Thanks Abbas. I bought some reptile sand at the pet store. As I mentioned above, my first try at sand shading didn’t go that well. I had heated it in a thick cast iron pot (cast iron holds the heat well) but I used way too much sand, about 3 or 4" high when I should have used only 1" to 1-1/2" to get it hot enough. I’m not expecting problems with sand heat this time, but I might not do such a great job with the shading due to my inexperience.

Mike, an American living in Norway