to keep things in perpective- remember that this is all an adventure, and none of my "answers" are necessarily definitive for each and every situation or setup. what has been fine tuned for a setup at PE may need a bit of different fine tuning for your own setup. always keep that in mind when going through this process : )



1. we got our Ornate Uro babies as hatchlings, about 5 grams each, in mid August. as of today, three and a half months later, most are over 120 grams. they have been in the 4 ft soil setup, 5 to a group (we have 4 groups) the whole time.



2.the soil absorbs the fecal material, at least the moisture from it, but certainly spot clean it as you can. unlike paper, or a seed substrate, fecal matter that is left in the cage will not start to rot or mold, or grow other strange surprises : )



3.how do you know if your substrate or mix digs well? DIG IT! make some tunnels with your hands, your fingers, whatever. just move it around and get a feel for how well it works. let it dry out on top, to see if it gains a hard crust. some mixes or products will do that, and make it very hard for an animal to break through it and dig it.



how do you know if your Uro will use it, so you don't have to start over and try something new? that is the adventure : ) you just have to try it. you may have a soil that you think is just great, but the animal doesn't like at all, and won't dig in. it is not your choice (in the end), but rather the Uros, so you have to try, and perhaps try again. check out some recent monitor forum discussions on substrates (sandy loam) for more ideas and insight (clay contents- too much clay is a bad thing).



4. perlite is what we use for our egg laying medium. it is harmless, but it is basically a small sharp rock, so i don't WANT it in my mix...



there are lots of topsoil and potting soils available. try and get the cleanest "dirt" that you can, with the least amount of additives, especially fertilizers. having a soil that has bark, peat moss, and perlite in it will certainly affect how the other pieces fit (sand and vermeculite) so keep that in mind.



have fun digging!
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robyn@proexotics.com



Pro Exotics Reptiles

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