the girls new dance floor....

[northface75]

okay, so after reading the many posts about people having problems with sand, I've decided to change out my substrate. I went to the home depot to take a look at some tile. I REALLY liked the look of the polished granite in the 'natural stone' section. does everyone use tile for a specific reason? should I not use black granite? I wanted to get it but I just kept thinking about how it seems everyone uses ceramic tile or slate in their tanks. They are about 5 bucks a sq ft, 4 tiles will do just fine. One will have to be cut down (I hope they offer that service) since the inside of the tank is actually only 47.5 inches.

thoughts on using polished black granite tiles? I can upload a pic I took of it if necessary

 

[li]

Got to be careful with the "polished" tiles. They really have a hard time on it. I would suggest ceramic tile with some texture. Got to be careful...many times the textured has spots that don't have any glaze on them at all. On those spots it might be hard to clean poop. Just get a normal ceramic lightly textured tile. Most will cut to size. I would however get a couple extra pieces. Once when I was doing a super clean I took out the tile...dropped a piece. Needless to say I was running to the store.

 

[renich]

You'll love your decision to switch. After having sand for a year and going to tile, it was refreshing. Sand is a very controversial topic. It can harbor bacteria. Your beardie may ingest some of it going after crickets, which could lead to impaction.

As Lisa pointed out, be careful of smooth tile. You'll want to make sure your girls have traction as they run around. No break dancing on the new dance floor!

 

[northface75]

bahh, well, they dont cut tile at the home depot here. I'll have to wait till I'm back home (at college atm). Guess they'll have to deal with sand for a couple more weeks :-\

 

[corrine]

I bought slate tile from Lowe's. It was fairly cheap and it's easy to clean. My beardies seem quite happy with it.

 

[northface75]

I read somewhere that slate can be porous and kinda hard to clean, I'll probably just get some lightly textured tile

 

[Harley D]

I switched to slate after reading on the bad side effects of sand....and I would never go back !! easy clean up with bounty extra strength and little water and works out just perfect ! oh and it has also cut down on cutting my dragons nails as they are naturally filed everytime they walk...though they do tend to get quite sharp

 

[northface75]

Yea...I definitely need to switch, Leela's nails are getting so damn sharp last night when I put her back into her cage after her bath her nail caught on the inside of my finger and cut me as I set her down !

 

[corrine]

You can clip her nails with regular nail clippers. Be careful not to clip past the white part in the bottom of her nail. Usually doing this close to bedtime makes it easier.

 

[northface75]

ah, thanks for the tip. they were starting to look like velociraptors!

 

[zebraflavencs]

Mini V. raptors ?
The casts I've seen of those... were human sized. Big !
Janie

 

[srabeardie]

Love my tile. I started with tile, but that was because I was on the forum getting info before I got my dragon.

 

[northface75]

yea, kinda wish I had gone that route, but no harm no foul
they're STILL on paper towels (my part time solution), I graduate on Saturday so I'll be able to go to Lowe's in my hometown and get tile cut finally.

 

[Stephanie is a Rockstar]

The only way I would go with slate is if its sealed. Slate is a naturally pourous stone and cane soak up some of the stink from the poop. I had slate in Lola's house and had to get rid of it it smelled so bad. Definitely go with a non pourous stone.

 

[renich]

yea, kinda wish I had gone that route, but no harm no foul
they're STILL on paper towels (my part time solution), I graduate on Saturday so I'll be able to go to Lowe's in my hometown and get tile cut finally.

Congratulations!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing the new dance floor.

 

[clh321]

Be sure to post pics!!!