Wanting to do planted leo setup

[psychosis]

wanted to know a good substrate and what all i can put in a 20 long

 

[mack]

Okay this will be a long answer. Put 2 dry hides (one on each side), one moist hide. Then a meal worm dish, water dish, and a regular calcium dish. Also you might have to buy regular calcium (without d3) online if you can't find it in stores. Then you will need a good substrate which would be paper towels (what i use), or you could go with reptile carpet. Now what I do not like about reptile carpet is that for me it blocked a lot of heat coming off my uth so i switched to paper towels. Also the repti carpet eventually (no matter how hard you wash it) collects a horrible odor. Plus repti carpet eventually shreds and rips, and you will have to get new. The pros to paper i that its always fresh, and clean, and its an almost risk free substrate. But the cons (which depends on how good you cut the paper towels to fit your tank) are food getting under the paper towels. but this could happen with repti carpet as well. Just remember no loose substrates for a MUCH lower risk of impact. Also you could go with tile BUT ive never tried it.

 

[acpart]

The biggest problem with a planted leo tank is the humidity the plants and their watering create. I think I've posted this before, but the best way I can see to do it would be to use succulents in little pots. Most succulents are supposed to dry out and then get soaked. This way you could take them out of the cage and soak them. As far as substrate, there are a number of choices. I use ceramic tile in a light beige color and if you can get little pots about the same color it could look good. The other choice is to use a bio-active substrate (I have one leo enclosure that has about 3" of mostly coco fiber with a little desert sand mixed in and some leaf litter whose occupants have done fine since July) and to bury the pots in it so you can still remove them and water them. Some people are against any particulate substrate. I would not use sand and wouldn't use this substrate with babies, but the coco fiber seems to work well (my fat tails are housed on it as well).

Aliza