Reptile & Amphibian Forums

incase u didnt read in the below thread, the horror stories i was speaking of were refering to repti carpte, and leos getting there toes ripped off. i use sand and tile in my own cages. mine are very natural looking. i think you need to read the entire posts befor you make a post your self. srry to waist ur time if u read the other reply aready.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

I'm am not trying to start any petty bickering. I have used ESU ReptiCarpet in my 29-10 gallons for about 4 years and never have had any trouble no toenails ripped off or toes for that matter. I did switch to sand ones and the only problem I had with that was the horrible smell. This is just my opinion from 4 years of use.

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Chad
Contact Me

we as ppl have alot more problems then just what type of substrait to use. as for the repticarpet, if you got away with it, thats awsome. as i said all i herd were horror stories. your the ferst person that ever said it was fine. i really do thank you for your opinion, and not just saying that repticarpet is perfictly fine to use, or anything like that.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

I used RC for more than 2 years in many enclosures for many different species of lizard and snake.

It's no good when feeding crickets because leos and AFT's and other lizards will bite down on it and not let go. The other "con" is that, even with paper-towel covering the defecatorium, the RC still winds up smelling. IMHO, paper-towels are the most functional substrate.

However, RC works perfectly fine if you feed mealworms out of bowls. I never had any incidents regarding toe loss or injury, for many leos and AFT's including hatchlings and group colonies.

GrimReaper ... I think you need a little more experience before you pass judgements. There's a lot of "I heard from some guy" or "All I've ever heard is..." in your posts. In my opinion, you have to try most things out yourself before you pass judgements and give an opinion. If you've never tried something, how can you denounce or approve it? If all your knowledge is heresay or secondhand, that doesn't make you a reliable source. (This applies evern further if the people you have gathered information from are mostly anonymous Internet friends, posting on online bulletin boards - which may or may not be the case).

RC works fine ... paper-towels are better ... try things out before you condemn them. That was the point of my post!

Regards,
Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

u obveously dont read my posts. i have never, ever said from what i herd, or anything of that nature. this is the first time. as for expereance, if i dont kno the answer, then i will not answer. as i said this is the first time. so do not make me out to b a bigginer herper.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Calm down ... no need to get so upset.

There have been several threads on this issue and you've posted against RC on more than one occasion. I just wanted to make it clear that you and others should post based on experience, not word of mouth.

Sorry to have upset you so much. I never thought about whether or not you were a "beginner herper" ... I don't care!

Remember ... it's all about the lizards,
Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

this is only the second thread about repticarpet i have ever posted on. and yes, i was only stating what i herd. but my point it this is the only time i have stated what i herd, and not expereance. like i said srry, i have had a very short fuse lately. but as i said, i have never ever said what i herd, or from what i was told in any other post since ive been on this page. i said it once last nite, and once today. only 2 times.
again, srry i didnt mean to take that the wrong way.
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-sunshine&chaos
1.1.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim&amber
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

Its when you state something saying "in my experience" when it is not true.

If that is what you heard...then post it..no problem there. As long as it isnt misrepresentated as an actual experience and your going against it based on the "heresay" alone and trying to turn everyone else against it based on that.

~Crystal
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Crystal Light (Yes..that's my real name)

*Whenever you lose a gecko, just think of it as God building on his own Leopard Gecko collection

The Gecko Barn

I don't know about you...but I know if I had someone that's been working with leos for 10 years or something and knows a great deal about them tell me that some sort of plant or something I wanted to put in one of my tanks was highly toxic and would kill them...I'd rather listen to them then learn from experience.... I'm not necessarily agreeing with Nevin here...I just don't agree with your suggestion that you can only learn from experience...You can learn from other's experiences as well. The problem with using other's experience for certain arguments...with saying sand causes impaction for example...is that you usually don't know about any of the other aspects of care and if they may have led to the problem. In a case like repticarpet, no other aspects of care or health or anything are going to lead to a leo getting caught on it...so hearing people say their leos have gotten caught on it is perfectly valid to say without having any actual experience. And just for nevin...lol...he very very rarely ever uses the "he says/she says" argument.

As far as the subject of repticarpet goes....I don't know just how dangerous it is...but I do know that leos can get stuck to it...someone recently said thier leo dropped her tail because she got stuck on the stuff in the middle of the night and couldn't get loose. I personally don't like it because mostly because I know its hard to keep clean (even though I don't have experience with it......) and I don't like how it looks. There are problems with most of the substrates out there....sand can cause impaction; they can get caught on repticarpet; paper towels are ugly and food and geckos can hide under it (and who knows maybe your leo will decide to chomp off a corner and get impacted with it...); coconut bark is hard to clean, could hold too much moisture, and they could get impacted on it; tree bark has basically the same negatives as coconut bark, plus it can be highly toxic....personally in my opinion the most safe and best substrate is tile. They can't eat it, they can't get caught on it, its not toxic, it looks nice, it's cheap, it's easy to clean, nothing can get under it, and it doesn't hold moisture. I'm not saying that people can't use other things though, that's just my opinion...and honestly...I've don't have experience with most of the substrates (except paper towels and sand)...but that doesn't mean I don't know anything about 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.

Good post ... I agree almost entirely with your descriptions of the pros and cons of the substrates.

And, if someone with 10 years experience was to warn me of a toxic plant, then odds are I would heed that advice.

However a commonly used substrate and a potentially poisonous plant really can't be compared. The toxic plant is a blatant risk I would never chance. But years ago when I tried RC, I knew of no one who had any problem with it. As I said earlier, I never had problems with leos toes catching the carpet, so I would approve of its use. However, I would not say that its impossible for a toe or a tail to get caught.

The same way that I never had problems with sand when I used it, when I first started in herpetoculture. However, I recieved warnings that sand *could* impact a leo. Desirous of avoiding any such scenario, I moved away from loose substrates.

What it comes down to is, as you said very clearly, almost any substrate has its potential risks. My personal philosophy has always been safety over appearance and that is why I use a substrate which I deem to be as close to perfectly safe as possible. Good old paper towels. If and when I decide to switch away from PT, odds are it will be to tile, however I can already think of certain faults for this substrate as well. If and when I decide to make that switch, I will probably come onto the old kingsnake forums and ask people what experience they have with tile.

Whew! Long post ...

Joel
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2.5 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake
0.0.2 Crested Geckos

Actually Ive been useing the RC and asia did get caught on it...(catching crickets only) at first...but then I started useing the underside of it where the threads are tighter and she hasnt been caught since....BUT thats just my experience....Leos are like kids ALL are different...so one might do great on one flooring while another may not.

That is exactly what i found out. i noticed like once every month or so lexy would get caught on it while eating cricket (usually the small/medium instead of medium/large) then while switching it i noticed that their were two sides. After i switches she hasn't got caught once.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

I've also heard alot of stories about repticarpet and loss of digits. Thats enough to steer me away from it. It has happened. So if a newbie comes on here and asks "can i use repticarpet?" you dont think they should be aware of the dangers also? I've always heard that a smart person learns from their own experiences, but a wise person learns from other's experiences. What would be the purpose of this forum if people werent here sharing their experiences. I come here to hear others experiences so i dont make the same mistakes that somebody else might have made a long time ago. Isnt that what giving advice is all about? I'm just not understanding this idea of "try most things out yourself before you pass judgements"