Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I got a gecko about a month ago and have been using a mixture of sand/vermiculite as substrate for it with no problems. I have purchased a couple more, a couple weeks ago, that are in a separate tank right now and I used only vermiculite as was suggested in the literature I read, as well as it being cheaper than the sand/vermiculite mix. The geckos have been using it pretty much all the time, however last night when I was watching them I saw one of them eating the vermiculite and when I was cleaning their excrimate today I noticed one than was almost all vermiculite (a little stressful). There has been a dish of calcium in their tank, and both are doing fine as far as I can tell. The only other difference in the tanks beside the moist hide substrate, is the substate itself. I used calcium sand in the first setup and astroturf in the second (as was suggested as best substrate, and seems to be). Anyone have any ideas? I think I'm going to change the substrate in the moist hide, as my first gecko doesn't really seem to like the moist hide with the all vermiculite substrate since I changed it for her last week. Anyway, if you're still there after this story and can offer advice, it would be appreciated. Thanks

For my main substrate I use calcuim sand and use Sphagnum moss for the substrate in the humid hide. But I'm a beginner and you may want advise from the more experienced Leo lovers in this forum .

Allie
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What does man love more than life,
Fear more than death or mortal strife,
What the poor have, the rich require,
And what contented men desire,
What misers spend, and spendthrifts save,
And all men carry to the grave?

My leopard is housed on quarter inch slate, and his humid hide is moistened (nightly) paper towels. He hangs out in there ALL DAY, so i'd think it is safe to say he likes it.

I can't honestly recommend anything other than paper towels as a main substrate and, if necessary, a moist box of more papertowels or maybe fresh frog moss.

Astroturf or reptile carpet is ok and I've used it before, but it is a pain to clean and the turf can get caught on their teeth when they lunge for prey.

I wouldn't ever put sand in an enclosure and tend to argue against it, even for full grown adults. Pretty or not, way not worth the possibility of GI problems.

I would suggest monitoring you muncher very closely, just because some of his "snacks" came out, doesn't mean they all did. Good luck.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I've noticed similar behavior when I used moss in my humid hide. The leo would start out by licking it a few times then he would take a bite. I have since switched to vermiculite and have never seen any of them munching on it. I would just keep an eye on it; perhaps the leo is just checking it out and maybe he will get used to it and not eat it anymore.
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Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Tremper Albino - Turbo
0.1.0 Blazing Blizzard - Blizzy
0.1.0 Tangerine - Daisy
0.2.0 Tangerine carrot-tail baldy - Sunshine, Amber
1.1.0 Hi-yellow - Tiger Lily, Ginger

My friends leo died because it accidently ate a few grains of sand and they got caught in its digestive tract.

vermiculite should NEVER be used as a substrate for leos... it swells up when it gets wet, which means that you are just ASKING for impaction... IMO leos should never be kept on any sort of 'loose' substrate, it's just too much of a risk.

Try tile, reptile carpet or paper towels, with damp moss rolled inside a paper towel(or plain PT) for the humid hide.

He was saying he used vermiculite as a humid hide filler, not a substrate. I have vermiculite in my middle hide, to stimulate digging. All my boy does is kick it around.