Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am curious what everyone uses for their best substrate. I have been raising leos for years and hear lots of opinions. Just curious what everyone uses.

Rick

i use newspaper in my racks right now. i am going to switch to shipping paper pretty soon. this is like really thick brown paper that i use for shipment packing paper at my job. i ordered a couple rolls and a roll holder with a ripper edge on it, so this will be easier and my light colored animals wont be getting any more ink on them. i know it is soy based, and safe(or i wouldnt use it),but i dont like it all over my animals. i dont really have access to any unprinted newspaper. in my display cages i use different types of tiles. i am gonna experiment with some concrete, applied really thin on a mesh wire form, to form ledges and landscaping. i am then going to paint it to look more natural. i am going to be using this in a solid surface custom cage(solid surface is a granite type material used for really high end counter tops)that is 30x30x30 inches. it is already gonna weigh a ton, so i am not really worried about the couple pounds the concrete will add. i am going to try this method outside the enclosure first, to try to perfect it somewhat(as my material alone is about $350 worth, at mfg. cost)...we will see how this works. i know some people use some type of lighter material to do the same type of backgrounds and floor surface, but i want to try to make something a little more durable, and stands up to scrubbing better. i have made quite a few really nice custom cages for the past 20 some years, so i think it will work pretty nice. i originally had this material cut to build a custom cage for green tree pythons, but since have sold them, and leopard geckos and one boa constrictor is all i have now. i have decided to only breed leopards and keep my boa as a pet, so i will use this for a leopard or three...