Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm currently breeding leopard gecko and as for most of the reptile,
Sand "cause" impaction,
Many use it with collared and bearded dragon and I've been told it's not good...
any problem up to now?

Can anyone could tell me how you do fake rock that can get heated up to 120F without offgasins/burning?

I have heard that expending foam can do that but there is some fire hazard?

I was going to put a fake rock wall made of mortar and polystyrene. The only problem is that you need to professionally install the wall. If you don't, it is just a bacteria breeding-ground. It also needs to be able to be taken out (or able to be cleaned from all angles). It truthfully is not a project for the beginner.
If you know how to do it then thats great. Finished tanks look great. I would give it a try on something smaller, even tupperware, to see if its your thing. Concluding, it takes hard spent hours, and even days, to make one of those masterpeices.
All in all, Just have fun. Do anything you want.
Collaredkeeper

well these little guys live on sand in the desert so it is just more natural for them. i have never had a problem with impacting and mine have always lived on sand, i just don't buy the sand that is coarse-grained.

as for the rocks, i think you are confused about heat rocks and just plain rocks. the collareds like to bask on plain rocks where the lights from above make the air in that area 120 degrees. DO NOT buy a heat rock that gets up to 120 degrees because yes that will burn them. alot of the guys on this forum make rocks out of plaster, but that is really hard to do so i just buy rocks from a pet store for my lizards to sit on. if you go to the collared photo forum, there are pictures of cages with the beautiful fake rocks and you can see what they make
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

yeah but about the sand, the finer the easier it could get stuck to the intestine (it's not smooth in there)
As far as I know, there is 2 type of Impaction, one that occure when they eat a lot of sand and jam, and the one that take years to build up.

I TOTALY hate heat rock lol
I was just looking to make some to put under a basking site.
I have some Paris Plaster here and some Urethan Foam.
I guess Plaster Can easily take the heat but not the foam

What do you use as Clear/Paint on those plaster rock?

oh i am not the person to ask about making fake rocks. i think johnee makes the rocks. i know someone on here was "showing off" the other day ha ha.
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

I make some fakes. Mainly because (1) A "real" rock the size I want is usually FAR too heavy (2) you can make the fake's bottom perfectly flat so crickets can't tunnel under it to hide and (3) its easy to incorporate a "cave" or other type of hide in the fake for the lizard's use. Very few species of collareds live ON sand in the wild (they are rock pile dwellers)...the sand is usually used as an easy substrate for the keeper to clean and replace as needed. I have not heard of many collareds having impaction issues with sand, they seem to tolerate it very well. The fakes I make are made of thin-set mortar over a styrofoam core, and the mortar is tinted with a mix of commercial masonry coloring dyes. No sealer is needed IMHO. They are pretty hard-skinned and durable, and have given me no problems as yet.

DC

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I've got the blues...LOL...them screamin' yellow-head blues...

I have some knowledge of "how to" but have not had the time to explore it yet. I would definatel prefer DC's use of fake rocks. The make nice basking sites, as well as cricket proof ornaments. My opinion on doing an entire cage of rock with background is this...too hard to keep clean.

Sand is easy to clean and replace, yet I have a hard time keeping up on a regular basis. The basking rocks I do have, probably don't get scrubbed as often as I'd like, simply becasue it is such a pain in the rear to remove them. I have found that the urates and feces on any texture can sometimes be difficult to clean off...even with someone elses toothbrush. I don't like to do a lot of scrubbing, and even some rocks I have scrubbed still retain some fecal stains. I don't even feed mullberries???

John

oops, sorry! i knew one of you guys who posts pretty often made the rocks.
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

LMAO I mean...I don't very often get them out of the tank.

My goodness Sockhead your weirder than I figured! LMAO
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Eve

Damn those thread goes OFF TOPIC damn quick here

What type of styrofoam do you use to make rocks? Is there a special type, or just any old styrofoam? Where do you usually get the styrofoam? How long does it usually take to make? I know it is dependent on size, so maybe use the rock in the picture as a reference.

I'm looking at making some this summer and would like any tips/directions you could give me. You can either post them here or email to me at skeletor121@hotmail.com . Thanks.

-Scott
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-Scott

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