Desert living reptiles, my ideas for a new setup style

[Art_Gecko101]

Ok so the great substrate debate will always continue..... sand or lino... natural or safe.... some species seem to like to dig in the substrate, in which case the impaction safe options arn't really great but the worry over impaction during feeding time is still there...

I was thinking in bed last night about options, and then an idea came to me so i thought i'd run it by you to see if you thought it was any good....

It basically involves having 2 levels, sand on one for burrowing and snuggling down in, and lino on the other, for feeding times. The 2 levels are connected by a ladder, as lots of people use to maximise the floor space for terrestrial species anyway, but the ladder in hinged so that during feeding time you can clip it up and stop them getting down into the sandy section. The way i see it, this way you can have the best of both worlds, natural looking sand for them to play and burrow in, and a safe section they can feed in.
Of course there is still going to be some risk of impaction, as they can lick it up whether there is food there or not, but i am under the impression that the majority of the risk comes at feeding time when there is more chance of them grabbing a mouthfull...


Tell me what you think...

heres my schematic..

[freekygeeky]

sounds great, clever - woudl never of thought of that lol, whats it for btw?

[Art_Gecko101]

it could be for any species you would just have to adapt the size.... you could use it for leopard geckos, stenos, bds.... anything where substrate is an issue really

[freekygeeky]

like it

also my lazy fat leos would nt climb a ladder lmao!!

Originally Posted by Art_Gecko101

it could be for any species you would just have to adapt the size.... you could use it for leopard geckos, stenos, bds.... anything where substrate is an issue really

[linda.t]

i like the idea and the look of it but not sure it would work for my beardies because of the uvb but it could work for my geckos
linda

[ditta]

we use the perfecto vivs with glass shelves for our leos, sand on base level for basking and resting then we have ropes and sort of dogs toys made from ropes and bark logs for climbing to upper levels where the food dishes are

[Art_Gecko101]

those perfectco vivs look lovely, the only thing i dont like is the top opening! its such a pain digging in!!

As for the UVB, i suppose it would all depend on where you placed your UV bulbs

[ditta]

yup the top oening is a pain, sarah bought me some small stepladders cos i cant reach in

[Art_Gecko101]

hahahahah thats awesome!! i need those for my kitchen cause i cant reach the top shelves!!

[ditta]

we have so many vivs most are too high for me so the steps are brilliant, its ok for jolly tall sarah being over 6ft but poor me