So long story short, I like to go back through care guilds for my animals every couple of months just to get a quick refresher and it gives me something productive to do. I was looking at RetiFiles and noticed that it said to avoid coco fiber substrates (eco earth, etc.) as if they accidentally eat a bit of it then it can expand in their stomach.
A bit over a year ago, I set up my crested gecko enclosure before I was as knowledgeable as I am now (that sounds kinda cocky but I don’t know how to phrase it differently ) and used coco fiber as a substrate, whereas now I would do a mix of a whole bunch of stuff including top soil, moss, leaves, sand, ect.
I would change it but there is so much life going on in it that I don’t want to change it. There are huge populations of springtails, isopods, and plants that seem to be doing pretty well. Most of the substrate is covered with leaves and he has been doing great for the past year. I do plan on upgrading him eventually to a 24x18x24, a 24x18x36 or a 36x18x18 (yes horizontal. I already have one that I am going to have empty pretty soon and I am thinking that it could actually work pretty well. I am willing to explain if you want.) so I will be adding a lot to the substrate.
So long story short, will Neptoon be fine on the substrate for a couple more months?
I could totally be wrong, but I assume as long as there is a barrier (the leaf litter) between him and the substrate, and he isn’t much of a digger, he should be okay for a while!
You could always add a thicker layer of leaf litter as well, in order to ensure there isn’t accidental contact if you are worried about it
I feel like if the cocofiber has the risk of expanding in a cresties stomach that much then it’s not hydrated enough to be in that enclosure and you need to improve your husbandry and humidity… But I could be wrong.
I’ve used dry cocofiber bedding with my leopard geckos and haven’t had an issue. They HATE the taste of it and are fed from a dish.
If your crestie has been fine so far and growing well, I doubt it would be an issue for a bit longer. Just be sure to tong feed or use feeder dishes for bugs.
So Logan my sweet little crestie is in a bio but he eats the Repashy type food and I have a feeding shelf that he eats from. Occasionally I will throw in a couple of large crickets and he may or may not eat them but he does like chasing them.
That being said, I do have the coco fiber in his enclosure but I really don’t think he is in any danger because I don’t think it can expand any more and he spends most of his time in the top.
I don’t know how long you have had your enclosure going but imho if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. And you can always add more moisture to the soil.
Of course you know your situation better than me so I am sure you will do what you think is best.
He’ll be fine for a few months, just keep it nice and moist, which will likely help keep the humidity up so he’ll have less reason to dig. It’s one of those substrates that is better avoided because there is a slight risk, but it is still very unlikely, so if you already have it there’s no need to change it to something else asap but it’s a good idea to do when you were going to change the substrate anyway. Similarly to meal worms there is a risk in feeding them but 99% of the time it’s fine
I have coco fibre in mine, shes fed on a ledge off the ground on the glass. The only time i would be concerned about her ingesting any of her substrate would be if i put live crickets loose in the enclosure. I feed those with bamboo tongs so that cant happen. Mind you, ive never seen my crestie dig or anything, she just wanders when shes up ad hangs out on her rocks or wood when she wants to be in the open.
) and used coco fiber as a substrate, whereas now I would do a mix of a whole bunch of stuff including top soil, moss, leaves, sand, ect.
