Posted by:
PHWyvern
at Wed Sep 17 21:53:04 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by PHWyvern ]
>>i was just wondering what everyone thought about that cheapo stuff at petsmart. thanks
>>ian
I recently started using it and I actually like it a lot. surprised me actually how well I like it. I am using it for eastern spadefoot toads, spotted salamanders, marbled salamanders, spring peepers, gray treefrogs, brazilian milky treefrogs, red-eye treefrogs, and several spiders.
I find I like it because it's lightweight, holds shape very well for animals that wish to create burrows in it, and drains very well without having to add sand to it. When used in a cage that has open screen ventilation it does tend to dry out fairly fast on top compared to a more enclosed container. I like my amphibians to have a nice moisture gradient but not be sitting in stagnate heavy wet stuff all the time. I find the bed-a-beast/eco-earth (depending on where you buy and what its called) is filling that purpose quite nicely unlike potting soil/peat mixtures.
My spadefoot tank is a 55 gallon aquarium with screen top. I have a 3/4 inch layer of gravel on the bottom, followed by 6 inches of the bed-a-beast/eco-earth. The bedding is graded at different depths through the tank..deep at one end, nothing but exposed gravel at the other end. Roughly every other week or so I pour one gallon of water on the exposed gravel which then levels out along the bottom of the tank...that allows moisture to gradually evaporate up through the bedding slowly..keeping the lower layers lightly damp but not soaking wet or stagnate. Once winter comes on and the air gets much drier from the building heat, I'll probably be using 1 gallon of water every week or i'll be putting plastic over 2/3 of the tank top. Daily I mist lightly the top layer. If the toads want more humidity than might be on the surface they either go down into their burrows or go skinny-dipping in their water tray which sits on top of the exposed gravel area. Some even like sitting between the tank glass and the water tray on the damp gravel but not actually sitting in water directly. 
The salamanders prefer to burrow into the bedding or under their water tray when they wish higher humidity levels rather than just hanging out under leaves on the sufrace.
Hell, even the termites I put into the spadefoot tank (as food) are enjoy this stuff....they've begun forming a little colony and have tunnels going everywhere now...actually neat looking at them going through the tunnels that are right up against the glass.
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PHWyvern
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RE: Bed-A-Beast: Yes or No - PHWyvern, Wed Sep 17 21:53:04 2003