Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I finnally cleaned out freddies cage and put him on sand I hope It will conduct heat better than repti bark And I feed him from a bowl so he can't get impacted Also, I like the new desert look
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call me leo boy

Good Luck

make sure you are giving him his necessary doses of supplements and are properly gutloading his mealies and crickets. if Freddie feels that he is not getting enough vitamins/minerals he will start to lick the sand in hopes of gaining minerals/trace elements....which can cause impaction.
how big is he???

cleo
1:3 leos (Phoenix, Beanie, Pixie, Katrina)
2 eggs cooking

about 5to 6''
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call me leo boy

He didnt listen to anything else we told him to do, so just dont waste your time anymore...
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Josh
My Email

though i heartily agree that under 6" shouldn't be on sand, (though i find t-rex calci sand fine), i doubt that the gecko will have problems, as it seems rare, so lets just give him a break. sand is better then the wood chips, and it looks nicer too, even though the chances of impaction are greater, they still seem slim to me.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at iluvblackfrancis

i wasn't ra[bleep][bleep][bleep] on him for the sand, i was just offer[bleep] some advice to reduce the risks of impaction...baby or small leos can [bleep]et impacted very easily. my adult leo was sl[bleep]htly impacted for a couple days and she was 8 inches at the time!!!
personally, i would not take the risk since i value my leos' health more than how nice the tank looks.

cleo
1:3 leos (Phoenix, Beanie, Pixie, Katrina)
2 e[bleep][bleep]s coo[bleep]

Big Mac ... a few things you should note:

1) He WILL (eventually) eat some sand, which COULD get him impacted (regardless of whether or not you feed him out of a bowl)

2) I personally don't like any loose substrate, repti-bark or sand, but there's really only one way to truly check if your temps are right. Get either a tempgun or a digital thermometer with a probe. I use the latter, so its all I know. Rest the probe over your heatpad (on the paper-towel or substrate), and give it a few mins to read the temperature. From there, adjust whatever heating controlling device (either rheostat or thermostat) that you have attached to your UTH. Keep doing this every couple of hours until your warm spot stays around 88.

Best of luck,
Joel
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3.6 Leopard Geckos (1.4 Albino)
~~20 Leo eggs cookin'~~
1.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 African Fat Tail Gecko
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake

Personally, I dont understand why you cant wait a couple months so hes a bit bigger, but you do what you want, its not like your gunna listen anyway. Feeding out of a bowl will reduce the chances, just make sure you get him off it if he starts to lick it up. Sometimes its because they have a lack of calcium ect, but my leo will pretty much lick everything she sees for whatever reason, so it isnt always that.
Mac

What kind of sand are U using? If its regular playground sand, you should switch to the T-rex or zoo-med kind. Playground sand has a lot of bigger grains, more chance of impaction. It also has sharper edges, which might be hard on Freddie's feet. Not trying to tell you how to raise Freddie, just a little friendly advice.

I use sand for my leo(8.5 inches,so you know)and she loves it. She digs in it and it holds heat very well(you can even regulate heat by changing the levelof sand). I use play sand that I sifted so only the fine grain is used. It doesn't damage her feet at all and it looks good. If leos are in an environment that is similar to their natural habitat, they exhibit lots of different and cool behaviours. I realize that if you gecko is to small their could be a problem, but once their big enough, I think it's a good idea. You could even make a sand/soil substrate. Good Luck.

Hey, if your leo loves it and hasnt had any problems, then by all means use it. I just dont use it because my leo licks EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH lol. Its actually quite funny to see. Anyway, the only problem I have is hes putting a 5-6 inch leo on it. If you had read his other posts, you would see that he hasnt listened to a thing we said, hes now looking for a rheostat a week after he got the gecko. I have better things to do than answer questions to a kid who wont listen anyway. His age isnt an excuse, hell I'm only 13. Later
Mac

I knew he wanted to put a little leo on sand, I was just saying he could use it when hes biger(the gecko, of course).

"hell I'm only 13"

This is Mac's Mom - Gee ZERO, you sure have a foul mouth for a 13 year old!

And furthermore - he listens more than you think. He was quite worried the other night when the temp was so high. He has heard that a rheostat is better than just a thermometer. He's getting most of his information from this forum. I can't blame him for being confused - I've read a lot of conflicting information just in the last five minutes and that is just regarding the sand issue.

Please give him a break. I thank all of you that are still open to his questions after the rude posting he put out here, but come on some of you.

This whole gecko process is a learning experience for both him and me. I'm beginning to think that I might have Mac look for another forum - it doesn't seem like some of you really want to forget about what happened. I've checked his posts since the incident and they have been polite.

np
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soad rocks

i think it would be good for you to list these facts, so that people can see them. i for one am against all sands other then T-rex calci-sand.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at iluvblackfrancis

Calci-sand has been tested and it DOES NOT dissolve in the intenstinal tract...Therefore your animals DO not benefit from it and it DOES have the same effect that even fine grain play-sand can have in causing obstructions and impactions. Now note.. I said CAN have... It doesn't happen every time but just the fact that it CAN happen should give owners some kind of pause to dwell on the health of their animal. Now, on to the other part.. SAND is NOT a natural habitat for a leopard gecko.. they do not live on sand but on natural rock formations and loose gravel... I don't know where people get the idea that sand is in any way a leo's natural habitat. Just because they're a desert species? Wrong.. Deserts come in many forms...with and without sand... with cold temperatures and with hot.. All they share is an abundance of specialized wildlife and the lack of readily available water.

I don't think calci-sand ever has been tested The only ones I have read to have been tested were Cal-strate and Fre-Flow. One is for cattle and the other is a reptile sand but I have never heard of it.

They're all the same basic thing... but beyond that, I've heard several people talk about impactions with their animals using the stuff...so that means there's irrefutable cause not to use it.. regardless of what the bag says on it.. Too many people take PR as fact when its not.. they're trying to sell product and actually aren't that concerned with your pets well being. If a leopard gecko got an impaction caused verifiably by ingesting one of these big company's substrates... whoever that was could argueably start a lawsuit against these people for false advertising. However, there's always the fine print.. which usually means they can't be held accountable for illnesses caused by use of their product by keepers due to "possible problems with husbandry" Its all big-business run around. So far as I've read and heard none of these calcium based substrates dissolve in the intenstinal tract of any reptile.. But beyond that as well, is the fact that Leo's do not naturally live on sand of any kind..

OK, its true not all deserts are made of sand. However, I don't remember ever hearing of a paper towel desert. Or a ceramic tile desert. People ask advice on what to use, but the decision is theirs to make. The boy chose sand. I've used it. A lot of other people have used it. Is it the best choice - probably not. The gecko COULD get impacted. He also COULD choke on a piece of paper towel. So, if he has questions on how to make it as safe as possible, I think its good that he asks those who have some experience with it, instead of just guessing (and since he remembered his manners, we should remember ours and help as much as possible). I think he has heard the sand lecture enough. Bottom line - Its his gecko to keep as he chooses. If you have some advice, state your piece, then let it go. I'm not trying to be rude, if it sounds that way then I apologize, I just want everyone to remember theres a lot of ways to raise geckos. Just because someone doesn't choose your way, doesn't make them wrong.

ALLELUAH, WildBill - Mac's Mom.