To all gecko owners! Today is a sad day, I just buried one of babies. I read a lot about geckos before diving into this, unfortunately all the well intentioned advice did not sink in until today. If you have you geckos on sand Remove them Immediately. I spent the last three weeks watching this innocent creature die because I wanted my cage to be a natural and as pretty as possible, She paid the ultimate price, Upon autopsy, there was so much sand in her intestinal tract that bile was building in other areas, ultimately she appeared to have died from a combination of starvation and septicemia, its hard to tell which one overtook first. I did warm water soaks twice a day, fed her trough a dropper three times a day but the sand was so packed in that food and nutrients as well as waste could not pass. Do not take this lightly, as I did. Do not use calci sand, play sand, silica, or even fine grained sand. When they grab their food thay inadvertently grab sand as well. Up to this point you may have been lucky. Dont risk it, it's not worth it. A healthy reptile is better that a pretty cage.
I'm sorry Star, May you rest in peace.... Thank-you.
I keep mine on paper towels because I have heard all those horror stories about sand. I would hate to lose my little sweeties... thank you for sharing your story and I know your little Star is resting in peace, knowing that this was a mistake. Unfortunately we usually learn the hard way, believe me.. it's happened to me before.
Again, sorry to hear about your gecko. It was a lesson learned the hard way ..
i wanted mine to look natural too, so i used the brown paper towels... the kind you can find in public restrooms. so it still looks like dirt. also, i hear that the actual natural habitat for leos is rocky land...not sand. which is why a lot of people use slate. what are you going to use as substrate for your next leo?