Zoomed Eco Reptile Carpet

by **kathstew** Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:06 am

Zoomed Eco Reptile Carpet

Many leopard gecko owners know that sand and other loose substrate, such
as woodchips or gravel, are bad for our leos as it can cause impaction.
Impaction is a blockage in the leopard gecko’s digestive tract. If not
treated quickly impaction can result in death. To substitute sand as a
substrate many leopard gecko owners use Reptile Terrarium Carpet,
assuming it’s a good alternative. In my opinion, as well as many others,
this is not the case.

I bought this for my leopard gecko,
Miracle, when I first rescued her. She came with wood chips and I knew
that wasn’t right. I went out and bought the 10 gallon roll of the Zoo
Med Eco Reptile Terrarium Carpet for around $12.00 Canadian (which I
found overpriced for 10 gallons worth of material that was pretty much
felt). Within a week I was fed up with it and replaced it with tile.

The
first thing I noticed when using the Reptile Carpet was how little
Miracle would come out to explore. Her nails were constantly becoming
stuck in the carpet making it difficult to walk around, and no doubt
painful for her as well. When she would come out to hunt, her teeth
would become caught in the carpet as well. She was constantly struggling
to unhook herself from the carpet. The carpet is made of tiny tiny
loops. These loops would get stuck on her teeth or nails and as she'd
pull to try to get free she would makes the loops bigger, which in turn
made it easier for her to get stuck again! As well, when I vacuumed the
carpet the loops would get loosened from the pull of the suction, making
it easier for her to get caught.

The second thing I noticed was
how quickly it became dirty. I was needing to clean it every three days
as calcium powder and poop would collect on it and stain. When I
received my leopard gecko she had just dropped her tail, so I was
worried about bacteria/infection getting at her tail. With the reptile
carpet, like any kind of carpet, you worry about bacteria being buried
deep within the carpet. I vacuumed the carpet constantly but still
wasn’t satisfied by the level of cleanliness. Despite the frequent
cleanings it would still leave unattractive stains.

Another
thing I noticed that really irked me was the fact that because it came
in a roll, no matter how much I flattened it, it wouldn’t completely lay
flat. So I needed to put rocks at the corners to keep it from rolling
back up, but it still curved upwards a bit on the sides. This allowed
crickets and worms to crawl under the carpet. I would take the carpet
out to clean the next day, and I’d find a bunch of dead crickets/worms
under the carpet It was gross, to say the least.

As leos get
their heat from under tank heating, its always good to have a substrate
that can hold heat well. This carpet held the heat terribly. It is thin
so the heat goes through it easily, but if I took it out to clean,
within seconds it cooled down. I feel more comfortable knowing that if,
say, the power went out, my tiles could hold heat until the power turned
back on. The carpet wouldn't be able to hold the heat for more than a
few seconds.

I did like the color of the carpet, but that is
about all I liked about this item. I would not recommend this to anybody
looking for substrate for their leopard gecko.

Over all score: 1 out of 10

BY kathstew

by **gothicgurrrl** Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:39 am

good review Very Happy

I won't ever be buying any reptile carpet lol they sound gross!

Zoomed Eco Reptile Carpet

Zoomed Eco Reptile Carpet

Re: Zoomed Eco Reptile Carpet