A desert can be a snow desert, a sand desert, a rocky desert, and other types of terrain, not just sand. Leos come from rocky deserts. She was in a tank with sand because they people you bought her from have no idea how to take care of a leo.
You do have a point they are desert lizads but most young do die in the wild because of sand and they are clumsy eaters but they mostly live in rocky areas. I'd put your leo on paper towels or reptile carpet or even tiles if it is young. if you still want it on sand then wait for a few years until its big enough to cope with impaction and hand feed it so it is less likely to swallow sand. I'd still advise agents it though. P.s it is a 5 year old thread.
You run the risk of impaction when you put them on sand. Yes they are desert lizards but desert doesn't necessarily mean sand. Their natural habitat in Pakistan composes of mostly rocks and pebbles. Only 20% of the Earth's deserts compose of sand.
You said that you were feeding canned food so obviously they weren't gutloaded. Are you gutloading the crickets before you feed them to your leo, if not them there is no nutritional value to the crickets so in turn your Leo isn't getting the necessary nutrients.
Because, they come from rocky desert areas where there is no sand, and pet stores arent very smart when it comes to keeping reptiles, NEVER USE LOOSE SUBSTRATRE (Sorry if im just continuing the revival of an old thread lol)
