Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So - I am thinking about making a desert vivarium for my leos. I have one male and two females but I do not want to breed - so the cage will house two females - and possibly a third if I ever decide to get one.

I know there is the book from vosjoli on design of desert vivaria - but did not know if this has all the answers. So, a few questions...

What type of substrate mixture should I use?
What type of cage is the best for this - any web sites that sell vivarium style cages?
Can I use just UTH, or do I also need a heat light? I know I will need a UVB bulb if I have plants.
If i use sand - should I use real sand or the new "extra fine" vita sand from zoo-med?

Anything else would be great! Thank you!

-Sean
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livXpreshun
1.1 High Yellow Leopard Geckos "Halo & Storm" [seperate cages]
0.1 Patternless Female Leopard Gecko "Wave"

"It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals." - Esther Warner Dendel

I used to use the calci-sand bedding for my leos. Before that, for a short while I used a Bird and Reptile litter. It was horrible. I'd probably recommend using slate for the bottom and dusting a calcium carbonate based sand over it to use like a grout for the cracks. This way you can keep the slate from sliding and offer a bit of a realistic desert look to the cage with the sand. Also, get things for them to hide under/in on both sides of the cage... one hot and one cool.

Cage size-AT LEAST a 40 gallon breeder for a vivarium/naturalistic cage.
temps-same as normal 90-95 hot side, 80-85 cool.
substrate-Either slate with finegrain washed playsand in the cracks or a fake rock substrate (ask at beardie forum). The fake rock substrate will make it much easier to have plants, water dishes, and mealie dishes in man made "crevaces".
Heat-
a)Either overhead heat, i would use this if using live plants (will make your cage MUCh cooler looking)
b)UTH only use when not using live plants
Lighting-I would use a 4 slot flourescent, in two of the light areas put two GOOD UVB flourescent (reptisun 5.0 or exo terra 8.0), then in the other two put in one of them the best (aka. most expensive) fish tank light you can afford then in the other a "full spectrum" light from the hardware store.
Hides-I suggest making the hides out of wood or polystyrene and painting them with a gray textured paint.
water-I suggest you go with fake rock substrate and buy a couple (if using a tank longer than 30" of those rock water dishes' that match the surface color, put them LEVEL with the ground..
feeding-I suggest using mealie dishes like those of the water dishes, put them LEVEL with the ground..
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)