Stepping stones

[cornking4]

I have a raised and heated water dish in my tegu pen and I'm trying to think of an aesthetic way to allow a ramp up (It's about 6" tall). I was thinking of flagstone set up like stairs but that seems like it would be very expensive and heavy... I've looked at foam and grout but the look seems off and it would probably get destroyed quickly. Any ideas?

 

[meeksishere]

I dont know how crafty you are with tools but you could build a ramp out of wood and then cover it with your substrate and that would look decent

 

[Jason]

You can mix the two Ideas. Wood sealed really good then covered in grout.
That would be sturdy and asthetically pleasing.

 

[cornking4]

Funny you mention building wood and gluing substrate to it; I just spent two months designing and building the hide/planter and ramp into the pen:

I was trying to avoid doing that with cypress mulch again because it's so time consuming and because it would get tracked into the water dish. Wouldn't any grout on foam or wood wear away? I'm not sure I want to go with something that I'll have to replace frequently.

 

[meeksishere]

yea i see why dont you try finding a log/driftwood type thing and turn it into a ramp your self. i did that in my beardies cage took a branch from outside cleaned it of all parasites and cooked it and made it a little ramp to a hammock for him.

 

[cornking4]

Hey, there's an idea... I'll keep looking for inexpensive stone but if that fails then driftwood would be a nice alternative. Any other input?

 

[meeksishere]

if you could give me a pic of thing you need to build up i might be able to think of better ideas

 

[cornking4]

:doh Of course. Here's the tub, it's 28" L x 17" W x 6" H.

The flagstone to the left of it is the basking spot in the pen so the ramp can't come too close to it.

 

[meeksishere]

Ill keep thinking but the driftwood would be the best idea for a clean easy way to make the ramp but stones will also look cool but they can be pricey depending on where you live go out scouting for them or look on craigslist if you lived near me i could get you some for almost free. but try the driftwood