Flooring Questions

[Toyguy]

Has anyone ever used vinyl floor tiles for their enclosures? I really want as natural-looking a setting as I can make, but I now know sand is out, so I'm looking at tile. The various ceramic and porcelain ones just don't do it for me, but I found some nice vinyls. I'm worried about the BDs scratching them up tho, leading to places for bacteria to collect. Anyone ever tried it?

If it's not obvious I bought my enclosure today - a Zilla 40G tank that I hope will hold us for a little while. It was a great deal at PetSmart at only $79, I thought. I also got a 36" tube lamp hood and 2 dome lamps for the basking and regular light. I picked up a Repti-Sun 10 at PetMountain that should be in this week. Still need to settle on the incandescent bulbs.

I'll spend the next week or so getting the enclosure set up and the temperatures worked out, then I have to travel for business a couple days. After that, it will be time to order the live food and the beastie

This site is a gold mine!

 

[jeschardies]

I use the slate tiles because of their texture and natural coloring. They also help at keeping the beardies nails filed down some.
I wouldn't think vinyl flooring would hurt. I liked the rock texture so the beardies can grip easier.....

 

[JeffSimpson]

Has anyone ever used vinyl floor tiles for their enclosures? The various ceramic and porcelain ones just don't do it for me, but I found some nice vinyls. I'm worried about the BDs scratching them up tho, leading to places for bacteria to collect.

There are vinyl tiles and vinyl adhesive backed tile... the latter is (apparently) not good to use as they say the adhesive can heat up and generate some fumes. IMO, they would work fine, but like you mentioned, if they aren't attached and sealed, you are going to have to continually remove them and clean underneath them.

Just curious, what don't you like about ceramic tile?

 

[Toyguy]

Mainly it's just the appearance of the ceramics - it looks like a modern bathroom or something

I'm really shooting for a more natural desert look - I would much have preferred a sand substrate but I can understand why that's not good for them and see that it would be a pain to keep clean. I saw some brown carpeting in one of the local shops from Zoo Med, I think, maybe I'll check that out. I can see that carpet might be a bit of a pain to clean though, also. Tile would rule for that - wipe and disinfect. I'd guess carpet would have to come out, a fresh piece go in, and the old piece get washed and sanitized.

I'm headed over to Lowes and Home Depot today, along with a couple local flooring shops, to get an in-person look at what they have. Maybe one of the stone/ceramics will strike me in person.