substrate

[ihatebuffering]

I am trying to figure out what substrate best fits my leopard gecko. I know sand is a no go, but I was just wondering if I could try other things besides paper towels. I have been looking at a type of clay. It is sand, but it dries to the point that there are no loose particles and is a hard surface. The only thing I wonder about that is if it is too hard for them to be laying on. Your opinions would be great. thanks

 

[bebetee]

Don't use that sand ..In my opinion sand is sand ..plus the one your talking about ..does still have loose particles, you can use plain white paper? or use foam sheets ..( craft store ) tile ..repti carpet ( they toes and mouth can get caught on it ) your call but way better then sand.

 

[Brewboy74]

Another option is tile. There is a wide variety to choose from and they look more natural than paper.

 

[fuzzylogix]

paper towels, tiles, etc are awesome. you could use brown butcher paper though to give it that "sand" look. and i agree about that clay stuff, it still flakes off and doesn't dry as solid as they make it seem.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I use faux slate vinyl tiles. The 12x12 self adhesive ones. I have some pix of my tank in my photo album if you'd like to see what it looks like. Also I find it is much easier to heat the tank with just the uth thru the vinyl tiles.

 

[PaladinGirl]

What about cardboard? Is that okay to use?

 

[Pinky81]

I think cardboard would be fine..but I would question how well you would get heat transfer??

 

[PaladinGirl]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I am now considering maybe putting a layer of paper towel over his reptile carpet until he gets a little older, but I do plan on going to a home improvement store today to check out the high-end vinyl tiles like Dog Shrink suggests.

And another thing just occurred to me!! Cutting up some brown paper lawn bags and using it like newspaper in the tank! And it would look pretty natural. I imagine that's just as safe as using paper towel or newspaper. What do you think?

 

[Northstar Herp]

You sure could use lawn bags, but Shawn had a good idea about kraft paper. I'd be thinking about how long it would take me to cut up a grocery or lawn bag, vs. rolling out kraft paper and trimming it. Kraft paper would cheap and very quick to cut to size.

 

[PaladinGirl]

Well, just an update. I decided to go with the brown paper lawn bags. I am happy with the way it looks in the tank. Looks like sand at a glance. I put Toon in a cardboard box over a heating pad while I installed the paper. I monitored the temp for awhile to make sure it would be okay. The temp of the floor went up to about 101* F! I put several more layers of the paper down over his warm side but it didn't seem to make a difference. I ended up getting a light dimmer. I just plugged it in and will begin adjusting the temp and monitoring it.

I am guessing this is something that people who use paper towel and newspaper have to watch out for?

 

[Joao]

Well, just an update. I decided to go with the brown paper lawn bags. I am happy with the way it looks in the tank. Looks like sand at a glance. I put Toon in a cardboard box over a heating pad while I installed the paper. I monitored the temp for awhile to make sure it would be okay. The temp of the floor went up to about 101* F! I put several more layers of the paper down over his warm side but it didn't seem to make a difference. I ended up getting a light dimmer. I just plugged it in and will begin adjusting the temp and monitoring it.

I am guessing this is something that people who use paper towel and newspaper have to watch out for?

Its something that everyone who own a leopard gecko has to look out for. I have thick tile and without a thermostat it would reach over 100 degrees as well.

 

[PaladinGirl]

Yeah that's true. I guess I had just wondered if the thinness of paper substrate was more likely to get hotter than some of the others. The lamp dimmer seems to be working nicely. I bought a digital thermometer and put the probe on the floor of the warm side so I can monitor the temp continuously. I had been laying a stainless steel-backed aquarium thermometer on the floor under his hide a couple times a day. The digital one is awesome.

 

[Northstar Herp]

What kind of UTH do you use? That could make a difference. I've never had one go above 95 with a paper towel substrate, and that was when the ambient temp was in the mid 70's in the room.

 

[PaladinGirl]

I believe it's the Zoo Med brand. What do you use to measure the temp?