Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard so much against the use of sand for leopard geckos, but I feel, considering that it's ample in their natural habitat, that I should incorporate it somehow for beauty and comfort. so I want to put playsand in about 1/3 of the tank at the end, place a hide on about 50 percent of the sand area, and succulents and air plants on about 30 percent of the remaining 50percent of the sand area. I feel like this would minimize injestion yet provide beauty for me, and safety and variation for my baby (9 in 3 yr female in long 20gallon). I want to also use large bark on the other 2/3 of the cage w/ a broad piece slate for basking (that I already have) and seperate the 2 areas w/ medium, semi-rough garden rocks (for barrier control and shedding aid). Does anyone have experience w/ multi-substrate and have suggestions for possible substrate combination? I don't see why sand (something that is in their natural habitat) should be avoided like the plague. Of course some sand is better (so far i've heard good things about play sand) than others, so I plan on using that.

Snoopy 3 yrs old...

From what I've heard and read their natural setting is hard packed clay and rocky areas, not much sand at all if any, and that any sand can be an impaction risk for them.

Thankyou aikip! I'll research a little more into it.

Yes i have heard the same thing, that it is mostly clay, and large rocks. I don't really think that leos bask being as they are nocturnal, that just doesn't make sense to me. I have all my 18 leos and fat tails in one room the oppasite side of the window, i leave the blinds open so when it is light its light and when its dark its dark. they definatly need heat like a heat pad or what not. If you REALLY want to use sand use "vita sand" it is formulated with vitamins and has very fine grains also comes in a variety of colors. it would also be easier to pass through the intestines. if you want to have a lot of decorations try to keep it as simple as possible becuase you want the gecko to be able to hide but not the crickets. remember these are captive bred and they dont know much about living in the wild. there hiding spot should be at about 89-92 degrees. use a heat pad not a light, and if possible get a dimmer switch or a thermostat. I mist my enclosures at night befor i go to bed to simulate dew at night, i dont mist the gecko (unless they stink like doodoo). I hope this helps. also if you cant get a dimmer switch or a thermastat try to put enough distance between the heat and the surface area of the hiding spot to get the right temp. add more sand or what ever you choose as a substrate. I have had some of mine on vita sand and on bedabeast for around a year and never had any problems. I recently changed to all paper towels though because it got to be too much money. try to limit rearanging your cage because you dont want to stress her out to bad....it looks like a she.. good luck.

I wouldn't go anywhere near those calcium carbonate substrates unless they are pure calcium carbonate. Those products encourage your leo to eat the sand (due to the calcium carbonate in them) and have terrible consequences. Any sand poses a risk of impaction, those calcium sands increase the risk even more. They aren't disgestible as the packaging claims, and they can seriously harm your leos health. Please don't use these products... for your leo's sake.

None of my geckos have ever eaten the sand because they wanted to. if a gecko actually eats it willingly i would assume it has a major deficiency of some sort.i actually had a crested at one point in time that had a servere calcium deficiency and it couldnt control itslimbs and would bite. she couldnt hunt or anything, so i put her in an enclosure that only had calcium sand in it, knowing she would get it in her mouth and eat it. she ended up getting better after a few days. It may have sounded like i was suggesting sand in my last message over anyhting but i have all my geckos on paper towels. I dont have cresteds anymore either. It was luck for me and the crested to get better and i think it was because of the calcium sand. I also think that a formulated sand would be better then regular sand but even better would be no sand. I have herd slate looks nice and holds heat well, it probably cleans up nicely too.

The calcium based sands have the biggest risk of impaction. They are not digestable the way they are advertised. Here is a study that was done not long after they came out, showing how poorly calcium sands dissolve: www.pythons.com/calcium.html
Part of what also makes them so bad is the fact that it is made of calcium which encourages the Leo to ingest it, far more so than plain play sand. This sand clumps up and gets hard, and that's exactly what it does in a Leos digestive tract. It doesn't happen over night and yes they will pass part of it. But it can slowly build up and has caused far too many impactions and deaths in Leos. Leos can live on this sand for several years seemingly with no problems and then all at once BOOM they are very ill, not eating and impaction is discovered.

As far as Leos living on sand in the wild. Well, no, they don't live on sand an inch or 2 deep. They do live in hardened clay and rocky areas and areas of "sandy soils". There was a study that noted that Leos observed in the wild actually avoided the sandy soils. I also look at it this way, a Leo is not anatomically built to walk on sand, if they were their feet wouldn't sink into the sand the way they do.

I've never seen any of the big breeders or experts in the field ever recommend using calcium based sands. Seems they always suggest if you do insist on using sand use plain fine-grained play sand that has been sifted to remove the larger particles and thoroughly washed.

That's just my 2 cents on the subject, no offense meant to anyone
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www.StoplightCityLeopardGeckos.com

Thanks so much shelley!, and everyone else. I put sand in her cage a few days ago (I had bark for about 2 years but discovered that it could be worse than sand) so I got a fine grade repti sand last week, but i'm still uncomfortable that she could be in danger. But, she doesn't seem to like it much and seems confused. I really would like to make it as comfortable, safe, and interesting (it must be boring being in a cage all day) for her, and as close to her natural habitat as possible, but it's difficult to get accurate info on it. If I can't figure what to do i'll just go for the slate tile (i've heard good things about it)w/a small soil and moss area where i'll put the wet hide and sparse plants to provide a little humidity and digging.

As for basking, I've seen her come out when I turn the light on, stay under it for a few minutes, drink some water, stop by again on her way to her hide b/f slipping away for the day.
I've tried many things over the 3 years i've had her (and she's been very patient with me!) but always keep a close eye on any changes in her behavior or patterns, but she seems consistantly healthy and ultimately that's the main thing that matters.