Isis's new tank...

[maverickgtr]

Not really a new tank, but we did re-do it quite a bit.

After talking to BPElizabeth and a couple others on here about using laminates instead of sand, we decided to go to Home Depot and look at what they had and how much it would cost, since we were already out getting new bulbs. Well... what we came home with was a little bit different...

Isis romping around the living room while we did her tank. You can't tell but she's staring at my fiance while he was first starting to take things out.


Exploring the still new to her apartment.


Top down view of her tank. We got 2 - 12x12 inch pieces of unpolished slate and three boxes of approximately 1 sq ft unpolished slate cut into 3x6 inch pieces. It's smooth but rough enough to slowly wear down her nails so we don't have to worry about cutting them and nicking the quick and bleeding.






Front view of the tank after we put her back in.






We used sand we had left to "grout" it and the right side is just a partially covered sandbox area because at night she likes to dig into the sand to sleep sometimes. We spent a grand total of $19 on the tiles, and the ultra fine calci-sand we used to buy is $15 per bag and her tank uses two bags every six months. I think I'm gonna like this...

Thanks everyone!!!

[DZ Reptiles]

Great job! I think she likes it!
Inexpensive and quality, sounds great to me!

[cinderbird]

pretty! I hope she likes it, it looks so great!

[maverickgtr]

She's still exploring it so far. Licking while walking. She's special... haha She's walked around it a bit mostly checking her two trees, I guess to make sure we didn't mess with her precious trees. We put the lighter colored tiles under her basking spot so they won't get too hot. The darker tiles are all on the opposite side of tank.

Thanks guys! I wasn't sure how I'd like tiles they had in stock in her tank, but then we spotted the unpolished slate and we both loved it!

[blackcrystal22]

If you can, I would still recommend using the calci sand for the small area of sand you have because if she does eat the playground sand it has a higher chance of impaction.

Nice cage though! I love the tiles.

[maverickgtr]

If you can, I would still recommend using the calci sand for the small area of sand you have because if she does eat the playground sand it has a higher chance of impaction.

I've never used playsand, it's not fine enough. I only use the super fine calci-sand and we always check the bag a bit before buying it to make sure it's the smallest possible. We may have been given the wrong information about sand being good for young beardies when we first got Isis, but the breeder made a point to make sure we got the finest sand and told us to use calci-sand specifically because it was his favorite of any he'd seen and it's what her clutch was raised on.

[BPelizabeth]

Mav it looks awesome!!! Now wait till her first poo and you can wipe it right up......you BOTH are sooooooooooo going to love it.

Now all I need to do is talk you into making her a little bed w a mattress, pillows and a blankey. Then her and Princess Bob can be soul sisters....lol.

[blackcrystal22]

I've never used playsand, it's not fine enough. I only use the super fine calci-sand and we always check the bag a bit before buying it to make sure it's the smallest possible. We may have been given the wrong information about sand being good for young beardies when we first got Isis, but the breeder made a point to make sure we got the finest sand and told us to use calci-sand specifically because it was his favorite of any he'd seen and it's what her clutch was raised on.

Ah alright. I've never seen calci sand in that color before so I thought it was playsand. You're all good then.

[cinderbird]

I've always been told (and read) that calcisand is the worst thing you can use as a substrate because it can impact animals? They lick it, and think its ok and then it solidifies in their stomach, worse than regular sand because it compounds or something. And they can't pass it, and they get calcium overdose if they eat too much. This was all stuff I found when researching for my leopard geckos. I don't know how it applies to beardies though. Is this true?

[maverickgtr]

Yea it took me a second to remember why you've never seen that color before in the calci-sand. It's because it's the Gobi Gold and the white color [don't remember the actual name] mixed together. The gold really made her colors pop but we needed more and the pet store only had red and white left because they were going out of business so we grabbed a white and mixed it together. We cleaned out the sand left in her tank and used that to grout the tile and make her sandbox so it would still smell like her house. Didn't want to upset the princess too much in one day.

For beardies, if you're going to use sand, calci sand is better because it's much much finer than regular playsand and they partially digest and pass it if they eat a small amount. If they're eating the sand, like some babies/juveniles might or it gets on their food in large quantities and they still eat it, it can cause impaction. Playsand though it very rough and very large in comparison so it's harder for them to pass at all even in small amounts, and they don't digest at all it from what I understand.

The breeder we got Isis from only used calci-sand for the beardies and since they were all raised on it, they didn't eat it. Isis won't even touch her food if it touches sand. Which is also how you could tell she was done. She'd run through it and get her food EVERYWHERE! hahaha I stole my fiance's horsehair dusting brush from his architecture drawing class since he needs a new one anyway and it works perfect on the tile! Small enough to fit in the tank and the hair is suuuper soft. I dusted up some of the mealworms I fed her to get back on her good side that she got all over the tile. I love this already.