BEST and WORST Leopard Gecko Substrates

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Hi everyone! Let's talk about substrate for leopard geckos, both loose substrates and non-loose substrates. Not all are made equal! Let me know if I missed any, and let me know what you use for your geckos down below.

HEY!! I recently competed in the snake discovery enclosure build off, and I used two bags of the bio dude’s Terra sahara and didn’t come across many rocks at all! So I think maybe the bag I got in the past was just loaded. I mixed it with some play sand and really like how it turned out.

00:01 Intro and Disclaimers
01:00 All of your substrate options
01:11 Non-loose substrates
01:27 Loose substrates
02:00 Paper towel
02:26 Newspaper
02:44 Kitchen cabinet liner
03:40 Reptile carpet/coconut fiber liner
04:15 Tile
04:43 Impaction
05:40 The Biodude's Terra Sahara
06:08 Josh's Frogs Bio-Bedding Arid
06:43 Arcadia Earth Mix Arid
07:00 Top Soil & Sand
08:15 Gravel
09:15 Crushed walnut shell
09:41 Eco earth/coconut fiber
10:53 Reptibark, Mulches, Coco chip
11:29 Aspen
12:01 Sand
12:45 Calcium sand
13:04 Reptisoil
13:43 Cleanliness

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IMPORTANT DISTINCTION: Calcisand is NOT sand. It is pure calcium carbonate. Sand is made of quartz and other minerals. Calcium carbonate is an eye, lung, and skin irritant, and is a digestible antacid. Meaning it will impede digestion. It’s all around a terrible experience to subject any animal to living on.

arnicamoana
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I seriously hope the U.S. gets some Earthmix Arid at some point!! I’d love to try it!

BBsBeasties
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So, I don't keep leopard geckos, but I will be keeping a few texas banded geckos soon, which are closely related to leos, and I believe they are a good comparison. When I set up their enclosure, I actually used multiple layers of substrate to recreate their desert habitat; the bottom two layers consist of mostly topsoil, with sand and decomposed granite mixed in. The top layer is decomposed granite with sand, and it compacts well when wet. This substrate is very close to that found in the deserts where these geckos come from, and the two layers allow for plant growth and burrowing behavior. Once the geckos arrive, I'm sure they'll appreciate the natural substrate.

thechickenwizard
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I don’t personally sanitize or sift my soil! I’ve never baked, frozen, or sifted, and honestly I don’t think it’s necessary because it does kill beneficial microbes, especially in bioactive enclosures. Checking through your dirt (for critters and for debris) is naturally going to be a good idea. I’ve seen salamanders get found, and I’ve found a bit of plastic tarp personally.

Baking might get rid of fungus gnats, but only at first. They sort of just get in sometimes. That’s about managing humidity to me.

arnicamoana
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Personally I hate all non loose substrates, they’re not enriching at all and they’re hard on the joints of the reptile. I would only use it for rescued and/or special needs reptiles. I get that people are concerned about impaction, but taking away the opportunity to dig from a burrowing animal is like taking away a child’s toys because there’s a tiny chance that they could choke.

hazelgrunts
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I actually recommend ReptiSoil for people looking for loose substrate! It's not as fine as coco fiber, so you don't have to keep it wet to keep it from getting kicked up into the air. It feels a lot like topsoil in my hand, but I'm sure it's some kind of blend of topsoil and sand and other stuff. You can keep it dry, and your gecko probably won't end up kicking up any dust when they dig. So, unlike EcoEarth, you don't have to get it wet to avoid eye and nose irritation. It also seems to dry out more quickly than coco fiber when I was trying them out, so that's also a plus for a leopard gecko enclosure.

In my setup, I have a layer of tile that's bare over top the heater, for the most part, and then I have a layer of Reptisoil, with some blank spots for feeding purposes. I used the last of the EcoEarth I bought in the humid hide before I switched that over to ReptiSoil there as well. It looks like it's been pretty successful so far.

It probably won't support live plants, and I have no idea about how it works for a bioactive enclosure, but if you just want a loose substrate for digging enrichment, that looks nice, and is safer than sand, Reptisoil is a pretty good choice, in my opinion.

danieltaylor
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Hello I’m getting my first leopard gecko tomorrow, your videos have helped a lot!

Update: i got her and she’s extremely healthy and loves to eat worms lol

James-brqy
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I was reading about the compounds in cabinet liner offgassing. Adhesive is especially heinous on the front of VOCs. Vinyl and other compounds are used often in human flooring and there’s a lot of literature indicating harmful effects, especially under heat, so I don’t ever tend to recommend it.

arnicamoana
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I kept my leopard gecko on paper towel until he was around 8 months old and the switched him to a mixture of sand, reptisoil top soil, and a little bit of eco-earth mixed in. I've had a lot of success with it, and he couldn't be happier. He loves diging in it.
However I had a terrible experience with repti carpet before switching him to paper towel.
I got him from a pet store that were keeping him on reptile carpets as a teeny tiny hatchling, within the first week of having him home I noticed his toe looked weird and too short from the first day I got him but I figured it was just kind of a birth defect or something and it didn't really seem to be bothering him, until one day I woke up and his toe was bloody. I panicked and took him to the vet thinking it was stuck shed or something I done wrong as he was my first Leo and I wasn't confident 100% in my husbandry yet.
My vet let me know that it was not stuck shed and it appeared that he had ripped his toenail and perhaps even part of his toe off before I got him and it had scabbed over and was healing until he had ripped the scab off.
My vet said this is something she has seen several times from reptile carpet, in which an animal rips it's toenail off after getting it caught in the carpet, it can then get infected and cause toe loss which she's pretty sure was happening at the pet store before I got him and then he ripped the scab off on my reptile carpet.
I felt horrible and immediately threw the carpet away when I got home from the vet, and I would 100% recommend nobody uses reptile carpet.

unofficiallymykie
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I have had many subtrates and many lizards. My previous beardie lost a toe due to reptile carpet.
But I'm pretty obsessive cleaner and that was a NIGHTMARE to keeo clean.
So that try was very short for me about 12 years ago.
I have found to be most enriching for both leopard geckos and beardies a mix of cocofiber (the fine one) mixed withplaysand and Earthmix Arrid from arcadia just as it is AND mixed with fine coco fiber as Earthmix is quite expensive in Finland and I can "strech" it with cheap coco fiber.
Also cocofiber gives it texture to the Earthmix as I have found that all my lizards enjoy digging especially when they are going to sleep.
I have found these methods absolutely perfect as they absorb poop (especially softer and wetter beardie poop that they tend to make a mess on non-loose substrate) and make it absolute breeze to clean every day.

jasminahaverinen
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I just got my first leopard and this vid was very helpful thanks so much!!

mcpondlife
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I bought a leopard gecko from an expo a few years ago, and it turns out he was severely impacted with crushed walnut substrate. I contacted the person who sold him and he just used the excuse that he’s never had it happen before. 🙄 I got my money back, but I still spent money at the vet and went home without a gecko. I’ve witnessed this man say he’s a fish guy and didn’t know anything about reptiles, so I was so upset with his response.

sixisok
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Thank you very much for all this information I keepmmy gecko in a mix of sphagnum peatmoss, sand from their environment, and a few plants, he digs in the sand -_- snoot usually has some dirt on it, and I have had one or 2 things I've dug out of his mouth, otherwise no issues. Actually ended up serving to build his trust more, he opens his mouth wide for me almost on command now, has a bioactive system with bunch of cleaner bugs, I haven't actually seen a poop ever, the isopods must follow him around for it hehe

pluralizor
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I use a half and half sand and eco earth mix on top of tile just in case anyone was wondering hah- my leo just turned one recently so for now I can say that it works pretty well :) the tile has exposed spots in his favourite basking spots because he’s worn it away haha… I always feel bad when I clean him out because I get rid of all his little spots ;-;

Asparagus_stars
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Thank you for this! I absolutely hate reptile carpet. Used it for a bit because it came with my rescue, and never again... Have you heard of Jurassic Natural? It's a natural substrate from Australia marketed for beardies. I've had success mixing it with a little soil and it looks awesome. It's not dusty, and over time it forms a nice crust on the surface layer. It does make the enclosure super heavy though, and it's more expensive than I'd like! 😅

starnaito
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I feel like the main benefit of keeping them on Coconut fiber is that if small amounts are consumed, it will pass through them easier than sand, rocks and gravel could, lessening the risk of impaction while keeping them on a more naturalistic substrate

chimmy
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I might get hate but I use reptile mat and I have multiple but I do provide a loose substrate and my leopard geckos love it

Lillylife
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My mix: everything.
Topsoil, play sand, excavator clay, calcium sand, crushed walnut shell, coco fiber, coco chips, gravel/charcoal pellet (the bottom) in a 55 gallon bowfront corner tank. Handcrafted caves using clay and balloons.

forbiddensilhouette
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Honestly for “belly heat”… I’m of the opinion that loose substrate shouldn’t be used with exclusively a heat mat or heat tape. The heat is very superficial and would have a lot of issues moving through an appropriate depth of soil, and when geckos dig to escape heat, I fear it could result in burns. I’m just not a fan. Overhead heating all the way!

arnicamoana
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Very informative. My local pet shop (not the box stores) recommended repti-bark for our gecko. She was an xmas gift for my son, who's really into reptiles and paleontology.

One of the employees (not the owner) said she likes to use a bioactive substrate after she heard my son asking about real plants in the enclosure.

What would be your best reco for that? Baked top soil/sand?

I had a leo when I was a kid and we used sand because we were told it was best (some 30 years ago) but now I know straight sand can be harmful. I was honestly surprised to even hear you promote sand mix.

johnb