Take a look at this short but useful video about the dangers of using sand as leopard gecko substrate and what is impaction. This guy (nickname Birdboy93) looks so young, but he knows his stuff when it comes to leopard geckos.
The video is only about four minutes long and it’s well worth watching
When it comes to the dangers of impaction for leopard geckos and the problems involved in using sand as a substrate, here are some key points to note:
Don’t listen to people who say it’s fine to house leopard geckos on sand. Even people at the pet shop might tell you, ‘it’s fine to house a leopard gecko on sand, they come from the desert, from the plains of Afghanistan and Iran’. It’s not true that geckos can be housed on sand. They come from dry-packed mud areas, rocky areas, even grassy areas.
What is impaction and what causes it. Leopard geckos have digestive fluids in their stomach. When the sand they accidentally eat goes into their stomach, it gets clogged up, just like when you mix water and sand. This causes impaction…or basically clogging up. This is serious, your leopard gecko can die if they are impacted for too long (I added that part in..it’s not in the video).
They probably won’t eat if they are impacted, but try mineral oil.
So sand is very bad. There’s a product out there called ‘calci-sand’ and it’s junk. It’s worse than regular sand for leopard geckos. They say it gives leopard geckos calcium which it might do, but it’s junk.It’s made for easy clean up, like cat litter. In fact, it’s designed to clog up so it’s easier to clean and that is the worse thing for your leopard gecko.
Try paper towels, newspaper or reptile carpet. Some people have concerns about reptile carpet..the fact it gets dirty, but if you wash it well it will last longer than other substrates you could use.
I think this video on leopard gecko impaction and the dangers of using sand as a substrate is worth watching even though it’s just the guy talking to camera so you don’t see any leopard geckos and it ends pretty abruptly but he’s got personality and the points are well made.
