Does this 120 gallon substrate plan seem fine to you?

[Canirs]

I'm going to upgrade my 7 month old girl to a 120 gallon enclosure soon. I want it to look natural because she's always climbing and digging. I was thinking of having a sort of 1/2 and 1/2 biome where the cool side is grasslands and the hot side is more arid.

COOL SIDE SUBSTRATE: Excavator clay mounds with 1/2 and 1/2 topsoil/playsand mix.

HOT SIDE SUBSTRATE: Natural red desert sand (potentially mixed with topsoil as well if it is too fine).

What do you guys think?

 

[KarrieRee]

I'm going to upgrade my 7 month old girl to a 120 gallon enclosure soon. I want it to look natural because she's always climbing and digging. I was thinking of having a sort of 1/2 and 1/2 biome where the cool side is grasslands and the hot side is more arid.

COOL SIDE SUBSTRATE: Excavator clay mounds with 1/2 and 1/2 topsoil/playsand mix.

HOT SIDE SUBSTRATE: Natural red desert sand (potentially mixed with topsoil as well if it is too fine).

What do you guys think?

Not real savvy on this stuff -- lets ask ahbd and cooperdragon
@AHBD
@CooperDragon

 

[AHBD]

I think it would work but as with many things you might need to fine tune it . I would mix the desert red sand with plain topsoil though. It sounds like a big venture, hope everything goes well ! Post some pics when you get it done.
Cooperdragon or Claudius might have some input as well if they see this thread.

 

[CooperDragon]

120g might be a bit small to create two distinct zones, but certainly interesting and worth a try. I would be prepared to clean out the sand and topsoil regularly so they don't start to get stinky. Otherwise you could look into building a semi arid bioactive setup that would be more self sustaining. The grass may take some tinkering in order to get the lighting/temps right for it to grow well. I'd also be prepared for the grass to get trampled a bit. While some folks have great luck with growing live plants, others have reported that they get trampled quickly and don't grow well. Something to be on the lookout for, but I think it's worth trying in order to provide enrichment.