Natural Slate vs Ceramic Tile

[fourtanks]

I was planning to use natural slate for my substrate but I'm concerned that fecal matter will get into the cracks and pores of the natural stone and cause bacteria problems - Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Would I be better to get ceramic tile that looks like slate because it's sealed and not porous?

 

[SJP]

I don't think its an issue. Slate tile isn't that porous. Plus most geckos use the same spot so fecal matter wouldn't matter too much. I just put something in that spot and throw it away when it's full. But in general if you clean the tile every once in awhile it shouldn't cause any problems. I use slate tile and never had any problems like that.

 

[Dom3rd]

I would say if you are worried about it, just do what you would with rocks, clean them with boiling water, i do that every time i do a take everything out cleaning and i use both slate and ceramic tiles

 

[acpart]

I think the slate looks nice, but it's kind of heavy and I worryabout the crickets dying in the cracks and smelling. If you can deal with that it should be fine. THere's also the alternative of having a natural slate area in the tank, rather than doing the whole tank.

Aliza

 

[Jimmy_W]

I've got ceramic tiles cut down to fit across the whole viv. See the pics further down in this section. They look really cool and arn't too expensize...