# Natural Stone tiles for Leopard Gecko?



## l0uiswh0 (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi everyone.

Does anyone here have experience of using natural stone tiles as a "substrate" in a leopard gecko vivarium?

My plan was to buy them from B&Q and cut them to size, then lay them down on a decent bed of kitchen towel, thus hopefully spacing them far enough away from the heat mat to avoid excessive heat.

Here is the vivarium as it stands:









I basically want to switch from sand as a) it's messy and b) I'm getting really paranoid about impaction :eek4:

I hope, if this solution is safe, that it will be far safer and more hygienic, whilst still looking good as a display tank.

Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts!

Edit: the modelling for the left side isn't finished yet, before anyone points out that it's not a very good display


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## l0uiswh0 (Sep 9, 2011)

Weeellll I thought I'd go ahead and try this anyway and leave the results here with tags in case anyone else ever searches...

I used a 2 foot long natural slate broken into several pieces to try and keep heat distribution even. They're on a thin bed of fine sand, which buffers between the heat mat and the slate, and the cracks are filled with sand. Most of the floor space is now slate however, which is defo much easier to keep clean, less smelly, and seems (so far) to regulate temperature safely. Ezra seems to prefer it to the sand already.

Here's a pic:


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## Jesterone (Sep 30, 2012)

Any type of stone can give a very good natural look to a Leo vivarium. Sand is often used to fill the open spaces and as a bottom layer, but is not necessary. However it does add to the effect. 

Leo's live in this type of environment so it's a good replica of how they would be in the wild. 

The only problem that can occur with using stone is if you happen to have a porous type. Liquids from all sorts of things, like excrement, can be soaked up into the stone and harbour bacteria. 

Most slate is very non-porous but it can vary. 

I think what you've done looks great and as long as you're happy with it (and it's safe, which it is) then good luck to you 

Just be saw none of them lose stones could accidentally be eaten lol.


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## l0uiswh0 (Sep 9, 2011)

I'm glad you think this is close(ish) to a leo's natural environment as that was what I was going for. All of the loose slate in there is tumbled so has no sharp edges and I went through it to make sure it was all bigger than his head. You just reminded me that the last time I did that he was quite a bit smaller, so I should do it again!

I will keep an eye on absorption... as it is a kitchen floor tile and the display said it didn't need to be sealed I'm hoping it will be pretty resistant.


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