Veyr mixed feedback on leo substrat

[Hanzo]

I'm getting very mixed feedback on Leo substrat. Some say sand is good, and other say it's certain death with constibation. Those who claim it's okay seems to say constibation is a result of bad husbandry, and others claims it's just asking for disaster, sooner or later it will turn out bad for the animal.

I would not consider pure sand a good substart, but something more hard back but still with loose particles in it. Can somebody please help and clear up what's generally considered a good leo substrat?

 

[Condodweller]

I use a mat made by Zilla or Zoo Med. It comes in different sizes and can also be washed. No problems with this set up.
I know what you mean. Any problem seems to have conflicting solutions.

 

[Zux]

It is a difficult subject to advise keepers on, because so many do not provide exacting husbandry. There is some truth to both sides of the argument, and any loose particulate presents some level of risk, the point of discussion is how much.

You can safely ignore anybody who still believes a substrate is what causes impaction and that providing such will inevitably kill your Gecko, those individuals simply do not understand the subject matter.

The reality is that the risk when providing an appropriate loose/semi-loose substrate is close to non-existent if the animal is being cared for appropriately and is in good health. By that I mean, is well hydrated, heated, supplemented and fed. If any one of those things falls out of balance, so too will its digestive ability and therefore risk of health issues increase many-fold.

However, there are many benefits to providing a natural, life-enriching substrate. As you mentioned, sand alone is not a suitable substrate for almost any commonly kept lizard, as all but a rare few are not truly sand-dwelling in the wild. An appropriate mix is the best choice for any species.

Leopard Geckos love to dig and forage for their food, denying them this opportunity is not something I am comfortable with having seen how much take advantage of it. I provide all my Leos with a sand/soil/clay mix which is packed down well. Hides are commonly created by the Geckos themselves beneath slate rock and cork flats I provide them.

The bottom line is this - if you can be certain your Gecko is in good health and your husbandry is appropriate, the benefits in providing a natural substrate are great, if you cannot be sure of this, stick with something simple like textured tiles until you are more experienced.


Hopefully that was helpful, any more questions, let me know.

 

[arlo17]

To keep it short, one of the big issues is not properly supplementing the gecko. They sometimes eat the sand as a source of calcium. I still wouldn't use anything loose other than eco earth, and only with a healthy adult, but that's my own opinion. I use textured tile for Arlo in his terrarium, and kitchen drawer mats from Home Depot for my tubs. It's easy to clean and with tile, lasts a very long time.

 

[Celticwar17]

I did a good bit of looking around and research before i got my geckos... and your'e right, there is a lot of conflicting consensus.

From what I gather is, stay a away from sand and calci sand. If you want a loose substrate, use eco earth. I saw that several professional breeders use eco earth. There is a risk that if you feed them crickets, and they accidentally miss and eat the eco earth it "could" cause impaction...but much more rare than cases of sand. I assume it's a healthy vrs. unhealthly gecko thing. And that the absolute safest is newspaper , slate, and repticarpet(but repticarpet can get nasty).

 

[Cloppy]

I have never had any issues with loose substrate.