Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Am I able to use unfertilized top soil for substrate? The guy at PetsMart said that it could be a risk and that it might not be sterile. I got it in a bag from Home Depot. What do you think?
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

you can use top soil as a substrate for cages, but there is a possibility of introducing insects, bacteria, fungi, and mold. the best way to help prevent this, which will not be 100% foolproof, would be to bake the top soil first. place it in a pan and spread it till its about 2" deep, heat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15-30 minutes, you can also place over a fire pit, if in the proper container for 10-15 minutes. the heat will help to kill off most bacteria, fungus, mold, insects and larva, though some may still survive. i have use this process when using soil collected from a animals native habitat and it has worked quite well.

I'm not collecting the soil though. I bought it bagged from Home Depot. Is baking it still neccessary? It seems like a real hassle. I don't plan on taking risks though. I was just curious if I really need to bake it.
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0.1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

I would bake it even though you bought it from Home Depot. I've used soil in the past with out cooking it and ended up with some mushrooms and bugs in my tank (nothing bad happened to my frogs though). The soil I used was a bag from Wal-Mart. Bottom line is if you are concerned about your frogs you should cook the soil. Just my two cents

i would suggest that you bake the soil out of caution for the safety of your pets, unless you buy "sterile" substrates designed for use in terrariums with live animals. a little bit of time and hassel isn't worth unnecessary vet bills or the death of your animal, is it?

one other thing, make sure you bake it on a day that you can have windows open to air out your kitchen, the dirt can tend to smell a litlle musty when being baked, but the smell will leave the soil and your house after it has air out. you should not dump the hot soil directly into your tank or anything glass, dump it onto newspaper or into a tote to let air out and cool for at least 30 minutes after baking.