I bought the leaf litter in a pet store, it's 40 dried beech leafes (fagus sylvatica). They are advertised for use in aquariums, but I thought/hoped I can use them for my Leo's tank and the boxes of my feeder insects as well.
I normally would think I don't have to clean store bought leaf litter, but there seems to be little grains(?) on some of the leafes, looks and feels like sand. I just don't understand how the sand would have gotten in there and if I should boil them again (although I worried that they'll just crumble with how dry and brittle they already are. They're not going in my geckos tank but I wanted to provide them to my feeder dubia roaches so that they have some more places to hide and feel more comfortable. As I've read that they occasionally eat the leafes, or at least nibble at them, I want to make sure that the grains - sand, mildew, powder, I really don't know - aren't harmful to them and later my gecko if she eats the dubias.
Has anybody seen similar grains on their leaf litter and can tell me if they're somehow harmful if eaten by the feeders and my geck?