Flagstone?

[Cyb3rw0lf]

I was walking through Home Depot today (Big on DIY projects ^_^ and saw some flagstone in the corner of the building for about $8, of course my first thought is towards dried up river/lakebeds and a lightbulb turns on... Now I know sand is considered the devil's substrate in keeping these animals, particularly Calci-Sand, but wouldn't it be fairly close to the natural habitat of Leos/other desert species and highly reduce the chance of impaction if one were to put 1-2 inches of sand followed by flagstone closely fitted together? One would only have to lift up a stone if there is waste in the cracks and spot clean before placing the stone there again, then change the sand every few months... Just a theory though, feel free to shoot/stab me with various implements now Just curious what people think of the idea, I did a search and didn't come up with much. Pretty sure a UTH would work pretty well with this setup although I don't have much experience outside of fish/crustaceans besides a lot of reading.

 

[Tailless]

I don't see a problem with flagstone set in sand. I know that some people who use tiles set them in sand. As long as most of the sand is covered (meaning that the flagstone pieces are cut to fit together such that there is only a thin gap between them), I don't think anyone on this forum will "shoot/stab [you] with various implements". (But I could be wrong. )

I don't know about heat transfer. I use paper towels (but I actually have a couple pieces of flagstone in my tank). I have tried putting the UTH under the flagstone and the surface didn't seem to get very warm. However, I tried this before I got my probe thermometer/thermostat, so I don't have any "scientific" evidence.

PS-- I went to a place that specializes in quarried rock (I don't know what the proper term for such an establishment would be--but they sell lots of rock and flagstone for landscaping purposes and it seems to be mostly frequented by contractors) and they gave me several pieces of flagstone for free when I told them it was for a reptile cage. If you're doing a whole tank, I don't know if it would be free, but such a place might give you a good price.

 

[Cyb3rw0lf]

Well after taking everything apart >.<........... I've put it all back together again, I originally was building this for a Crestie, especially since its a tall tank, but it will be for a Leo/AFT/Banded gecko now (options are going in that order).

The substrate has been replaced with one inch of an Eco-Earth/Playsand mix (9/1 ratio for color) and I have one hide in there already (Fluker's Castle Crib). The UTH is heating up as I type this, hopefully the Exo-Terra brand is pretty good because that is all I could find locally. The log in the pics is going to have some cutting and gluing done so that it becomes a decent looking hide, I'm also still rearranging the flagstone a bit so please ignore the large spots of substrate peeking through. As far as heat is concerned I know that the flagstone does pretty well with it considering how it felt when I pulled it out of the trunk of my car. Any suggestions on what to do from here would be welcome.

Also, the temp/humidity before adding the substrate/decor was 85 F / 35%, the humidity is now at 45% but the substrate is still slightly damp from the expansion process. Temp remains to be seen.