Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm just wondering what substrates everyone uses???
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

2.1 chocolate labs and bassett (Harley, Barker and Capone)
1.0 leopard gecko (Nacho)

paper towels. they're cheap, very clean, and have 0 chance of impacting or infecting (unless your leo decides it likes to chew paper towels!). they aren't as decorative as other substrates but in my opinion they are totally worth it.

Tile for my display animals and paper towel for my babies
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4.7.0 Leopard Geckos
0.2. Homonota Darwinii (Talus & Gracilis)
2.3.3 Tarentola Mauritanica (Pickles)
0.1.0 Cham Caliptratus (Clotilde)
0.0.1 Corn Snake
1.0.0 Golden Retriever (Cafu)
1.0.0 Black cat (Felipe)
0.0.x Tenebrio Molitor
0.0.x Zoophoba Mario
0.0.x Lobster Roaches
0.0.6 A. Campestratus
0.0.1 E. Musculosa

Slate. It's cheap, pretty, and comes in nice 12x12 squares, perfect for 20g tanks.

Paper towels. Cheap, easy to clean up with, zero impaction risk, and given that the ones I get are plain white, they actually look reasonably nice if you ask me. Not fancy by any stretch, but they certainly look fine and I'm much more concerned about what's healthy for the gecko than what the enclosure looks like to humans anyway. I guess if I wasn't totally satisfied with the way paper towels have worked out for me, I'd consider the tile/slate idea, as that would also be low/no impaction risk, but for now at least, I'm happy with paper towels. Even if I ever did go to tile/slate, I think i'd still leave paper towels in the bathroom corner, just makes it easy to deal with.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Reptile carpet. I like how it looks and that is semi-important because all of my tanks are on display. It's cheap, easy to clean, and reusable. The only possible impaction cause would be fraying on the sides (they could eat it I guess) and loops in the carpet that teeth/toes get stuck in. Petsmart has so that doesn't have loops so I get that. As for the fraying, it should only happen when the carpet gets old, I have had the same one in my first tank for two years. I just wash it every now and then. Put a peice of paper towel in the doodoo corner, it makes it alot easier!

Paper towels would be my next choice, not as pretty, but safer I guess. My carpet has still not frayed after almost 3 years now. Just get the good quality stuff.

hmmm i'd say play sand would be a choice of mine. reptile carpet IS the best probably, but for cleaning, safety (to a degree) and looks ok. i mean i dont get how paper towels are easy to clean :S you have to get it all layed out, crickets can find there ways inbetween sheets, and to clean a paper towel (which should be whenever they go to the toilet, or at least once a week) you have to move everything off to lay new stuff down. where as fine grain play sand can pass through a gecko relatively easy, i know people will have had problems but ALL substrate can cause problems. sand however is easy to spot clean, can be easily replaced and cleaned (sieved). i'd say tile is just as hard to clean really as it'll have to be wiped down each toilet use, and unless the tiles are textured, the gecko cant really lunge on it. there claws are used for getting traction and for a little climbing, and on a tile, or even laminate flooring (i let mine run around sometimes) and they have to flail there legs to pick up speed, but with tiles there's very very little chance of impaction. just gotta use what you like, each is to there own =)

>> i mean i dont get how paper towels are easy to clean :S you have to get it all layed >>out, crickets can find there ways inbetween sheets, and to clean a paper towel >>(which should be whenever they go to the toilet, or at least once a week) you have >>to move everything off to lay new stuff down.

I consider them easy to clean because it's quick. The way my leo's tank is laid out, I pick up one hide and move 2 small items to the side, pick up paper towels (usually only have to do the top layer, which is *1* paper towel), lay down new, done. I really haven't had problems with crickets between the sheets. As long as you lay them down flat and put some of your heavier cage furniture ear the 'seams' you're basically fine. I can see where if you had a very complicated layout of cage furniture and/or a multi-level setup it might be a pain, but for me it's very easy.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear