Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am setting up my first lizard home. I found a substrate that is ground up walnut shells. Of course the package says digestable and that it's better than sand, I have read other posts and done some research and I know not to blindly beleive those statements. I do prefer a natural looking tank, so I wouldn't lean toward astroturf or liners or paper towels, purely for aestetic reasons. However if those choices are the best for the reptiles then I would choose one of them. My Geckos will be a part of the family and their home (a 29 gallon tank) will be out in the family room. I wondering if anyone has any opinions on this.

Try tile! It's like the only thing I recommend other than paper towels but I understand you want it to look nice and "natural". Go to like Home Depot and get some vinyl (it's easy to lay and cut)or some reg kitchen tile. It conduct heat very well it's completely safe for your gecko and it looks nice. It'a also easy to clean. I don't think getting the walnut shell stuff is a good idea and please stay away from calci sand also if you do decide to get sand wait until the gecko is an adult.
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

In using the tile, which by the way sounds pretty good, do the geckos have any traction problems? What about sliding their water and/or food dishes around? Would tile require any additional securing for rocks that are planned in the tank?

Thank you for your response! I was worried that nobody would bother to answer!

u said geckos as in more then one. just make sure that there aint more then one male.

back to the subject. just make sure that anything u put inthere that could fall or move in a way to hurt the Leo secure it. remember saftey first.
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1.0.1 Green Anole(tedo, bubbles)
0.0.1 Tremper Albino Leo gecko (Brut)
1.0.0 Small Dog( Cho lu la)

0.1.0 Beachy Girl Friend

Yes, safety first! One female and one male only. I plan on two large rocks about the size of a man's fist, from what I have read rocks are encouraged as a "scratching post" for the lizards and the rocks help tie the reptile tank to my aquarium which is displayed near the reptile tank.

are u stacking these rocks? and if just layed there are they sturdy or do they wiggle or tilt. if it moves then ud want to secure it down. i dunno what type of stuff is safe for that maby someone else can help. mines still on paper towels.

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1.0.1 Green Anole(tedo, bubbles)
0.0.1 Tremper Albino Leo gecko (Brut)
1.0.0 Small Dog( Cho lu la)

0.1.0 Beachy Girl Friend

First, i would just like to ask if you have already boughten these lizards? if you havn't i think you should really reconsider getting a male and female. Once they get old enough to breed you will have to seperate them if you dont want babies, even if you do you still have to seperate the male after breeding because he will continually stress the female out by wanting to breed more and more. So if you do get 2 females, just monitor them closly to make sure no one is being bullied, or one of them is not getting a lot of the food, or even if one is nipping at the others tail.

About the rocks: I don't know if you said you were going to stack them or not. But if you were, that too is not a good idea because A) sometime in the future one might fall off and hurt the leo and B) its not really neccessary. But a rock (of course one that was sterilized) is a good idea, but mine just use their hides, their substrate (tile), and the sides of the tank.

Heres a picture of my blizzard using the floor and his hide to help shed:

Sorry i didnt know it was so blurry, but you get the idea.

If you want a more natural look, you can use slate or some similar rock. In the wild, they are generally found in rocky areas, instead of sandy expanses. There is just enough texture to allow for easy walking around. So long as the pieces are small enough, you can easily take them out for cleaning. You can use something like vita-sand to fill the cracks. Just to be safe, I wouldn't use this until they are 6" ...don't worry, it won't take too long for them to reach that size. Until then, you should use paper towels. I don't like it much either, but it's more important to me to have healthy babies.

You can make caves using the same rock by glueing them together using clear silicone. Be sure to allow the silicone to dry for 48 hours, then give it a good scrubbing before placing in the tank. You don't want to just stack stones together because they can fall and squish your baby.

The one downside to using so much rock is it can get HEAVY, so be sure to have a good, strong stand.