I use an overhead heat lamp, so I don't worry about the problems discussed with Linoleum. Under Tank Heater might be a different story.

yeah I have under the tank heaters...thats why I was wondering about the material

Mike, for the ceramic tile, do you stick it down with mastic? Do you grout it? I was thinking of doing this for my new Leopard Geckos, as we have some nicely textured natural-looking tile leftover from a home improvement project. I was thinking that I could mount the tile onto a piece of plywood cut to fit the tank. Then the tile would be removeable if I needed it to be. But then the Under Tank Heater won't work, will it? Maybe I could somehow use one of those under-tile radiant heating units that they sell in the hardware store? I wonder if those could be cut to be small enough for the tank?

--Amy

whats a under tile radient heating unit? And what about just putting it on cardboard or something thats thinner?

They sell heating thingies (kind of mats of wire, I think) that you can install under ceramic tile in your home. They're electric, and I imagine they're designed to be hard-wired in, not plugged in to an outlet. They're so your tootsies don't get cold on your ceramic tile in the winter (especially in a bathroom, for example). We put in an addition with ceramic tile, so I was looking into it. But it was way too expensive, and I decided we could just wear socks!

I like your idea of using cardboard for the ceramic tile. It's not like I'll be lifting it in and out all the time, after all. I think the Under Tank Heater would work through cardboard and heat the tile nicely. But unless I put something between the tiles, I'll have mealies down in the cracks. Hmm... If I mount the tiles on cardboard with mastic, I bet they'll pop off with the bending that the whole setup will go through when I try to put the tile in the tank. Maybe the best thing is to just lay some tiles in with paper toweling and the Under Tank Heater underneath, and I can clean the tiles regularly (wipe with a damp paper towel to remove poop) and only have to take up the tiles and toweling once every couple of weeks. Maybe...

I was just thinking that actually...or something so you can lay all the tiles tight up against eachother and then fill the crack with papertowel or some kind of puddy that hardens or something long and skinny...hmm maybe a piece of reptile carpet

I use slate tiles with play sand underneath. It is not the peal and stick type...just normal slate tiles.

Where the heck do you guys get your play sand? Also I'm thinking of making some hides out of some tile from the flooring store (natural rock tiles). Does anyone have any ideas for making them so they are secure? So many ideas!

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I don't have any play sand in my Leopard Geckos' tank, but I have kids... I have bought play sand at Toys R Us and at Home Depot/Lowes.

I've used play sand before for house geckos and I wouldn't recommend using is for leo's it really tends to stick to everything. I use a sand/clay powder mix of about 1:1 this gives a good hard pack feel.

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