Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As cool as I think the idea of tile is, I was wondering if perhaps it would be possible to make some kind of substrate out of clay...like, you could make hills and stuff....and maybe caves with detachable roofs.....the only problem I can see is that most clay if you just let it air-dry cannot get wet, making it hard to clean. Does anyone know if there are any kinds of clay out there that air-dry well and can be saturated without damage?

I don't know of any brands.. but I was thinking the exact same thing about landscapig my tank with clay. I wonder if baked clay would work well? I hope we get some more input on this. See ya!

-Britney
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1.1 Leos(Ron and Raine), 2.1 Kitty Cats(Bubba, Angelo and Cookie) and 1.1 Rouen Ducks(Buddy and M.J.).

What about regular ceramic clay? Not greenware, but glazed and fired. That does require access to a kiln though. If I were still in high school I might take a ceramic class just for the kiln access. There are private stores that give lessons and fire greenware for you, but they do charge something (not sure how much).

Fimo or Sculpy can be baked at home however if overcooked the fumes are toxic (according to the package). I do use it, but air it out several weeks first. So far all has been well.
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Andrea A.

NP
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1.1 Leos(Ron and Raine), 2.1 Kitty Cats(Bubba, Angelo and Cookie) and 1.1 Rouen Ducks(Buddy and M.J.).

If you put playsand in after its been sterilized and wet it and compact it down and form your hills it gets nice and hard and has some loose sand on top after time which is just like anywhere.....its not tons of loose sand just like a little here and there and then itll still have hard sand under that and you can reharden it....works great an is safe....
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-Bryan

I had thought about using sculptey, but I wasn't sure if it would really work or if it was toxic. I could potentially get access to a kiln, since I'm an art major, but that would require pulling strings and asking for favors...which I'm not sure I want to do

What about a UTH underneath either fired or stove-baked clay? Would the clay get too hot...or not warm enough?