question on substrait

[Bencb3]

i have a leo gecko, she is 8 inches long and has play sand as her substrait, but this isnt about her, i have another, who i am hoping is a male, who is using newspaper and paper towels as substrait, and i hate it, so im asking. when can i put in sand for him? he is around 4 1/2 inches long

[NewLineReptile]

I hear that paper towel is one of the best thing's to use for your gecko and one of the safest but i'm not a gecko guy
but i know what you mean about paper for bedding i have all my snake's on paper now and i hate it but it's for the snake's good
good luck

Brandon

[Bencb3]

see i hate paper cuz the little tiny crickets get under it and the little dude cant find em, i cleaned out his cage today and found 4 under there, thats bad, thats all

[Alicewave]

go with ceramic tile. Check other threads to read about it.

[NewLineReptile]

Yeah i guess that would be a pain in that a$$ i never thought of that

Brandon

[Neo]

i heard leos can switch to sand at 6 inches.. i've personally wouldnt wanna use it.. i use paper towels.. all u have to do is tape down the corners and loose places so crix dont get under it. it doesnt wear out the leo's nails either and mealies cant burrow.

[Tim and Julie B]

Ditch the sand and go with blue shop towel! It is durable, economic and inexpensive to clean. I don't particularly like newspaper either, it's dirty and looks terrible! Sand is evil nasty stuff and I really, REALLY dislike using it for any age/sized leo.

[Bencb3]

thx for all the help, i decided on using a cloth towel and i taped it to the sides, thx

[Samba]

Bencb3 - I agree with the others... sand isn't the greatest substrate but if you wish to use it make sure the geckos are at least subadults and the sand is clean. Sand easily causes impactation when a gecko consumes it with the insects...(some geckos have been known to consume it voluntarily!) However, if kept warm enough, I don't think it would affect them greatly, especially if they are fed in a bowl. I would strongly advise paper towels, but if you want something your geckos can dig in I would recommend a product called "Lizard Litter." There are many pros to using this and my geckos love it. One of the great features of this product is that it is easily digested if eaten. Meg, (Alicewave) raves about ceramic tiles so maybe you'd want to look into that as well! Good luck!

[LISA127]

Is it harmful if your leo consumes the vermiculite in the humidity chamber? Mine does that. I was thinking of switching to bed a beast in the humidity chamber.

[Pookie]

Ok, i'm using sand right now but thinking about switching. Actually i KNOW i'm gonna switch! :) So which is better, Bed a beast or lizard litter? I use lizard litter now for my uro but it seems like it might not be the best thing? Or should i just go with the paper towel? My leos have been using sand since i got them, over 2 years ago...do you think they'll adjust well?

[Alicewave]

Both are not great for leos. Stick with a non-particulate substrate that they can't swallow.

There are no problems with Tile wearing down the claws. I've never experienced such a thing.

[Colonel SB]

I'm with Tim & Julie on this one sand is bad :(

[KelliH]

I agree that paper towl is the best substrate for les, and the safest, however I used washed childrens playsand as a substrate for my adult leopard geckos (many) for a lot of years and I never had an impaction. My opinion is that if the animals are supplimented properly and well fed then there should be no impaction problems. BTW, I do not recommend calci sand as a substrate. I used it briefly back in the late 90's when it was first introduced on the market and I noticed it colored my geckos feet and tummys the color of the sand! Not good!

[KelliH]

Lisa-

I recommend using sphagnum moss in the humidity chamber, it works great!

[LISA127]

Thanks Kelli. I've always used vermiculite, but lately have noticed this problem. I had a colony of leo's a few years back, and either they didn't do that or I was unobservant at the time! I don't know whether swallowing vermiculite is harmful or not, but I'll try the sphagnum moss.

[Tim and Julie B]

I use vermiculite for the humid hides and have never had a problem. I know they eat it, but only once in a while. I placed a bowl of calcium in their cages and the consuption of vermiculite almost completely ended! I used to use sand as a substrate and when I switched everyone to paper towel their feces was loaded with sand for about two weeks! You may not think they are eating that much,and that it can't harm them, but switch them over and you'll notice just how much is trapped in their stomachs and intestines.

[drewlowe]

I agree i wouldn't use sand. I use slate thanks to alicewave and i love it. Not only does it look good in the cage, it's also very easy to clean. Another benifit is you don't have to pay to change your subtrate when its time to do a complete cage change. That is as long as you don't break a tile. you don't have to worry about impactation at all.=)

[LISA127]

Tim and Julie-
My leo eats the vermiculite in the humid hide, and she has always been provided w/a calcium dish! And I know she eats the calcium, because I see her eat it. Do u think the vermiculite could harm her? Should I switch to the sphagnum moss?

[Alicewave]

I'm glad you like it Drew! I don't want to take credit for it. I read about it from a couple of people at KS. My mod was to use ceramic tile but the effect is the same. I'm so happy with it. I wish I would get off my butt and have tiles cut for all my gang. It really cuts down the amount of paper towel I have to steal from my parents. ;)

[Tim and Julie B]

Lisa 127, I wouldn't worry about impaction from vermiculite. I have never had any problems with it. I find that spaghnum tends to get pretty foul smelling when used with leos, and the crickets (if any get left in the cage) lay eggs in it. Which is a real pain!

Julie

[LISA127]

Tim and Julie-
Just a little while ago, I was watching my one leo go into her humidity box. She purposely took gulps of vermiculite. I mean, she was really eating it! Like I said, she has a calcium/D3 supplement in her cage. Could she be lacking in something else maybe, that is making her eat vermiculite? When I saw her eating that much of it, I took it out and put layers of wet paper towels in instead, because I didn't know what else to put in there. You don't think I need to worry about impaction even if she is purposely eating it? Thanks.
Lisa

[KelliH]

Try sphagnum moss. I have used it for years and have never expreienced it smelling bad but I do change it out when needed. Never had problems with the crickets laying eggs thing though I do feed mainly superworms and mealworms, when I do feed crickets I feed 3/4 grown to avoid that annoying problem!

You could try peat moss or "bed a beast" if you don't want to try sphagnum, perhaps that would work better for you. Good luck!