What I learned with my first gecko and housing.

[dandarri]

Hi All -

When I started researching for my leopard gecko, it was easy to find information. It was also very easy to find misinformation. In many places on the Internet, I found people voicing both the same good information and the same untruths and repeated falsehoods.

It took me many months to research correct information as I don't believe in bringing in an animal that won't thrive in my care. My hope with this post is to give some of the facts that I've found along with my own experiences from that.


1. There are no 100% surety on things. These small geckos have been around and studied, but captivity adds variables that can never be accounted for. If you don't pay attention to your gecko, it will not do well regardless of how much you know.

2. Housing: I find that the general recommendations are to have 1 per 30g aquarium or similar vivarium. 2 males should not be together.

3. Substrate: This is one I hate to even mention because of the fanatics on both sides. It needs to be called out because of the amount of inaccurate information surrounding sand. Perhaps the references I quote will help to aid in giving perspective in this area.

- Pakistan's soil classification has many different types of sand.

- Leopard geckos are native to the regions of Pakistan and nearby countries (Leopard Geckos by Gerold Merker & Cindy Merker ISBN 978-0-7938-2883-8, pg 10, para.2).

- It takes a substantial amount of sand, relative to body size, to cause an impaction with no other causes involved; such as malnurishment, nutritional deprivation, or dehydration.

- Why would a gecko that natively hunts in sand suddenly consume enough sand to become impacted?


I chose river sand as one of my substrates along with beak moss for the moist side. I was so paranoid for the first few times Sandi missed one day of poo. As my time with her, and my research, continued it became evident that my fears were misfounded.

Yes, she licks the sand occassionally. As a matter of fact, she'll lick anything that touches her chin.
Yes, on occassion, there are a few granuals in her poo.
No, she has no problem with moving food from one end to the other.

It is my opinion that if your animal is impacted, it is suffering stressors in addition to the sand, such as dehydration or other husbandry items. Start with the basics first and check food and water. Don't blame a type of substrate for a health issue like impaction.

Finally, since I'm just yet another anonymous post on the Interweb, do your own research; but do it with published information. A web forum is not entirely comprised of experts in the topic. I joined these boards because I found the most experts here. That is not to say that each member who replies fits that detail. Once you read enough posts, you learn who has the real knowledge and who is creating or echoing an answer.

Go to the library, read a book. There are people who have studied these creatures as part of their career, not just as a hobby. Just because Google shows it in the first page doesn't mean that it's credible; it only means the web designer has good search indexing skills.

dd

 

[codyc_13]

Well all I can say is that you have been misinformed on several points, First off is that geckos DO NOT live in sand in the wild they live on hard compact clay. Second is how long have you had your gecko? Impaction is not an immediate thing that happens, its from sand building up in the intestines, Sometimes over numerous years. Just cause your gecko isn't impacted right now does not mean you are in the clear, You stated that there are granuals in her poo, how do you know there not building up in the intestine. I feel that it is our job to do what we can to give our geckos the longest life possible, And if your leo goes 7 years before it gets impacted, think about how many more years it could have lived, maybe another 7 years. Just remember impaction is not just one big lump that gets stuck all of a sudden its a long process, and a risk that Im not willing to take, That is why all my leos are on slate.

EDIT: I Just saw how you put the soil classifications, Although the leos may sometimes be on loose sand in the wild, They hunt on clay

 

[reddmann]

I bought mine from a pet store. It was already an adult, 2 years old and he was on sand. Since I really didn't have much knowledge about them I bought a couple of bags and took them home and put them in his tank. I started researching them the same day and the next day I removed the sand and replaced it with slate tile. He started eating more and roaming around the tank more with the tile. Anyway my point is that although he was an adult and already on sand, I found through research that there is that risk of impaction with the sand. It might happen or with some luck it might not. Well, I wouldn't leave my daughters health or my financial future to chance or just hope I get lucky. Would you? Probably not. So why leave your leos health to chance or just hope for the best of luck? That's why I removed the sand.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Contrary to what has been said, leopard geckos in the wild do NOT live on sand. It is true that some are found on rocky, coarse sandy dry riverbeds in Pakistan, but the majority of field studies performed by Russian researchers throughout the Middle East describe the areas in which leopard geckos were observed to be "hard-packed clay soil with large concentrations of limestone and granite rocks". Here is some interesting information from a Russian University study: http://sci.ege.edu.tr/~bgocmen/leopardgeckos.html


Here are some photos of the Hindu Kush and the Zagros Mountains where many of the E. macularius sp. are found in the wild:

 

[acpart]

In general I agree that research is not only a good idea, but that there are conflicting opinions about aspects of leopard gecko care and that sometimes these opinions are not based on facts (or that 2 opinions can co-exist). I did read through the "Pakistan soils" article on the web, but reached different conclusions than you did: my impression is that the silts, and other river-deposited sands are found primarily in the plains and that the mountainous areas, where leopard geckos are found, are (as the article says) rocky outcroppings with shallow (and in one case "very shallow") loamy soil. When I looked up loamy soil from a gardening point of view, I found this recipe:
1 part manure
• 1 part sand
• 1 part ground clay or plain clean kitty litter

If I were going to put my leos on a particulate substrate, and I don't primarily because I'm concerned about raising the humidity in the enclosure or generating a lot of dust, I would probably use either coco fiber (which I have for my AFT's in a planted tank) or a mixture of coco fiber and desert sand (I have a small colony of coleonyx who are on tile, but have burrowing containers in the enclosure with this mixture. What I don't like about it is that they bury their eggs in there and the sand grains stick to the eggs). I think that would actually be more authentic.

I'm working up to a post about opinions and contradictions (maybe even today) and appreciated your post at this point in my thought processes.

Aliza