Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I was wondering If any one had any info on were to get field dirt from in IL ( chicago-joliet/shorewood area) I been having truoble finding a landscaper or anyone that has a source to get real field dirt i dont really have any place to dig up a few hundred pounds lol Any information could help, Its for my little black throat. he is aboyt 19 inches awsome animal doest bite tail whip or even hiss ( YET LOL) but he real skittish an loves to run eats a ton daily I'l post pictures when decide to take some thanks

steve

There is a whole bunch of new houses and buildings being put up in your area. I check the dirt daily for good tunneling dirt. I have seen a few areas that look good. You may want to drive out to planfield bring a trough out there and fill it with dirt. You can also look them up in the yellow book and ask them for the dirt Pro Exotic uses, I think it was called paradise, I could be way off, check their site.
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Hello Guys,
I wanted to caution you when using dirt from construction sites... I was considering this very hard recently because there were piles not far from me that were 50 feet or better in height! The problem was found on the back side of one of the piles... a large metal machine with a conveyer belt- with a pile of dirt(beautiful brown dirt that packed well in hand) on one end - and a pile of rocks on the other end!!! Check where the dirt is coming from - natural source or unnatural...the unnatural stuff can spell big problems. Hit the woods up if you have the option... Best to you- Mike

....Taking dirt from construction sites without permission of the people who own the soil is theft.......

...be careful and make sure you talk to the people who actual own what you plan on taking.

Yeah, I live in shorewood right now. Yeah there's alot of construction goin on by day mostly( as i work nights) Thats why I was asking if any one knew were i can buy real dirt from soemone fromthe area if anyone locally who kept monitors knew? Thank you for the replys I am still curently looking

steve

Find the nearest wooded/semi-wooded area with a creek. Follow said creek as far as you like, preferably to an area where people rarely go and the water looks somewhat clean.

Bring as big a backpack as you can get and 2 garbage bags. Place one bag in the other, then fill said garbage bags with dirt from the side of the creekbed, taking care not to puncture the bag.

Now place said bag into backpack, and walk on out. Keeps you from getting in trouble, gives you great soil (watch out for clay) and makes it easy to transport.

Hello Nile,
Have you tried filling a four foot trough, let alone a ten foot circular using this method? Maybe you have- just had to ask... best to you- Mike

I have actually.... goes ALOT faster if you have 2-3 people and those big hiking backpacks. You can usually get at least 2 big bags of dirt into one of those (or at least we could).

We actually used the creek that runs right out back of my house. Not that anyone cares to know, but im really surprised by the amount of wildlife around this water source, as its like RIGHT in the middle of a housing community (surrounded on all sides by heavily populated housing).

This is a nice benefit of using nature to get some substrate: gives you a chance to do some field herping, hehe

So far Ive encountered leopard frogs, some kind of turtle (dropped into the water before I could ID and ive never seen it again), a number of very friendly garter snakes(my friend got pics of one of the bigger one drapped over my shoulders just chillin- he sat there calmly for like 20 minutes while we walked off, and didnt get down till I made him!), a number of very unfriendly northern water snakes (including a huge one, about as thick as a soda can and at least 5' long).

The other day I was on a walk, following the creek, and surprised the big water snake, watched it dip into the water, and decided to wait and get a better look (at the time I didnt realize how big it was and thought it might be a copperhead, so I was being careful). About 10-15 minutes and alot of watching later, a big ol' head popped outta the water about 5' away from me.
I watched it for awhile as it began to come out and just then a baby, less than 2' long, came swimming by and bumped into the adult (sending it back down into its hole underwater) and swam upstream. I jumped over this small "pond" and chased the snake upstream abit, eventually catching up to him. I managed to tail him long enough to move him up onto some grass and was trying to get some pics, but he came right at me mouth open! I fell back (resulting in me going backwards, headfirst into the creek)and when i got back up, he was gone.

And that was just during an hour or so walk! Imagine what you can see when you're making a few trips back and forth, lol

(Sorry, I dont hang with alotta people that are into reptiles and such, so I dont get to vent my excitement, hehe)