We are having problems getting the substrate right for our new leopard gecko, now about 5 months old. I decided to get rid of the sand after reading about impaction concerns. The gecko seemed to be get a lot of sand in her mouth while hunting. (It's our first gecko, so I have no comparison, but she seems to be a clumsy hunter - lunging and missing several times before finally catching a cricket.) I replaced the sand with ZooMed Repti-Carpet. Now when she misses a cricket, her teeth often get stuck on the carpet. Crickets also hide under the carpet where she can't reach them. She seems to like the carpet though, stretching out flat to warm her belly from the under-tank heater. What is the best way to secure this carpet so crickets can't get under it? And is there a product less likely to snag her teeth?
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substrate/carpet problems
Replies (5)
Ok try turning the carpet over my geckos claws used to get stuck to it and try puting a rock in each corner to hold it down.
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-Ryan
I don't really reccomend using repti carpet because of those reasons. It looks nice but there are other products that look nice and work well with geckos/crickets as well. Tile! It's cheap easy to clean, looks natural, and crickets cannot get under it. I use it and I LOVE it! Go to Home Depot and get some of those plastic tiles that go in your kitchen. (you can pick which color) They are easy to cut. Make sure you put two on the UTH though as heat goes through them very well. Hope this helps!
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Katie
My Email
make sure you wash your repticarpet and then flip it over. that'll get rid of any loose fibers
Reptile carpet also has a history of getting toes stuck, someone on this forum's gecko dropped its tail cuz its toes got stuck.
Tile is much less stress and easier to clean. Instead of washing the whole carpet or cutting holes in it, with Tile you can place paper towel over their bathroom area and spot clean more often.
If I were you I would use papertowel. We have 25 leos and that is what we use and it works great and is easy to clean up after them.
Hope this helps.
