Reptile & Amphibian Forums

They are indeed from rocky outcrops in a fairly dry but mostly warm temperate region. The sand that is there is packed in tight between the rocks. I am sure some leos get impacted in the wild, but then there is not big large grains of "calci-sand" in Afghanistan. That being said, I do use sand for a few of my adults. This is mixed in with a lot of rock, and I DO NOT recommend it for beginers. I have been doing this for about 6 years now, and I am aware of the many risks. I just had to set the record straight on this one.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
0.1 Jungle hatched by me! (Hazy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~30
Available:
1.0 aberrant m, 0.1 pastel F, 11 month male circleback tang

all right!! im glad someone posted that.

LOL, I agree full heartedly.

"there is not big large grains of "calci-sand" in Afghanistan."

that is definetly the quote of the day, though the grammar needs work.

I also have used calci-sand for adults, but agree that small leos should never be put on this stuff.

D'oh! By all means correct my stupid grammer and use the quote freely. and I actually prefer the finer quartz sand myself, but do occasionally use the calci-crap. And again, my disclaimer: (sorry, I'm a law student lol) I do not recommend sand of any kind for newbies, and if/when used, several precautions must be adhered to.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
0.1 Jungle hatched by me! (Hazy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~30
Available:
1.0 aberrant m, 0.1 pastel F, 11 month male circleback tang

There's Calci-sand, and there's Calci-sand lol. Most brands of calcium based sands carried by pet stores are similar in both grain structure and material. They are mostly composed of jagged, sharp grains of the mineral CALCITE. This is a complex subject, but you can think of calcite as the "crystalline" form of Calcium-very much like diamond is the crystalline form of Carbon. And, like diamond, calcite is very hard and resists being broken down-especially in your lizard's stomach! Not a good substrate choice for our reptiles! In fact, the only thing I know of that's worse is the "crushed walnut shell", "desert blend" type......

There is an alternative. One company (that i know of), Carib-Sea, makes a sand composed entirely of smooth, rounded grains of "aragonite" (coral sand). This product dissolves VERY readily-in fact if you wet your fingers and take a small pinch of it, you can feel it dissolve as you rub the fingers together! And what's even nicer is that this product (Reptilite)is roughly half the price of most other calcium sands! I've been using it for four years now on a variety of geckos and other desert and savannah lizards with not a single impaction.

Sorry for the long post, but I've been breeding leopards since 1980, and I've tried every substrate out there. I really think you should try this one.

Brad Chambers

Is this manufactured all through out the US? Cause I've never seen it in any stores.

Yes-reptilite is available to any pet or reptile shop in the U.S. through all the major wholesalers-but it was a latecomer to the market, from a company more known for its fish products, so you really have to search it out-your local pet store will be able to special order it for you. Maybe if you explain why you want it, they'll start stocking it regularly!

Brad

That's Great! I had heard of this stuff, but never did find any myself. I will check some of the larger suppliers. Do you have a website or phone # on the bag?
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
0.1 Jungle hatched by me! (Hazy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~30
Available:
1.0 aberrant m, 0.1 pastel F, 11 month male circleback tang

Sure! The phone # is:772 451-1113. The website is www.carib-sea.com....

Brad Chambers

Actually, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, etc have many areas ranked as the driest places on earth. The main range of leopard geckos include deserts. Deserts are classified as any area with a low rainfall rate not merely a sandy piece of dunes. Consider the Arctic tundra. Its considered a desert, albeit a temperate desert, in all actuality. So yes, leos are from deserts, but you have to remember that people's visions of what are deserts is not always an accurate assumption on their part. Sand does not equal a desert.. nor does a desert equal sand.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

Hm... that sand sounds like the answer to our problems! I plan on eventually making a display like the one in Ron Tremper's new book. Too bad the picture is so small =(