Lizard Substrate

[Dragon-Drew]

OK I know that everybody has their own idea about substrates.

Has any body tried this?
Sand on the floor with large pieces of Slate on it stacked 2 or 3 high. I am thinking about trying it in the new cage that I have almost finished. The slate will cover about 1/2 of the floor space and will be under the heat lamp. It will also have a heat cord running under it so it should heat up quite nicely. It is only thin so it will be easy to remove for cleaning and if will add to the natural look that I realy like, The slate will be laired 3 of 4 high so that it looks like a real rock shelf.

As an added bonus If the Lizards (Jacky Dragons) eat while on the slate the won't end up with a mouth full of sand.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

a block of flats for lizards ,,accies would love it but jackies like the trees,
my jackies loved leaf mulch over news paper and a nice stump,,

 

[peterescue]

yep, Ive used it and have a few pieces. Have it on the heatcord etc. With newspaper not sand though.

 

[Dragon-Drew]

If you are using Leaf Litter how do you prevent mites getting in?

 

[beknluke]

Can't help you w/ the mites drew, but I have a similar setup for my tawnies. I have three pieces of sandstone stacked with bits of timber in between to avoid any collapse!! (Wouldn't that be DEVASTATING!!)
Good luck
Bex

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

i used to break branches fom the melalucas we have around the place and
the jackies would love it, we find jackies on paperbark trees here on the peninsula ,when the branch browns of replace it with a freshy,
mites wernt a problem doing it this way.
how old are the jackies and what are you feeding them?

 

[Reptilegirl]

g'day..
for my beardies they have a 3 foot tank with red desert sand over 2/3 of it.. the other 1/3 is 3 pieces of slate stack on top of eachother.. this is where their food dish and flowers go so they dont get any sand while eating.. it also gives them a nice cool place..

Sand on the floor with large pieces of Slate on it stacked 2 or 3 high.

if you are going to do it this way make sure the slate is touching the the bottem of the enclosure... if you want sand under the slate so the beardies can burrow under it... you will need 2 or 4 peices of slate that are the same lenght but only about 5 cm in width... ok say you have a piece of slate 30cmx30cm you will need 2 or 4 (depending on the height you want it) pieces 30x5cm (approx).. to go underneath the 30x30 piece making sure the 30x5 piece it sitting on the enclosure floor.. you can then fill in the gap betwwen the 2 30x5cm slate with sand now put the 3 30x30cm pieces on top... now if ever your beardies burrow you will know they wont have slate falling on top of them...
g's that was a bit confusing... hope you can understand it
Megz

 

[Dragon-Drew]

I do not know how old they are but they are adults going on size. I have had them since Fed this year got them from a pet shop and they did not come with any history.

The are feeding on about 6 Crix each about 3 - 4 times a week and on the weekend they get some meal worms. One has grown a lot fatter than the other one in the time that I have had them so at the moment the fat one only gets about 2 - 3 Crix every second feed and 6 on the other feed He is the more dominant of the 2 (both males)