Substrate

[muskiemagic]

Currently I am using ceramic tile in my leos enclosure and I am thinking about changing to a loose substrate for a more natural setting when I receive and set up my new pvc enclosure. To start I am planning on going Non-Bio and possibly full bio in the future. I am wondering what is a good loose substrate to use for a Non-Bio set-up ? I have heard conflicting things regarding the best brands to use. I have heard Eco earth gets to dusty and causes eye infections when dried out and don't want to mist every day because of humidity concerns. I don't really want to go with the top soil and play sand option because I don't want to have to sanitize in oven whenever I change substrate. So far I have heard Bio Dudes Terra Sahara is getting good reviews. Or do I just stick with ceramic tile ? Just looking for recommendations.

 

[acpart]

I'm using ceramic tile. I had an enclosure with eco earth for about 5 years and it was fine. I had dermestid beetles in there to deal with the poops and sprayed it down on rare occasions (it does rain in the wild where these geckos come from). Here's an article from someone who successfully set up a bioactive enclosure, but you can do the something without the bioactors:

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