Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im trying to find the best substrate for my aft. I am considering jungle earth, bed a beast, sphagnum moss, eco earth... which one is the best? is one easier to clean than another, will one hold too much humidity?? or not enough?? how about needing to be replaced sooner?

thanks

I have used eco earth and such before. They work of but they get a little loose when they dry out. Jungle earth is ok but if you go with that, why not just use cyprus mulch? Pretty much the same thing, just cheaper.

I use the fine grain play sand that was sifted and spegums petemoss (sp) I tried bed a beast but found it would dry out too quickly and pack down into clumps. Fat tails were getting long strings of the coconut stuck in their mouths.
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com

you mix the two.... the moss and the sand?? it helps to hold humidity? i have him on repti-sand right now.... but its not a calcium sand. you use play sand?? i thought that that wasnt so good because of the risk of bugs and parasites.... its so tough when you hear this here and that there.... please help me to find just the right thing for my guy.
thank you

I've never had a problem with bugs in my bags of play sand. I dont mix the 2 i put the moss in the humid hide and keep the sand on the rest of the tank bottom. The moss is great with holding moisture. Don't use the regular dusty type of moss.. I use psygums(sp) petemoss.
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com
President of Friends with MS
www.friendswithms.com

right now i have paper towels in the humid hide, and that seems to work just fine. I have repti sand on the bottom of the tank, as substrate. ive found, though, that a lot of people using sand that have posted on the forum have gotten a lot of chastising for using sand, since they are humid loving animals... but like i said, i get a lot of mixed responses. tis very confusing.

I am one of the people who will advise against using sand with AFT's.
I do not agree with the use of sand, even with a humid hide for african fat-tails. These guys are not found in arid conditions, sand is not natural for them. So why use it?

AFT's are found in West Africa (Nigeria to Senegal). The climate for these countries is a tropical one. Granted there is a wet season (hot and wet) and a dry season (hot and dry), but it is still tropical. Only one part of Northern Nigeria is arid but this is not in the real range of AFT's.

If you really want to use sand with your AFT's then mix the sand with bed-a-beast or something similiar to make it a "sandy soil, type" mix. This helps hold the humidity.