Need more texture in viv flooring-- help?

[OwnedByOola]

So Oola's had some hindlimb weakness from an impaction issue. She's on the mend but the weakness is lingering and she has trouble finding traction on the flooring in her viv. It's smooth stone tile. She's able to move *much* better on carpet around the house, and I think her recovery rate would increase if I put something better in her viv. Is slate tile pretty good for those of you that have it? I'm worried she still won't be able to "grip" onto it with her feet. I'm partially tempted to go to repti-carpet, since she never poops in her viv so I wouldn't have to worry about sanitation issues.

For those of you who have rough-texture flooring, please share what you chose! Oola thanks you.

 

[RhiannonJade]

Hey There,

Ryu's cage has slate in it. I find that this provides really good traction for him to walk around on as no piece of slate is the same and it has bumps and grooves to it. It also gives him a natural way for him to file down his nails.

The only problem I had with getting slate is it is a bit more expensive, and we had to cut the slate with a wet saw to make it fit properly in his cage. After we cut it to size we can take each individual square out to clean or whatever.

I bought mine from Rona.

Hope this helps!

 

[ju5t1n]

Yeah I got slate in mine too. Mine were like a $1 for a 1x1 piece of tile. It was hard to cut to size it kept chipping so now my floors kinda of has a step up. It gave my cage some dimension I guess lol

 

[OwnedByOola]

Okay thanks, it sounds like slate does have some more traction to it. I'll check it out at the store tomorrow and see if I can get some cut to size. Thanks!

 

[mudskipper]

Shelf liners are great, too. Also softer.

 

[OwnedByOola]

I've got shelf liner but it's pretty slippery. She's having some trouble on just about everything except fabric. I'm tempted to get repticarpet or maybe something like a bathmat to help her through this healing process until her legs improve again...

 

[RhiannonJade]

I had the repticarpet before the slate. There is nothing wrong with it and it could work really well for her. Just remember to wash it when it gets too messy. Hope she feels better soon !

 

[OwnedByOola]

Thanks! Ordinarily repticarpet would be near the low end of my list for substrate choices, but... she is struggling with tile. Thankfully she always poops in her daily bath so I shouldn't have to deal with sanitation issues. Today she took off across the carpet in my office and I realized, whoa she moves so much better on that! Her legs are really able to grip. I think it will help strengthen them if she can actually *use* them, rather than swing them behind her when she can't grip.

 

[RhiannonJade]

Haha no kidding! Poor girl! But seriously ya use the carpet till she starts getting her strength back . It seems like a good idea to me

 

[OwnedByOola]

Woohoo! So I had Oola out earlier today and noticed how she really FLIES on the carpet and is able to grip so much better. So I got to work.

First (why didn't I think of this before???) I flipped over her current smooth tiles and found that they're much rougher on the underside. Very porous and also have some smooth ridges. Perfect for gripping! So I just took her current tiles and turned them upside down.

At Walmart I found a cheap but nice door mat with nice tightly woven fabric (no loops to get her little toenails stuck in). So I put that in her viv-- it takes up most of the space. Her viv is already modified with a basking area that's low to the ground, so she doesn't have to do any climbing. I had to supplement a 60w heating bulb beside her PowerSun to get temperatures high enough at that low level, but now it's perfect.

This is the best I've seen her look since her injury. I think this will do just the trick!

Oola says hi!