Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard that the indoor/outdoor carpet (astroturf, usually green, but does come in assorted colors) is not good for keeping Leos on because the fibers are like tiny little razors and can damage the feet and even remove toes. Then I hear people suggesting to use repti-carpet instead of sand and I saw some of this carpet at the pet store. Is this repti-carpet different from the indoor/outdoor carpet they sell at Home Depot? Is the repti-carpet safe for little leo toes?

I am asking specifically about the repti-carpet because I think it would be a more aesthetically pleasing choice when compared to paper towels. But after reading enough posts on this site I come to realize that the sand has got to go. So first, is the repti-carpet safe? Second, is there anything that looks better than paper towels good but is safe...the little leo likes the sunning rock I boiled and put in the tank, what if I covered the whole bottom of the enclosure with flat rocks and just used sand in between the cracks...would that be good or is that too much rough surfaces, etc?

I just want some substrate help so I can get out of the sand trap, and am currently leaning toward the carpet.

Brak

if you are going for a safe and nice looking substrate then you should go with thin pieces of slate placed on the bottom of the tank or the floor tiles you can buy at home stores. if your leo is an adult then you can fill the small cracks between the tiles/slate pieces with very fine grained sand like Vita-Sand or Repti-sand. if you have large cracks between the tiles/slate you can use smooth stones (river stones) to cover most of the sand...just make sure the stones are too big for the leo to eat.

Cleo

I wouldn't use repti-carpet, because I've heard it's kind of a pain to clean. You can always try using the darker paper towel rolls, like the kind that's in public restrooms.

Big rocks are good. That's what leopard geckos in the wild naturally live on, too. Just make sure none of them can roll around or cause any accidents.

My geckos absolutely LOVE rocks. Here are some pictures:

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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

I have been using repti carpet for a while, and I havent had any problems regarding toes ect. It looks fairly nice too, but it is kinda a pain to clean. Poops sticks to it and when calcium dust gets on it you have to scrub it off under water. Im switching to slate soon, which is nicer, and very easy to clean. I highly recomend slate.

Sounds like slate is a good idea...what is this slate you speak of? Where might I find this "slate"?

Thanks for the replies!

Brak
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0.0.2 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Yellow Lab
1.0.0 Ragdoll Cat
0.1.0 Rescued long-tail stray cat
1.1.0 Platy
0.1.0 Homo sapien (just reached breeding age)

also, how does the heat make it through the slate? thanks
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Thanks,
Matt
Owner of:
1.0.0 Brown (Bahaman) Anole
0.1.0 Green Anole
AND ON WEDNSDAY!!!!
0.1.0 leopard gecko!!! (tempature sexed)

slate can be found at stores like Home Depot in the garden section. you can break it into small pieces with a hammer, or you can have a whole piece cut to size and use that as the floor of your tank. it may also be called "flagstone" and is used to create paths through gardens. just make sure the slate is thin enough (less than an inch thick) to ensure that the heat from the UTH gets through. good luck!!!

Cleo

Slate is a type of natural stone, you can probaly get tiles at Home Depot, or any kind of flooring or home improvment store.
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Mommy of 6 Leopards
Milo(my male) Mongo, Raptor,and Spaz
My babies Popeye and Boo(named after Monster's Inc. Character)
2 Dogs
Baby a Peekapoo and Meshu a terrier mix
And a Cat named Mr. Kitty

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Mommy of 6 Leopards
Milo(my male) Mongo, Raptor,and Spaz
My babies Popeye and Boo(named after Monster's Inc. Character)
2 Dogs
Baby a Peekapoo and Meshu a terrier mix
And a Cat named Mr. Kitty

use a sand/rocky substrate. You can go to a rock yard and find a varity of natural accouring sands as well as rock. Mix about half sand half rock, with a several larger rocks spread around the cage as well as some narled wood in a sort of "pile" to simulate a dorment plant in the desert. In my opinion this would look the most natural, a sandy/rocky substrate with various sizes of rock. I know a few people on this forum say that since sand doesn't occur naturally in their habitat then why should it be in the terriarium, when in fact, there is sand in their habitat. In a lot of desert regions there are a lot of rock, as well as a lot of wind. When there is rock and wind the rock degrades and creates sand, creating their sandy/rocky habitat.
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Bradley Baquial

Sand is Silica...completely different from degraded rock which is usually Basalt, Limestone...sandstone..granite and associated conglamorites.... Leopard geckos live in rocky terrain..surrounded by hard packed ground in arid conditions. Its a desert yes..but not a sand desert. There are numerous types of deserts...Not just the ones full of sand. What you get with degraded rock..is rock dust..not sand...Sand is silica..which means its related to quartz...a mineral...as far as I know anyway. So now, Sand is not naturally occuring in most of the leopard geckos range....and even if it were...they may never even touch it...Preferring rock outcrops and rough terrain.

although rock may be overwhelmingly more abundent then sand, there will still be small rocks, decomposing granite, and small piles of sand around desert plants caused by the wind. I just can't imagine a desert without any sand what-so-ever, I am aware not all the deserts are dunes, in fact most are probably rocky, we go out to a desert with a ton of rocks.
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Bradley Baquial

I wouldn't necessarily know, but I keep reading in gecko books that there is sand over much of the area that leos cover, on top of hard-packed clay soil.

Also, sand is not silica. Silica sand is silica. They could use calci-sand or repti-sand (which is quartz), although I'm not advising either because I don't know the risks of impaction.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

What books say that? I've read that they come from rocky desert regions.

He was referring to naturally occuring sand, not the petstore bought kind.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

Well, I'm not advising anything because I really don't know how safe it is or not firsthand.

All I can say is what I've read about them

My best source I have for them coming from sandy habitats is in "The Leopard Gecko Manual" by Philippe de Vosjoli, Brian Viets, Ron Tremper, and Roger Klingenberg, DVM. On page 10 it says "In the wild, leopard geckos can be found in rocky areas with clay-gravel soil covered by sand." I obviously can't vouch for its accuracy, but I've read that in other books by less reputable authors, and the fact that other books usually recommend non-silica sand as a substrate as long as it's fine grade and there is an available source of calcium carbonate for the leo.

What I'm thinking is that even though E. macularius lives in a wide range of places, it's the place where the majority of imports (our captive breds' previous generations) came from that we should try to mimic in our tanks. I don't know that info well so I'm not recommending anything, just bringing up what I read.

Also, if someone were to use natural sand I don't think it would house the same problem as getting builder's sand from the Home Depot or something. The sand around me would be shell or limestone sand, whereas someone else's would probably just be broken down rock or something.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

Repti carpet is really hard to keep clean and i have heard of leos getting there nails and toes stuck in it. If you want something that looks really nice go with slate/tiles, it looks gorgeous in the cage and its safe to :-D

I've used repticarpet and my leos mouth got stuck on it a few times while trying to catch a cricket (needles to say she missed the cricket) and it was hard to clean. At the moment I am using paper towels but I am considering changing to slate/tile. I believe that it is the most natural looking, easy to clean, safe substrate.
mal