Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Will brewers yeast work as a substitute? I was also thinking powdered rice or oatmeal.

I just can't take the smell any longer, please help.

thanks
joe

I have read you can use oatmeal. I don't notice the smell of mine at all with potatoe flakes, but I think sense of smell sucks so who knows.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 D. azureus
0.0.3 D. imitators

Brewers yeast isn't a substitute. It's an additive some people put in their media recipes for the B vitamins. That's weird that I've heard other people complain about the smell of the potato flakes, too. I've always sort of liked the smell-- like sour dough starter. Maybe you are getting some sort of wild slime mold or other stinky contaminant. You might try using half instant oatmeal and a teaspoon or two of white vinegar (for about a cup of the media.) You might also try increasing the Baker's yeast you put on top.

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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos

Actually I use quite a bit of vinegar so I rarely see anything growing other than flies and mites.

Due to the extreme lack of humidity in Utah I have to keep all my cultures inside the nice humid greenhouse with little air cirulation....THEY STINK...They may smell like sourdough started when the smell isn't concentrated, but I may as well be hiding a dead body in my greenhouse. I think I'm going to try oatmeal and see what happens.

thanks
joe

I'm in SE Idaho. It's dry here, too. I keep the cultures in a dry (unhumidified) cupboard under one of the viviariums in the living quarters, and have a couple of boys around who would not be polite about it if they noticed a stink, so it's not just my own lack of discrimination. (I'm one of those rare people who don't find skunk odor offensive--so considered this fact when thinking this out.) So there's something else different here. I use 1 quart clear deli cups with a small quarter sized hole cut in the lid and fit the lids down over a tough paper towel. The flies do well and the cultures don't dry out, at least until they are spent anyway. Patrick Nabors (Saurian) has some new lids now that come with several small holes punched in them with a permeable substance covering these that seems less susceptible to dampness than paper towels. He sent me one sample in the last shipment and I really liked this. You might look into this.
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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos

Adding paprika drasticaly reduced odours in potato-flake based mediums when i used them. It gave the medium an odour reminiscent of barbecue chips.
Good luck
Double J

I just made my first media today i used 8 cups potatore flakes, 1 cup powder sugar, 1 cup brewers yeast, and 1/2 cup paperika.

Does that sound like a good ammount of paperika?

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

Sounds good to me. To be honest, it is not really a thing that Ihad ever measured exactly. I only ever eyeballed it.
Good luck
Double J

Alright, I'll try moving my mites and flies out of the greenhouse and put them on a shelf in the basement.

I don't really 'want' to stop using potatoe flakes since they are cheap and effect, but I still think they stink.

Slayton, Skunks? are you kidding?

Thanks
joe

No, I'm not kidding. Everyone thinks I'm nuts. We have a lot of skunks around here that are always "letting loose" around the house, especially in the spring. They are great mousers, so I never try to get rid of them. One night I went out in the dark to turn off the water and got skunked in the face. Now THAT was unpleasant. But otherwise, they just smell mildly musky to me. Then I read somewhere that there are other weirdos like me who are not bothered by the scent.
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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos

And, I thought I was the only one....
BTW, you can use a little bit of cinnamon if the smell bothers you real bad. Really cuts it down.