Naturalistic Substrate

[happy gecko]

There was a thread on this some from a person in Europe, though I can't seem to find it (it was from a year or 2 back).

The idea was to use slate rocks (not tile, real rocks) and configure them in a way so they fit together almost like puzzle pieces. You could then fill in any cracks with river rock or a little bit of sand. So it's basically like tile and grout, though a touch more natural. Do you think it would work?

 

[SLY]

Totally. I've thought about doing this, with shale or slate or something. Sandstone would be really easy to get, too.

People will speak against the sand, but I really don't see any problem with a small amount, and it would help the pieces stay in place a little better. I suppose the thing you'd want to be most careful about is the area over the UTH (if you're using one). You'll want to make sure that a good amount of heat will get through. In this case, I'd think some hard packed natural clay or dirt would be great. Actually clay would be fantastic, because you could keep it a little moist (we're talking just enough to keep it from being totally brittle...not enough to change humidity levels), and the water in the clay would hold the heat for a very long time (water has a very high specific heat).

I could think of some sweet layouts that could be made - things could be built up fairly high, too. If you have the tools, shaping and slotting of rocks could help interlocking, and make things look better, and be structurally sound.

If you decide to do it, keep us posted. I might do up a tank this way when I upgrade to a 20L in the future.

 

[happy gecko]

Thanks for your enthusiasm SLY. A natural clay would be awesome, but where could you buy it/find it? What about that Clay Excavator stuff from ZooMed? You could put that between the rocks, ect. You could even make a mound in one corner, and that while it is still moist dig out a hole for a burrow, as well as insert some rocks to make it look more rocky/mountinous. When its try you could put moist spagnum in there as a moist hide. For the dusty top layer of "sand" that is there, you could use chinchilla dust? That would be amlost like natural habitat- rocks with hard clay soil pack in between, then a little sandy dust on top.

 

[LizMarie]

Thanks for your enthusiasm SLY. A natural clay would be awesome, but where could you buy it/find it? What about that Clay Excavator stuff from ZooMed? You could put that between the rocks, ect. You could even make a mound in one corner, and that while it is still moist dig out a hole for a burrow, as well as insert some rocks to make it look more rocky/mountinous. When its try you could put moist spagnum in there as a moist hide. For the dusty top layer of "sand" that is there, you could use chinchilla dust? That would be amlost like natural habitat- rocks with hard clay soil pack in between, then a little sandy dust on top.

if you do a search for the Excavator substrate a a few ppl have tried it and had problems with it.