Substrate Question

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Originally Posted by RetiredJedi

Ok so this may sound like a dumb question but if you use newspaper is there any concern over the ink from the newspaper being harmful?

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that's actually a good question..i've wondered about it myself..i dont' use newspaper because i dont really like the look fo it but still i thought about it

Just for a side comment, I am not 100% sure but I think cured ink is inert. Just pigments nothing horribly toxic it is the fresh ink that still has the thinners in it that would be bad. I'd not recommend using a 'hot off the press' paper in contact with a snake, the thinners are quite bad. Typically people whom use newspaper are using old ones not new smelly ones.

I used to keep bearded dragons. When they outgrew their 80 gallon I couldn't afford anything bigger, so I decided to just keep them in my bathroom. They loved it. The only problem was cleaning the poop out of the tile grout. That is much more difficult than you can imagine. If you're ok with spending hours scrubbing your enclosures every week, than go for it. Otherwise, I'd also suggest using paper towel over the tile. It will still have the same clean and sleek look, but it will make cleaning up much more manageable.

If the grout is sealed well, then there's no way for anything to get into it. My BD setup is actually a no-stick shelf liner on the bottom with 12"x12" slate tiling just placed on it with no grout. I just pop out a dirty one and replace it.

BD's don't urinate, so the absorbency of substrate wasn't really big in my mind, but now it may be something I have to consider. I'll definitely look into that indoor-outdoor carpeting. Think like, 2 or 3 sections on the floor would work rather than 1 big one? I just feel like emptying the cage to replace the entire flooring every time may get to be a pain.

I wonder if you used tile and did not seal it down at all but used closed cell foam on the edges of each tile and just fit them in tight if when you needed to clean you could lift out a tile and wash it in a sink. Just A though I don't know if it would work but you never know.

If I went in the direction of real tile, that's what I was planning to do. Maybe not a foam insert for sake of closeness, but just pack them in tight with a liner underneath, or maybe the vinyl underneath for sake of waterproofing the bottom in case anything gets between the cracks.