Play sand replacement?

[geckowiththeglock]

New leo owner. My leo was once kept on aspen shavings as his substrate, and when I got him I changed it to his temporary set up using paper towels. However, i plan to incorprate loose substrate, maybe a large digbox with loose substrate for him to dig around as enrichment as I notice he doesn't have much enrichment.

I am going for the 7:3 topsoil and sand mix.

Anyways, I don't live in the US or the UK or whatever where we can find play sand. I live in southeast asia where i can't for the life of me find a source that sells natural play sand. I guess kids here just don't play with sand. Every play sand sold i could find is one of those kinetic sand which is unsafe. In fact, the only non play sand source I found simply uses incredibly overpriced natural beach sand.

Which leads to the question- can I use beach sand or fine aquarium sand instead of play sand? Is it safe for me to mix that with natural topsoil, or perhaps can I use a desert reptile sand substrate and mix with topsoil?

Of course, it won't be JUST sand, and it will only cover half of his enclosure as of right now. Would it be okay? And I will definitely avoid anything thats marketed as calcium sand.

If not, what else can I use?

 

[acpart]

Can you get something like coco fiber, which is ground up coconut shells? That would be ideal. Otherwise I guess you could mix some sand with topsoil and that will probably be OK.

Aliza

 

[geckowiththeglock]

Can you get something like coco fiber, which is ground up coconut shells? That would be ideal. Otherwise I guess you could mix some sand with topsoil and that will probably be OK.

Aliza

I did consider coco fiber, but I am worried about it being too dusty especially since i can't mist it.

 

[acpart]

If you're worried about misting it because you think it would be bad for the gecko, go ahead and do it every few weeks. It does rain in their natural habitat. I kept leopard geckos for 5 years on a coco fiber substrate and everyone did fine. I got rid of that particular enclosure, which is why I don't still have that substrate. Here's a pair of articles, one about leopard gecko natural habitat and one about a bioactive enclosure for leopard geckos:

Holistic Design in Bioactive Vivariums: Leopard Geckos, Part 1 - Gecko Time

All bioactive enclosures have the same basic requirements, but the needs of your main inhabitant dictate the ways in which you can support bioactivity. Many people have claimed it impossible to create a bioactive desert terrarium, but let’s not forget that life persists all over the earth, even...

geckotime.com

Holistic Design in Bioactive Vivariums: Leopard Geckos, Part 2 - Gecko Time

This is the fourth article in this series and part 2 of leopard geckos. Gecko Time readers might recognize this enclosure from a previous leopard gecko bioactive article. What happened? Superworms! Zophobas morio overpopulated and became a smelly nuisance, and the worms escaped through gaps...

geckotime.com

Aliza