If I were a betting man, ok I am so who is up for a friendly wager, I would bet that one of the top 3 questions I am asked at shows is “What do you use for substrate for your animals?” This is such a great question and usually shows that the reptile keeper has been reading up on their animals. I love to talk about substrate because A) it holds so much controversy in the hobby, B) I am such a contrarian on substrate, and finally, C) there is usually such an easy solution available to hobbyists.
Controversy, What Controversy
If you want to spark a heated conversation at a reptile show, bring up the fact that you keep your bearded dragon over sand you collected at your local beach, or your leopard gecko over calci-sand, or especially your crested gecko over orchard bark. Say this loud enough and you will turn the heads of every vendor at every table down the row.
Why Are There So Many Opinions
There are many opinions on what substrate to use because there is no scientific proof. PERIOD! There have been reports that some substrates can cause impaction. If you look up substrate in any of the leopard gecko or crested gecko forums, you will see hundreds of very similar posts “My pet died/is sick, what do you think caused this?” followed up with “What substrate are you using?”, immediately followed up with “If you are using XXXXXX, that caused the problem”. One quick question and answer, and one definitive diagnosis! Also, if you look up “Calci-sand” on the net, you will find some bloggers that feel this is the worst thing you can keep your animals on. Others will say it is fine.
So what is the answer?
What Can Cause Issues
Orchid Bark – Let’s start with the easy one. Orchid bark is used for…. well orchids. It is usually dime and nickel sized light, porous tree bark. This doesn’t sound that bad you might be saying to yourself. However, bigger pieces break off and create smaller pieces. Insect chasing crested/gargoyle/leopard geckos may gobble a piece of bark and ingest it. The piece can then work its way down and lodge in the stomach or even the intestines and cause a blockage that will not allow food to be processed or waste to be passed. I’ve seen X-Rays of animals with blockages and it is not pretty.
Calci-Sand – Hobbyists have used calci-sand for years. The thought is that some animals naturally ingest some sand in the wild, and also in captivity, and pass the sand harmlessly. Well, vendors surmise if the animal is eating sand, they should gain the benefit of taking in needed calcium. However, realize just as a piece of bark can cause a blockage, a clump of sand can do the same.
Repti-Carpet – I can just hear you saying now “Don’t tell me a gecko can ingest a sheet of repticarpet and that can cause a blockage!”. No, not quite. However, as you hold your crested or leopard gecko the next time, try to notice the tiny toe nails your animal is sporting. When combined with repticarpet, there is a chance that the gecko’s nails can get caught in the carpet and may either pull out or become damaged- or there may be damage to the toes!
What Is Best - or - The Supreme Gecko Method of Providing A Substrate
For all the animals we maintain, unless there is a specific need by the animal (such as P. pictus geckos that need to bury their eggs in the sand), we rely on two methods of providing substrate to our animals- paper towel or bare bottom. For young leopard geckos, we like to employ a doubled up paper towel to the bottom of their plastic shoeboxes. As well, we offer a small half styro breakfast sandwich container with a notch cut out for a hide. You may see something missing in this setup- a water dish. We mist the entire enclosure and allow the little ones to drink the water off the sides of the container. As well, the paper towels will hold the humidity until we mist again.
Every other enclosure we maintain offers a bare bottom substrate- sort of. As an example, for crested geckos, we use plant litter just like in the wild on the bottom of their tanks. Strewn throughout the tank/container we have leaves and plants- plastic plants. This provides plenty of little nooks for the animals to hide under and in between during the day and crawl through during the night. This is so simple to setup- we watch the paper and when one of the local flower or craft stores has a sale on medium size leaved plants, we buy a couple of bags full. We then take the leaves off the stems and throw them throughout the enclosure two or three leaves deep. The beauty of this setup is that when we are ready to clean the enclosure, the leaves go in a big plastic container filled with water. After cleaning all the setups, the leaves are rinsed off and re-added to cages. It is so simple!
So, How Do We Feel About Calci-Sand and Orchid Bark or Some Other Substrates
One fact we do completely believe is that using any substrate for young animals is dangerous. We feel that the younger the animal, the greater the odds of impaction from sand or other material in the tank. We also stress that Orchid Bark should not be an option at all whenever considering a substrate for you animals.
If you have a concern with using plastic plants rather than another substrate for your crested geckos to maintain the humidity in the enclosure, you may wish to opt for some other material instead such as peat moss, sphagnum moss or a mix of two.
Again, this is a highly controversial topic. Please don’t take what is in the above article as the final word. Read books, look up the topic on the internet, ask other breeders/keepers. Put all the information together and make an informed decision yourself.
