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Yea, I spiced up the tank a bit and added some white repti-sand. My gecko is a male about 9 inches and 50 g. I either feed him from a dish or feed him in a extra tank on paper towels...

Does anyone see any problems with this??

MS

P.S. -- so far I like the sand as it retains much better heat than paper towels, but I know cleaning is gonna be difficult ..

i personally don't have a problem with sand, and though some people disagree with me, i actually recomend t-rex calci-sand. i think that the odds of impaction are probably about 1:100. its just people don't wanna risk it, which is a good thing.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

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i put my leo on claci sand a long time ago and right after i put her on it she got impacted, my male leo that was with her was also showing some minor signs of impaction and he was losing some weight so i put them all on paper towel now, the female that got impacted was barely able to pass it but finally did after she stopped eating. shes recovered now.
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soad rocks

When I used that calci-sand, 2 out of 6 of my geckos on it were impacted by a couple of months. They all bowl feed too! A friend of mine who switched onto calci-sand the same time I did had a dead gecko from impaction w/in 6 months.

Sand isn't horrible, but can you picture how much it would suck if your gecko did end up dying because of impaction! You would have that guilty feeling of knowing that you put it on the sand not because it benefited the geckos, not because it was natural for them to have, but because YOU wanted the tank to look nicer.

Thats how I look at it.
Just my opinion.

~Andrea
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~Andrea

2.8.1 Leopard geckos
0.0.1 Bearded dragon
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Check out my new website: DreamGecko.com

Well, I haven't kept leos long enough to know much about sand impactions, but 1/3 of yours having impactions sounds like a lot.

You have a good point about sand mostly being there for looks, but considering that leos dig I do think it's part of the natural substrate where they live.

Anyway, did you have a calcium dish and dust crix regularly? I don't want to seem like I'm coming down on you at all--just that 1/3 is a high percentage! Also, what brand and grade of calcium sand did you use? Was there anything else mixed in and did you see when it had passed?
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

np
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soad rocks

only problem I ever had with sand and adults was the cleaning and the smell. Also the price of replacing once it got to stinking bad.
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Even if your on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there
20 leos,1.1 redtail boas,1.1 rainbow boas,1.1 cornsnakes, 1.0 tokay gecko,1.0 veiled cham, 5 dogs and a cat. Oh, can't forget Tater my parrolet.

I never had a problem with sand except that it stunk really bad, and it was always getting inside the water bowl.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

I haven't had a problem with odor in my tanks... and I just use a kitty litterbox scooper to clean the tank. As for the water, just get a small turkey baster that allows you to suck up small amounts of water and pull the grains of sand from the top.

Jeff
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1.4.0 Nannar, Abbie, Aspen, Sigma and Raleigh
0.0.1 Ball Python Ernest

As far as cleaning goes, they have sand sifters that work pretty darn good for daily cleaning. Found mine online sonewhere. Just a rectangular tube with a screen on one end. Pretty slick.

(And I have never used anything but sand)
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Im afraid i have had major problems with sand... One of my leos got very impacted on it, hes ok now, but it wasnt easy to cure him. He got impacted on that repti sand, and i have seen and heard that many leos get impacted on any type of sand.

Thats because Leo's don't live on sand.. When are people going to learn that? I haven't a clue. Its not about whats easier or better looking to us. Its about whats appropriate for them.. and sand isn't it.

np
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soad rocks

I'd like to agree, but I've read that there is both clay and sand in their natural habitats... and from a couple of reliable sources. And, since they dig so well in sand it's kinda hard to believe it's not part of their habitat.

My friend has lived in NE India (I'm not sure what part of India he is in now) and I'm going to ask him if he knows about the leo habitat at least there. That will at least settle it in my head.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame