[hotty]

Me again...... where she purchased him, they advised her to keep him on reptile sand. Now the shop is a very good one in Ballymena {ladysmith pets}and they kept all the leopard geckos on sand. As i was reading through some of the posts, uses all advise to keep them on any thing but sand is this true.

 

[BADGERS MUM]

not proved as true or false but its worth you looking at the post called leos kept on loose substrate,my leo had been kept on vita sand for 3yrs(not by me) i was gonna keep it like that but 1 look at those pics made me change straight away,just to be safe,many people on here use it but id say most dont,by the way if your daughter is young dont let her look at the pics i didnt let my boys and they are 10 n 12 but they are not nice,that said end of the day you can only be offered advice on here and you know what works best for your leo

 

[Ssthisto]

I don't and won't keep geckos on sand.

I lost an adult female who impacted when she'd been on a playsand-birdsand mix (which is what most pro-sand people seem to recommend) for less than two months. Watching her go downhill after the prolapse surgery was depressing... and she was in so much VISIBLE pain that we couldn't justify another surgery and more aggressive antibiotics that had a minimal chance of success.

I prefer fabric-backed carpet tiles - easy to clean, doesn't look unnatural, can't be swallowed...

 

[BADGERS MUM]

i use lino,its a pebble design,not that eddie knows it looks like the outside but its my way of making it abit natural looking :lol:

 

[BADGERS MUM]

post has been bumped to top,worth a look i reckon

 

[hotty]

Thanks for the pics will get rid of the sand.

 

[BADGERS MUM]

horrible i know,but worth baring in mind,ive put lino in and hes not bothered too much,still eating like a horse too

 

[K.J.Geckos]

and pooing like one i hope too badgers mum?

 

[BADGERS MUM]

pooing like a good un :lol: :lol: :lol: i noticed that even if he didnt eat the sand intentionally everytime he caught a cricket or hopper he got abit of sand so its lino for me n eddie

 

[SaSaMcMc]

Im afraid it has been very much proved to be true. The exotic vet I saw euthanises geckos because of substrate impaction regularly.

My gecko just had an op to remove sand from his intestine. I am still waiting to see if his gut can recover It cost £765. PLEASE DONT DO IT. When yours is one of the ones who gets impacted by sand you will be wishing you didnt take the risk.

Vet said the worst and inoperable cases she sees are the eco substate that expands with water - for example little corn bits and the like.

Geckos live on rock or hard packed soil in the wild as a rule. I like the idea of tiles, rocks, lino and paper towels may not look great but if you have sand or loose substrate in your viv I recommend removing it. It is the most common reason for death in the wild and its preventable in captivity.

I wish I had read a post like this.

 

[wilkinss77]

Im afraid it has been very much proved to be true. The exotic vet I saw euthanises geckos because of substrate impaction regularly.

My gecko just had an op to remove sand from his intestine. I am still waiting to see if his gut can recover It cost £765. PLEASE DONT DO IT. When yours is one of the ones who gets impacted by sand you will be wishing you didnt take the risk.

Vet said the worst and inoperable cases she sees are the eco substate that expands with water - for example little corn bits and the like.

Geckos live on rock or hard packed soil in the wild as a rule. I like the idea of tiles, rocks, lino and paper towels may not look great but if you have sand or loose substrate in your viv I recommend removing it. It is the most common reason for death in the wild and its preventable in captivity.

I wish I had read a post like this.

It is not, nor a cause of death in the wild at all. Please read this:
Loose substrates & the myth of gut compaction.