SAND and crickets

my friend has a baby leo that lives on calcium sand i keep telling him to take it out he said they live on it in the wild i said they dont but then he said his book and petco told him and he keeps his crickets in the tank and they could stress his gecko out how could i convense him to do the right things

Tell him Petco is not staffed with leopard gecko experts, and what they use in the stores are often wrong and at times harmful to leopard geckos. He should consider better resources online from breeders and hobbyists that have had geckos for over 20-30 years.

Google up "leopard gecko sand impaction" and you can read all about the horror stories of geckos becoming impacted by sand and dying from it. Sand is especially harmful to smaller leopard geckos because their digestive tract is very small, so they become impacted much easier than adult geckos do.

Not only would leopard geckos eat calci sand as a source of calcium, they usually take big mouth fulls of sand whenever they hunt for prey. You see it happening, it's no secret, and it's not funny. I don't think you would like to be forced to eat a spoonful of sand each time you take a bite at your food.

If your friend has a baby leo, he needs to take sand out right away. And no, contrary to belief, leopard geckos do not live on sand. They live mostly in between rocks and around areas where there's soil for them to dig in for safety.

Tell him to join this forum

Well, as insensitive as it is, let him do what he wants. That poor little gecko is going to wither and die; and he'll think " I don't know what happened", and hopefully he'll never own another one. He seems pretty set in his ways, and it's not our place to preach.

On the other hand, have him join this forum and read all the necessary information. Or, find a local breeder of leo's and take him to their facilities if they are okay with it. Show him what he should be doing.

LOL, as the others said, get him to join the forum! We'll set him straight