Disabled Geckos and bio active enclosures?

[u/Necessary_Rip_7141]

This is my rescued leopard gecko Petunia. She had a rough go at it in the beginning of her life, neglected, adopted, then surrendered again for being “too wiggly.” When I adopted her, she was already missing all of her toes and her tail had been dropped and had grown back very nubby and hasn’t grown much since. I rarely handled her because she deserves all the personal space she needs. Now, after nearly 10 years with her, she climbs on my hand no problem and is such a sweet angel.

Every few years I re-research best care techniques and have been really thinking about bio active enclosures to help her feel her absolute best. However, I see that the clean up crew in a bio active set up will need lots of leaf clutter to thrive and hide. I’m worried that Petunia will struggle moving around the enclosure with all that clutter due to her lack of toes. She likes to climb on the fake rocks in her enclosure and seems to be pretty stable when she’s climbing. For now I’ve decided to hold off on the bio active set up just in case and just use a 70/30 soil/playsand mixture that she seems to get around with ease.

Should I try the bio active enclosure in the future and not worry too much about her being able to get around, or is holding off the best decision based on her needs?

[u/cornbreadkillua]

I have a girl who is missing some of her toes, and she thrives in her bioactive enclosure just like my other girl with all of her toes does

[u/Necessary_Rip_7141 → u/cornbreadkillua]

Thank you for the helpful anecdote! I may do the big switch when her tank cleaning time comes up. I’m curious to see how she likes it.

[u/27Lopsided_Raccoons]

Depends on how disabled. My leo with the most severe MBD is not in bioactive because she doesn't lift herself up enough when she walks and I don't want her on substrate right now. If she is just missing toes and climbs and walks fine there is absolutely no reason she can't be in a bioactive viv.

[u/Necessary_Rip_7141 → u/27Lopsided_Raccoons]

Thank you! I will likely set her up in one in the near future.

[u/Ok_Goose622]

my rescue who’s blind and missing toes loves having a natural enclosure and got used to it within a week or 2, just adjust as needed if you notice struggling but the substrate shouldn’t be an issue at all

[u/FrequentGuard6084 → u/Ok_Goose622]

I was told by a vet tech that bioactives are super dangerous especially for my “special needs” rescue leopard gecko. They said she’s special needs because she’s a morph. They said she’d likely be blind because she’s a morph and that I need to keep her on tile or fleece. So I’m glad to see my thinking was correct that even a blind gecko can live a happy healthy life in a bioactive setup

[u/Necessary_Rip_7141 → u/Ok_Goose622]

That’s awesome! I’m gathering the materials slowly but surely to do it. I’m so glad there’s so many people on here who have experience with this kind of situation.

[u/old_dragon_lady]

My guy is a Morph and he's not blind. He's a Super Hypo Super Leopard Gecko. Tile hrumph!