Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What kinds of substrates are there to keep a leopard gecko healthy and look nice??
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Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

Liz email: lizliz710@netscape.net
1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

"you learn most from experience and doing"

tiles!...they hold heat, look nice, are very easy to clean, don't harbor bacteria, and are very inexpensive.
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

What kind of tiles? Tiles you put in your house? Where can you get them from? And geckos have no problem walking on it or anytihng... they like it?
thanks
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Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

You can house normal house tiles. I get mine from a carpet store and i had them for free ! I use to have a mix from sand and tile and i switch to just tile. Easy to clean and keep the heat nicely. Try to get a kind of tile that isnt too glossy because the light reflection if you have lamp. (something i read).
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Mizar 21
1.0 Collared lizard (Ganymede)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (Gethsemani)
1.0 Nerodia Fasciata (Serpentard)
1.2 Cats

lol thanks i wasnt sure if poepel were goign way down there to respond... ok anyways. So any kind of tile except glossy is ok And i have a long bulb on the top it goes across the whole tank so if iw as goign to put sand somewhere with tiles where should i put it? The geckos walk on the tiles ok? just wondering.
Thnaks, Liz
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Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

If you have a small gecko, sand isnt a very good choice, if you do use sand, be carefull to put your gecko food in a dish so he wont have a mouthfull of sand as he eat. As for the glossy tile, its just something i read not that i experienced. But glossy tile are very often slippery so . Lets just say that no more than 20 percent of your flooring should be sand. My gecko walk fine on tiles...He do slip once in a while but he does that less than before. I choose some nice looking tile that look a bit like some natural ground .
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Mizar 21
1.0 Collared lizard (Ganymede)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (Gethsemani)
1.0 Nerodia Fasciata (Serpentard)
1.2 Cats

lol yeah glossy = slippery i can see how that goes together lol. Anyways i have 2 young leopard geckos about 4 months old. So maybe ill try it out, id ot wnat anythign harmful to happen to my babies . Thanks alot!
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Elizabeth..

Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

Definitely don't use sand...they're too small! What size tank do you have?...tiles probably won't fit exactly so you'll have to get them cut, or get vinyl ones and you should be able to cut them yourself with scissors. I don't know about the light thing with glossy tiles...but they're definitely slippery...so I'd avoid them unless you want to sand them... As far as where you can get tile, I got mine at home depot...and you can get them at anyplace like that and they will have a good variety of choices. Generally each tile is under $2.
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

Is it ok to put a dusting of sand on the tiles or does it not matter, if theres sand on it or not? And i have a 20 gollon long aquarium. And a strip regular light on top and a black light at night time.
Thanks
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Elizabeth..

Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

I would not put sand on the tiles...as I said before, your leos are too small to have sand in thier tank. Also the sand would slide around anyway and wouldn't help for traction. Just don't get glossy tiles and you'll be fine. Textured tiles are great too, I have vinyl rock-like textured tiles in my 20 L and my girls don't slip on them at all. Also...I'd recommend not using the blacklight...I've heard that long term exposure can cause eye problems
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

How many tiles did it take you to fill your cage? So sand doesnt help at all. Really, black light is harmful.. i've only been using it a few days... thanks though!
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Elizabeth..

Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

I have 2 12" tiles, and then a space with paper towels (I used to have sand in the gap...which is why I don't have half a tile there). As far as the blacklight...I'm not positive that it is harmful...but that's what I've heard...I wouldn't worry about it too much...I think you'd have to use one for a long time to cause any damage...but I would try to replace it with a red light at some point
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

OK so should i cover the whole bottom with all tiles or leave a spot and put paper towels there for the bathroom or should i just cover the whole thing with tile and not worry about it?
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Elizabeth..

Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

It's probably easier to use all tile and just cover the potty area with paper towels. It's actually kind of a pain having the paper towels at the end b/c if I put them over the edge of the tile crickets could get under them, and otherwise I have to put them under the edge of the tile...which makes it kind of a pain to clean. So I would recommend covering the whole bottom with tile
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

?

Since I use vinyl tiles they meet up VERY tightly, and there are no gaps to fill. There's not even a crack big enough for a gecko claw to fit into.
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.

Doesnt vinal make it spillery though? How thick are the tile?
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Elizabeth..

Reptiles Red-April-Ghost-King Reptiles

1.0 boyfriend... Matt
0.2 Columbian Red-Tail Boas... Red * April
0.0.2 leopard geckos... Ghost * King
0.0.1 goldfishy.. (about 7 years old!) fishy

my girls don't slip on the tile at all b/c its a textured stone like surface that isn't glossy. The tiles are probably about 3/16" thick and actually have an adhesive backing...I don't have them adhered to the bottom of the tank though...I just stuck them to construction paper so I could remove them easily to clean them.
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Christina

Leopard Gecko Morph Descriptions

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)
-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)
-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)
-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

-ignorance is not to be punished when one is trying to gain knowledge...what scares me is the vast number of people who, when given the information to gain knowledge, choose to ignore it.