the choice of dirt is one of the hardest things to communicate by typing or by phone : )



you want a soil that digs well, burrows well, holds moisture well, and that the animals use and recognize as appropriate.



that means.... you get your hands dirty, try different things, learn what works, and what doesn't. we tried straight topsoil, it was terrible. didn't do anything well. we fooled around with it, added some sand, added some vermeculite, and found that a 50/25/25 mix works pretty well.



take a 5 gallon bucket, a few 10 gallon tanks, whatever, and "set up a cage". get some soil, lay it in there, dig in it, burrow in it, see what happens.



this picture here is one of our Gila setups, using the same soil that we use for all the lizards, and some snakes. Jimmy here has already knocked off 12 inches of the roof of this burrow, and still he is buried up to his shoulder. this was the burrow of a big male, but a completely common thing around here. i took the pic to illustrate what is possible, even in a 4 ft cage. the animals dig and dig and dig, even though the "experts" say it won't happen, can't happen, and wouldn't happen : )



as for our specific soil, i just about hate naming it, because folks then get focused on finding "it", and that is SOOOO not the point : )



we use a Decomposed Granite that we get from a local wholesale landscape supply company, it comes from a mine in Utah. here is the catch, it is a completely generic thing, and worse yet, comes in MANY different grades. we tried a couple of them, and ONLY the finest grade works for this application. the other DG grades don't work at all (most are way too rocky). but folks get stuck on "DG, DG, DG!" and get confused when the one DG source they find in their area is terrible, and then they think i am a dummy.... : )



complicating it more, i think the DG that we use is only about 80% of what i would really like. i would like it to be smoother, and with rounder, less jagged grains. but it is what is available to us, in the quantities we need, and so it is what we use.



Frank Retes at the Goanna Ranch in AZ digs his soil up locally. it is similar to ours, but also finer, with less rocks. REALLY nice stuff for lizard caging, i wish i had it. he digs it up in the desert, for free.



there is a Seattle reptile breeder that digs up streambed soil (streambeds can be a great source) in eastern Washington (or so he says, it is apparently a bit of a secret : ), and it is the heaviest, thickest, yet easiest to dig soil i have ever seen. really, really nice stuff! i certainly wish i had that stuff : )



when i stick my finger in our soil, all the way down, it leaves a perfect impression when i pull it out. one long tube. nice compression, it is easy to stick my finger in, yet it digs and holds burrows great. that is what i am striving for.



the specific soil doesn't matter. it's usefullness is what is important. and i am NOT a geologist, so i can't give you specific scientific answers to what traits to look for. like i said, it is hard to explain to someone. but it is really easy to "show" in person.



the best thing to do is to make up a batch of the "Home Depot" mix, topsoil/sand/vermeculite, 50/25/25%, and mess with the water content, and over a week or two, dig in it! it has the nice properties you are looking for. at the very least, you can get an idea of the direction to go in, and then try to find a natural free source of that type of soil : )



thanks again to all for the exchange : )

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robyn@proexotics.com



Pro Exotics Reptiles

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