Substrate help!?

I'm working on improving my leopard gecko's tank. I will be getting some of the exo terra excavator clay to make more to climb on and in for my gecko, basically covering the whole tank though. I was wondering what substrate would be best to use for the bathroom corner and bedding area of the tank on top of the clay? My gecko is 3 months old and I do not feed him in the tank so ingesting substrate isn't really a problem, although I don't really want to use sand since I feel like that can be easily ingested accidentally even when not eating and not something he can move around to his own liking which he does now around his bed area, always packing and moving everything where he wants it. I already have a humidity chamber as well with some moss, vermiculite, and that ground coconut soil type substrate I use for my scorpion. What do you think would be best for him to be comfortable and able to rearrange and pack it how he wants?

Excavator clay will be hard to heat thru plus even tho is does get hard, the leo can still scratch parts off and swallow chunks of it or get it in his eyes and ears. Leos live in rocky craigs and crevaces, the best substrait is tile as that is what simulates their natural habitat the closest. Vinyl simulated slate or a natural stone tile works best, just be sure it has some texture to it or your leo could develop splayed legs or skelital problems. Even tho leos come from desert regions they don't live in sand, its packed earth deserts, scrub grass type areas with lots of rock formations and little lose sand.

Yes I know they do not live in sand, a lot is packed clay and rock, which is why I was going to go for that which they said hardens but I don't see how that is anywhere as bad as the risk with having sand(which i would never use). I have different rocks in there already, and I need something I can use to clean up after them and give them for bedding.... :/

I was thinking about how it would be hard to heat through and was planning on using some sort of substrate for the bedding area, but don't know what would be best??

Ceramic tile would work best, and replicate that hard rock/clay terrain.

Kodieh wrote:Ceramic tile would work best, and replicate that hard rock/clay terrain.

could you post a picture of what your tank looks like? I'm trying to figure out exactly what you mean with how to set it up. It would be a great help. :]

LarissaLurid wrote:

Kodieh wrote:Ceramic tile would work best, and replicate that hard rock/clay terrain.

could you post a picture of what your tank looks like? I'm trying to figure out exactly what you mean with how to set it up. It would be a great help. :]

Here's a shot from a user on another forum, Kaltblueter (credit to for the photo), as I don't use tile but paper towels and tubs.

There are plenty of pix in the show off your set up thread for you to get a good idea of different types of set ups to use. http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t244-show-off-your-set-ups You might also want to check out the thread on making the perfect set up for your leo http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t166-proper-housing-for-leopard-geckos

Kermit wrote:There are plenty of pix in the show off your set up thread for you to get a good idea of different types of set ups to use. http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t244-show-off-your-set-ups You might also want to check out the thread on making the perfect set up for your leo http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t166-proper-housing-for-leopard-geckos

Why thank you Kermit! I'm brand new and don't know my way around so this helps.

Happy to help Just an FYI pretty much anything you need to know about anything can be found in the sticky section of each subforum. Just take a look around when you have a chance

Another interesting idea is getting a bit of cardboard, grouting it (unsanded grout) and painting + vanishing. This is what I am doing for a naturalistic set up and it seems to heat up really well and its rough like rocky earth x

Okay so my parents have a ton of thin slate rocks as well as others at their house, so I'm going to redo the cage with these. I have a very long one that covers most of the heating pad under the tank though. It's a grey slate maybe around 1/2 inch thick. Will the heat go through or be held in this well enough or should I not put a rock over it and just keep a little substrate there?

Ignore my last question, to be on the safe side since I don't have a therm probe yet I just put some substrate there. I'll upload the finish product!! It came out great :]

Here's the updated tank! :3 heated side to the right with coco fiber (i don't feed in the tank) a nice short rock hide, then two coconut shell hides that I made from a coconut I ate once lol. Also restaurant food container that works perfectly for getting heat inside and being the perfect size for his humidity chamber. Has moss, vermiculite, and a tiny bit of coco fiber.

Looks good! For my newbies I'm planning on doing a similar set up but with lighter tile. What did you use for adhesive that was heat safe and wouldn't be harmful to the geckos?