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I've been posting a lot...lol but I thought this was a pretty good question! Does anyone know if there's any way to mix some sort of non-toxic concoction with sand so that it will harden and the geckos can't eat it? I think it would make for a nice natural look, but not be dangerous (assuming there is a way to make some sort of glue stuff that would be non-toxic...). I think a lot of people use the sand because it looks good and ignore the fact that it could cause health problems...I think if there was an easy way to make it non-dangerous to the gecko's health it would be fantastic!

I know this isn't really the answer you were looking for, but, it's the best I can do! Lol.

I use Shelf Liner(Paper) in all of my cages. I adhere (sp?) it down and try to get most of the air bubbles out from between the adheseive side and the bottom of the aquarium. It's a total breeze to clean. And once a week I take all the animals out (one my one) and take the paper up, clean out the bottom with like a 1% bleach solution, rinse it out, air dry, and put the next sheet down. I did 8 10G, 1 20L, and 1 5 Gallon with 2 rolls. I found this great, natural marble look and it was only like...2 for $3 at the Dollar Store.

Lol, hope that helps.
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Geckos will someday rule the world!

4.7.1 Leopard Geckos
2.1.0 Chihuahuas
2.1.0 Rottweiler Mix
1.0.0 Siamese Cat
1.0.0 Dwarf Hamsters

Josh
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Someone here poured water over the sand, hardening it & making it safer.
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1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

Get a bottle or two of weldbond (glue adhesive) and mix with water (a 1:2 ratio). Then grab your sand, soak in the mix and lay it out in your terrarium. Keep doing this until it fills the spaces.

Wait a week, and your mix is hard as rock. Ive used this method on my backgrounds, and couldnt be happier (except i use peat).

The only thing i would worry is if the geckos try digging in it, and ruining your substrate. If you need any more questions, ask away.

M.N

One thing that I don't think people mention is how you keep things like this clean. It'd undoubtedly look cool, but how would you keep it clean and free of bacteria buildup? I wonder the same thing about tiles. I'm glad Josh explains the shelf paper thing, that makes sense now. As long as you can either remove the substrate (sand, paper, paper towel or newspaper), you should be able to sanitize the cage. That's another reason, besides impaction, that I use paper towels in most of my enclosures.

People used to mention something that looked cool on here, called a Foamarium. It is a foam insert that you put in standard-sized aquariums that was the whole substrate. It looked great, from the pictures, even had some with built in underground caves. But, it's not produced much anymore (check eBay), and I don't remember if anyone figured out the cleaning thing. It's submersible, so I guess it could be washed, but I don't know how well it would hold up.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
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Edited on January 6, 2004 at 18:16:46 by phwyvern.

my thought to cleaning would be to have it removeable (maybe 2 pieces that were "molded" in the tank with wax paper or non-stick foil or smt) and waterproof. Then it could be cleaned easily by picking up stool with a paper towel and then wiping it with a damp sponge, and to clean it entirely just take it out and wash it in the sink. I don't know how well that would work...but it's a thought...any ideas on how to do smt like that anyone? Once you know where they go to the bathroom you could also just put paper towel there which would make it even easier to clean.

I put a folded piece of paper towel in the bathroom corner of my slate tank. It makes cleanup a lot easier.

Are your geckos out like that alot. I very rarely see mine out, even at night. I've had her for 4 months now. Maybe I just happened to get one of the 1 percent of geckos that just dont come around. Very nice tank by the way. Do your leos use those hammoks?

Hi gex53,

My girls spend most of the day in their hide out. But at night they love to roam around the cage, and hang out on their hammocks. They also like to come out when I fill their water dish, or on the rare occasion that I have wax worms. I swear they can smell the wax worms when I open them in the next room.

Your leo may come around with time, or it just might be their personality. I do have a few leos who aren’t as happy to see me, they and would rather hide any time I’m around, but they usually grow out of this with age, especially the males.

Thanks for your kind words!

DaveCable

Hi Dave,

The middle gecko in your picture.....is she a tangerine? She's really orangey Very pretty!!!

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

Hello Red,

Yep she’s a tang, her name is Lisa. She has the most orange of all my females, and she’s a real cutie. When I first got her, I called her Bart, but as she grew up I realized I had a little Lisa. I can't wait to see what kind of babies she will produce! Thanks for your comment,

DaveCable

For my uromastyx i use a mix of topsoil, sand and perlite mised 50/25/25. This works great. Maybe you can set up a temporary enclosure your your geckos and do this mix with water, let it harden up completely once this happens it will be rock hard, but still looks pretty natural. If they ingest something it will only be a very little if anything. it works great and they can dig burrows if you leave it moist. Email me for more information or post questions etc. it works great i just havent had time to do it for my leos
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Lauren
Leos and Uros
1.1 Saharan Uromastyx
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
1.1 Jungle Albino Leopard Gecko
1.1 Hypo/Baldy Leopard Gecko
1.1 Tremper Albino Leopard Gecko