use paper towels and i have them stuck down with seleotape (just to stop any bugs getting underneath it)

 

[Dimidiata]

Because most of us dont use tape. Its not recommended to use adhesives with a heat mat in play, fumes.

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

well ive sliipped in both (not proud of it) but i get your point

lol youve youve slipped in an aquairium?