Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

joffy666 · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:27 am Post subject: Coating foam for a humid viv

I'm planning to make a fake ground surface for my future crestie viv, using expanded foam, coating with PVA glue, and a substrate.
Which substrate would you recommend for an earthy/mossy look.

I guess artificial substrate would be best as natural would eventually go manky?
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DrAdam · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:47 am Post subject:

How are you going to clean it ?? From your post I presume your going to make it permanent ?
If you use a natural substrate at least this can the changed every month or so if you spot clean in between Wink

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MJ · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:51 am Post subject:

Using expanded foam for the background works great! But not so great for a complete floor area.. it's a flat surface with nothing to retain moisture so keeping humidity up and cleaning the vivarium would be pretty hard.

If you want a fully naturalistic vivarium for the gecko with a substrate and plants I would recommend using a drainage layer of LECA (expanded clay pellets) with a weeb block covering then 2-3 inches of substrate (eco earth:peat moss: orchid bark 1:1:1) then add plants.. this will break down wastes from the geckos and keep a healthy environment.

Also adding some micro fauna such as tropical dwarf woodlice and springtails will help keep the environment healthy and remove the need for cleaning out the vivarium fully and just leave you to wipe the odd bit of waste off the glass Cool

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joffy666 · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:59 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the tips. Thing is I've been told not to use a substrate cause they can swallow it, so rather than use kitchen roll, i plan to use a vinyl tile. I've found a superb natural muddy/stone effect one but it will look so flat and i'm using fake plants and thought if i made a few areas of uneven ground, mounds etc, (not the entire bottom), it would look better than just having decor sitting there and i can place the plant bases into it.
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