How long before they can go on a loose substrate?

[elevatethis]

I've got a 2 month old leo and am wondering when it would be appropriate to put her on sand. She's on paper towels now, didn't want to risk impactation. She's about 6" long from nose to tail, and eats 1/2" crickets.

[BallPythonBabe448]

NEVER put them on sand. Leopard Geckos will get impacted at any age.

Here is a picture of a bearded dragon next to the sand that he was impacted with, that is the same sand they got out of him. http://www.repticzone.net/images/7600/sand.jpg

here is a picture of real impaction, this picture is of the intestines after your gecko gets impacted. http://repticzone.com/cgi-bin/photos...owel%20being%2

Please don't put your gecko on sand. Keeep them on repti-carpet, paper towels, or tiles their whole lives.

[SatanicIntention]

Someone needs to calm down and take a deep breath...

Hun, do you realize how rude you just were? I would suggest reading your post over, from someone else's standpoint, and see how it really came across. If you think someone isn't keeping their animal correctly, do not get in their face about it. That's just a guarantee that they won't listen to you. Instead, calmly give them some suggestions of other things they could possibly use that "might" be better. So, next time, instead of beating the person down with rude words, try calmly looking at the situation, and HELP them. Help is the key word, no beating here

Brad, nothing is wrong with sand, you just have to watch and make sure they don't get a face-full everytime they eat. Mine are on indoor/outdoor carpet, but I was thinking of getting some playsand, just so they wouldn't get their little toes caught it the carpet all the time. I mean, geez, I think we all ate sand when we were little, and everything else, and we are ok, no impactions here. If you think they may get an impaction, a little mineral oil does the trick.

[BallPythonBabe448]

They will eat it when they aren't eating too. Especially the calcisand, and repti-sand, because they eat calcium out of bowls, they will eat the sand thinking its calcium. Just please, don't put it on sand.

[elevatethis]

If I'm not mistaken, the calci-sand is claimed to be digestible, and if it isn't, its fine enough that small amounts should be able to pass through them when they reach a certain size. I've seen a lot of pictures of setups that successfully maintain leos and many have used sand or similar loose substrate. I'm not sure where you are getting your information on sand being an absolute no. The Leopard Gecko Manual says sand can be used for substrate for adult leopard geckoes. I'm wondering where you read or heard this.

PS. I didnt take the first response as being rude in any way.....not sure where the "rude" tone was....

[BallPythonBabe448]

I edited it. It wasn't that rude though, or it didn't sound like it was to me. Everyone that I know that keeps geckos says that calci-sand, repti-sand, and playsand, are the absolute worst subtrates for any kind of gecko.

People are often misled by reading that LG's live in deserts, and they automatically think "Sand". But that is not the case, Leoaprd Geckos do live in deserts, but desert just means less than 25 cm of rainper year. It has nothing to do with sand. They actually live on the rocky regions that have little vegitation, and they live in between rocks, they hardly ever come in contact with sand.

If you do a Yahoo Search for Leopard Geckos and click on the caresheets, and LG forums in the first few pages, you will find tons of things that say not to use sand. [/url]

[Brandon.O]

Since feeding on sand could be dangerous......couldent you feed in a seperate tank if you really wanted too ?

[invadertoast]

I've had my leos for about four years, and kept them on sand for a little over three of those four years. I switched to paper towels a while ago because I moved to Sterilite drawers and was sick of sand getting all over my bedroom floor. I feed my geckos mealworms from a dish, and provide them with calcium in a dish also. I've never had a problem with sand impaction. The only substrate I ever had a problem with (if you could call it substrate...) was the vermiculite I had in my humid hides. My male apparently thought it tasted good... I noticed it in his stool. Didn't make him sick though, but I switched the humid hides over to paper towel just in case.

Anyhow, getting back to your original question... I'm not absolutely positive on this, but I think the rule from the KS leo forum four years ago, was geckos under six inches should not be kept on sand, anything larger should be safe. Good luck!

[Python-77]

Cali sand is digestible the problem is that if to much calcium is taken in it can mess up the chemical balance in the tummy and prevent proper digestion of food hence forth causing impaction on dinner or atleast I have read that several different times. As for what subrate you keep your animals on that is purely up to you after weighing all your options and making up your own mind. I have kept beardies on cali sand and regular sand. The only reason I stopped was I got tired of the mess Sand makes and Cali sand was getting to costly repti carpet is much easier to clean and maintain when upkeeping 5 beardies 3 leos's 2 frog eye geks 5 Bps 2 RTB 1 King snake 1 JCP and a Rainbow boa. (yes I am a slave to my herps) but I love it and wouldnt have it any other way.