[gecko girl]

so my little Mat is growing well, i'll post pics tomorrow. his tail has grown back and its quite chubby now he eats well, but only one cricket a day. is that normal? shouldnt he be eating more than that? the other day he started going after the crickets and he can catch them, but then lets them go... almost like his jaws werent strong enough to clamp down... im having to slightly injure the crickets so he can catch them but other than that he seems healthy, he's going to the bathroom and at least eating one cricket a day... i have a question tho... why do so many of you guys recommend the sand? when i look online and do research everyone says do not use the sand! its bad for their tummies. are you all taking the gecko out of his home to feed him? or feeding on the sand? i still have the wood chips in my gecko's cage, but i am wanting to change it. should i just put a paper towel down? i really dont want to do that. i'd like to have the sand for him, but im wondering who to listen to. anyone have any advise for me?

[aliceinwl]

I have all mine on sand (babies included) with no problems. The jaw weakness sounds like metabolic bone disease (MBD). Are you dusting all of his food with a phosphorus free calcium supplement? As lizards get low on calcium, they start using the calcium stored in their bones. This causes the bones to weaken. It usually shows up in the jaw first. Weak jaw equals trouble holding prey. I've had good luck with Rep-cal. I put the crickets in a baggie with some powder and shake to coat them before offering them to the lizards. You can even leave a little dish of powder in there and he'll lick it up if he needs more.

If you go with sand, stay away from calci-sands. These do more harm than good. The calcium particles that make up the sand are too large to be readily dissolved and they can bind together to form a solid mass which will plug up your gecko. I use washed play sand for mine.

-Alice

[gecko girl]

thanks alice, i didnt even know about the calcium. the play sand that you use, is that childrens play sand for backyard sand boxes?

[aliceinwl]

Yes, I just use the children's play sand. I mixed some of coconut fiber substrate (bed-a-beast, eco earth, etc.) in with the play sand in my hatchling tank so that the soil under their hides would retain moisture longer, but I don't really think it makes much of a difference.

-Alice

[Kelentari]

Another alternative is tile. I use that and paper towels in my geckos' enclosures. I'm glad to hear Mat is doing well--I look forward to seeing some pics!

[Knobtailman]

Hello, I like sand but I would not use play sand because it can easily scratch and impact your geckos intestines, especially with such a small gecko. There are a few commercial sands that are pretty good, mainly reptilite.