Bed-A-Beast...

[sSNAKESs.com]

I am setting up a Leopard Gecko tank.. can i use bed-a-beast as a substrate or should i only use it in the humidity box?

[Joe]

Hey Jeff if you let it completly dry out it should be fine,we use to use it and never had a problem!

[sSNAKESs.com]

Thanks guys! :)

[candyf]

Jeff -- how old/large is the leo that you are setting the tank up for? If it is under 6 inches long, you really should use paper towels for the substrate to be safe. -- candyf

[lance]

i agree with candy jeff why take chances
lance

[AzR@k]

i say jeff sould get a tank from me lol..u could house an exxtremly large colony lol

[lance]

wow what a sales man!!!
lance

[Youkai]

If you like bed-a-beast, and your gecko is old enough, I'd just use peat moss. It's cheaper, and isn't soaking wet to start! If you really like the bed-a-beast, go to a greenhouse or nursery. You can find the same product at 1/3 the price, or less even.

[Linds]

I would steer clear of bed-a-beast or similar products for leos. They are notorious for ingesting substrate, and IMO the fibrous make up of that stuff is just asking for trouble. They are desert creatures so you should stick to desert type substrates - you wouldnt house a rainbow or burm on sand would you?, but not until they are a year old. Their first year they should be housed on paper towel, newspaper, cage carpet, whatever your fancy so long as it isn't loose (I personally prefer papertowel).

[Youkai]

I can understand keeping younger animals on papertowel to be safe.
Some of my leos have been on peat moss 12 years now with absolutely no ill effects. A healthy well fed leopard gecko shouldn't have problems if it ingests a tiny bit of fine substrate once in a while.
I'm sure they encounter worse in the wild..

Anyway, in 12+ years, I've never lost a leo to impaction. I keep my geckos in large, 'natural' set ups, and have never faced this problem. I find peat moss to be cheap, and easy to maintain and clean. I keep crested geckos, gargoyle geckos, fat tail geckos, and some japanese cave geckos on peat moss as well. I've never once had a problem...

And just because you use peat moss does not mean you have to keep it moist. Used dry, it can be fine for some desert species.

I personally think the issue of dangerous substrates has been somewhat overblown. I agree fully that some are absolutely terrible, such as using walnut shells for lizards of any kind. And using substrates with large chunks as the sole substrate for overzealous lizards would not be wise either.

I'm not saying it's horrible to use. Papertowel is useful for thsoe with many, many tanks to clean. But I don't think people new to the hobby should be spooked by other stubstrates. Lizards have been doing fine for millions of years - without papertowel. ;)

[PetCrazy]

I have to say I agree with Youkai.

Though I use both methods, I keep most of my animals on natural setups asides those in quarantine, or other temporary setups(babies) which would be on paper towel.

My leopard geckos that are in their natural terrariums are on a mixture of peat, sand and some other natural soils as well. This way I can grow succulents in the tank if I choose to, and allows me to have a beautiful decor, with underground caverns for the geckos as well and allows them to displace the substrate as they choose, which gives them something to do asides lay there as they would on towel.

The natural setup I find much more rewarding for someone who simply wishes to keep them as a pet. For breeders or those with an incredibly large collection, having everything in massive natural setups can be impractical. But otherwise, if we continue to push newbies or hobbyists to keeping everything on paper towel because of some 'risk' then we destroy the true pleasure of keeping these animals, and diminish the true beauty of keeping an exotic animal happy and healthy in beautiful homes, to keeping some creature in a minimal requirement cells.

I have kept my animals on such substrates with no problems as well. I do keep babies on paper towel though, but once again, that is only temporary. I find that they are much happier on substrates such as the mixes then they are on paper towel. I had moved one of my leos from a natural setup to paper towel temporarily before (big move) and there was significant change in her, she didn't approve of it much at all. Back on her original substrate, she improved, and was back to being her 60gram self.

All in all, for the keeper of the animal, what is more pleasurable to gaze upon.....paper...or a beautifuly arranged 'natural' terrarium?

And Youkai had a good point, they had survived centuries without our fancy paper towel. So why change things now?

[sSNAKESs.com]

Very good points guys!! I think i will be provifing a natural habitat as well :)

[Linds]

Not that I'm sure using peat moss, etc hasnt worked fine for those that use it, but I believe if you are going to do the "naturalistic" setup, then it should be natural to the type of animal. Forest animals in forest habitats, desert animals in desert habitats. I don't see the point in swapping around. Also, I use peat moss for numerous animals and have noticed that peat moss is very dusty in its dry state, it's not heavy enough when dry to hold its own so to speak and miniscule particles are airborne at any movement (just watch in sunlight). There are many kinds of desert mixes that can be added to vivarium for growing plants, etc., just because plants grow doesnt mean it should be a forest/tropical substrate.

My point before I quit my nitpicking for the morning: natural should be natural to the species, not appearance to the human eye, if you want to do the natrualistic thing, find out what kind of habitat the animal is native to and go from there*

I'll stop now :)

[ReneeB]

Jeff,
I've found that using peatmoss works well if you get it wet first, pack it firmly into the tank, then let it harden/dry. The leos will pick a corner to use a 'litter box' and you just replace that corner. I've got a small plant pot saucer in one corner with some pakced moss and they use it. To clean I just pick up the saucer, dump into the towel [it's only a 3" diameter saucer], rinse and add more peat moss.

You can also plant things in shallow pots and then add enough gravel to almost cover the pot then cover it all with peatmoss to create a 'natural' environment. Problem with that is Leos live in sand and rock areas, so it's not natural to them.. I'll post oa pic of my leos tank when it's finished [probably thursday]

[Quervo]

Yay Linds .. you go girl ..:D

I agree .. have a natural setup, but have the appropriate environment. And if you use paper towel for the little guys .. do the sunlight thing with a piece first .. many cheaper brands shed wads of paper fibres .. just imagine what those do to little lungs.

[Youkai]

I mix mine with fine sand and pat it down. I see no harm in that, especially since they live in areas with a sand/soil mix, rather then just sand. I don't leave it light and fluffy.

And hey...my girls are 12 years old, and have produced about 8 clutches of eggs each this year. I must be doing something right. ;)

[PetCrazy]

Linds, I agree with you on always trying to suit the natural requirements of the animal if you are doing the natural setups.
But if your comment reffers to my statement, allow me to makea few points.

Please don't get me wrong, peat isn't by any means the main aspect of the mix in any of my 'desert' terrariums. I use the peat in a very small amount to soften up the substrate remotely, and to aid the growth of any plants (cacti or succulents) I put in there. Though any place it would be remotely noticeable would only be where I've planted previously. Besides, Youkai was right, the environment they come from isn't purely sands, there are soils in their natural environment mixed with the sand...in some areas moreso then others.

I keep two different species at least that come from the same environment as the species in question (heck, one of which is its natural prey*lol*). And in all documents I have read, it isn't pure sand they walk on (nor is it paper towel lol). Besides, the mix was recommended to me by a breeder I would trust with my life (which I've proven on numerous occasions). So I would hope he knows what the heck he told me, or I'll have to beat him up next time I see him. But just like Youkai, the way I've it set up, that 'fluffy, powdery, airborn action' just doesn't happen. Even yesterday I was digging up almost the entire terrarium because it seemed Rogue had laid randomly rather then the hide, and I hadn't experienced any 'air born' peat incidences. It all stayed fairly well settled, weighed by the mix of sand etc....

Oh, and I find that that "air born" thing... happens with fine grained sands as well, not just peat. Heck, any soil thats been ground to a fine powder...

-winks- Just so ya know, and no worries. I do fully agree on trying to suit an animals natural environment as much as one can.
That has been something I've always tried to maintain.
Have a fabulous evening
I'm heading to bed because I'm tired, and I'm getting cranky -lol-