Sand or no sand?

[Patrick Long]

[amt021]

i keep my leo on calcium impregnated sand and he seems to like it, but i keep hearing about "if your leo eats sand", mine gets a little sand when he goes after crickets and misses. is that ok?

[amt021]

I keep my lizards on soil because it is 'natural' compared to other stuff. It has nothing to do with appearance. I pick a soil that can be ingested without issue and I keep my animals hydrated. No problems with ingesting the substrate....I see them eat it all the time when going after insects.

what soil do you use
thanks
Ashton

[dsirkle]

i keep my leo on calcium impregnated sand and he seems to like it, but i keep hearing about "if your leo eats sand", mine gets a little sand when he goes after crickets and misses. is that ok?

I am by no means the last word, and there is no universal agreement on this subject but I have used calcium sand in the past and have observed that baby leos will just plain eat it as they do calcium powder. This can, and has led to 2 of mine becoming impacted. Adults, as far as I have seen don't seem to have a problem on sand. I now use paper towels as a substrate for leos, mostly because it is so easy to change it.

[amt021]

Achmed (the leo) is a "teen aged" gecko as my kid siblings like to say. hes probably 5 1/2 or 6 inches long. i havent noticed him eating it but he mostly sleeps under his rock all day. plus we coat his crickets in calcium. could that be why he isnt (that ive noticed) eating the sand?

[dsirkle]

Achmed (the leo) is a "teen aged" gecko as my kid siblings like to say. hes probably 5 1/2 or 6 inches long. i havent noticed him eating it but he mostly sleeps under his rock all day. plus we coat his crickets in calcium. could that be why he isnt (that ive noticed) eating the sand?

They need calcium and that's why the ones that do eat the calcium sand do it. But most of them don't do it. I leave calcium available 24 hours a day in a dish because it is easier than dusting. It is easy to raise your own meal worms also. Crickets stink and poop a lot. I mainly feed mealworms and superworms occasionally give them crickets, especially after egg laying.

[amt021]

Are there any hazzards switching him from crickets to mealies?

[dsirkle]

Well mealworms alone don't provide complete nutrition, but yes, you can switch to meal worms as the main food at once and there would be no problem. Some leos may not take to mealworms immediately but within a few days they will eat them.To breed mealworms, I take a 15qt sterelite tub and put 2 boxes of cheap no brand bran flakes in there.There is no reason to put a lid on it. That will just make mold. They can't get out.` I buy meal worms in bulk through the internet or at a show and dump them in the tub
(they are usually under $20 for 1000).You can buy less of course. Throw a piece of carbdboard egg container in there too on top.
I add a large carrot for a water source for them. I always keep a fresh one in there. They must be kept in a warm room to breed. The worms will turn into pupae ,the pupae will turn into beetles, the beetles will lay eggs. The eggs will hatch into worms. This cycle will take 2 or 3 months. About a month after putting the mealworms in the tub, put some more in and you will always have worms because you will have 2 staggered cycles going.That's the way that I do it. There is plenty of info online about breeding mealworms. You can feed the worms other food types if you think that the nutrition would be better. You can isolate the pupae and beetles but I don't bother with that. Just be sure to provide calcium, occasional crickets, and if you choose to occasional super worms to provide your leos a balanced diet.

[Snakeman]

at petco i NEVER recommend any of the sand brands that we sell. i tell them they can either use paper towels or newspaper as bedding and if they dont "like the look", i recommend either the carpet bedding or eco-earth substrate. and even then some people choose not to listen to me and go with the sand. it's their animal so what can i do.