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I'm trying out sand again - instead of Home Depot playsand, I'm trying a natural beach sand from the local fish store. It's fine grade, very regular in size, and not dusty at all to speak of. Plus I like the color. Biggest drawback is expense - it's a LOT more than playsand.

I've been fairly happy with millet and will continue to use it in front opening cages (to protect door tracks), but I'm trying out some new things in the open topped cages.

The tank is 48" x 15". There are three areas to hide - under the basking rocks, in the commercial hide on the left, or under the arch of the driftwood. The large rock in the middle is where the food dish goes to minimize sand in the food. Two basking lights for two different temps on the hot side (approx 125F and 115F), plus his Mega-Ray for UVB.

He seems to like being able to kick sand out of his rocky hide at night. The sand enables him to walk around better during the day. So far, so good.

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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I like the look of that sand too, how much was it?The left side(cool side) of cage looks dark maybe get a daylight bulb of 5500-6500 Kelvin it will brighten it up beautifully.They sell them in compact fluorescent if you don't want any more heat.I have a daylight bulb which Bob Mac suggested on cool side of cage of 6700 Kelvin and it's as bright as HIGH NOON noticed a big difference in Oz's activity once the daylight bulb was put on.And of course I have the flood and mega-ray on warm side.The cage definitely need's more light.Otherwise look's good!
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Cajit

URO'S RULE ALL!!!

1.0 Mali Uromastyx (OZ) DOUG DIX

Actually, it's the picture that's dark, not the cage. There's a double fluorescent strip over there, so it's actually plenty bright in real life.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I thought of that after I wrote reply.But it did look real dark.
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Cajit

URO'S RULE ALL!!!

1.0 Mali Uromastyx (OZ) DOUG DIX

The sand is $25 for 50 lbs - way more than playsand, but less than I was paying for an equivelant weight of millet.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thats not so bad since it would last 3 months for me.I live 2 miles from the beach but that sand looks just like the play-sand and I wouldn't use it anyway with the red tide and seagull's crapping all over it.But I do like the way that sand looks.I'll have to look around here for it some store will have it down here there are tons of saltwater fish stores around me.
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Cajit

URO'S RULE ALL!!!

1.0 Mali Uromastyx (OZ) DOUG DIX

Wow!! Fifty cents a pound... I guess that's OK (but not necessary) if you've only one or two Uros. Multiple varmints & you'll wind up in the poor-house. Our cages typically need 75 pounds of sand at 48x22x18'. Personally, we don't care for either sand or millet but, haven't yet progressed to a better solution.

One question...are the rocks supported on something so that your uro can't dig the sand away and have the rock end up on top of him?

Nice looking setup!

I noticed that too.I have 1 3/4 inch thick paver bricks supporting slate rock hide then I mound up the sand and cover them so there hidden, then I don't have to worry about Oz getting crushed.
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Cajit

URO'S RULE ALL!!!

1.0 Mali Uromastyx (OZ) DOUG DIX

>>One question...are the rocks supported on something so that your uro can't dig the sand away and have the rock end up on top of him?

Yep - all rocks are either directly on the cage floor or propped very securely to make about a 2" gap for him to dig safely under. All furniture was placed before adding the sand.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

The cage looks nice . Just make sure that non of the rocks can fall down on him if he digs underthem. Many uros get hurt that way.

Looks cozy and NEAT Torey !

That lil Scuttlebutt has it made
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PHEve / Eve

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