Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello all. if it's not too much trouble, i'd love to hear what everyone uses for substrate (not just in the hide, but everywhere also). so, whether its mulch, soil, or a mixture (tell me the ingredients and ratio!) please take a minute to state what you use and how well it works. also, feel free to post any anecdotes, opinions and experience on the matter. this is a huge help for me and probably tons of other owners who are contemplating a change in substrate. thanks a million!

what i use: shredded shagnum peat moss (it looks just like dirt) in the hide box and timothy hay for the rest of the cage. they seem to enjoy bothand i haven't had any shedding problems, but i want to increase the humidity in the entire cage to stimulate more activity, so i want to put something like mulch, soil or a mixture under the timothy hay and perhaps do away with the hide box and let them make their own burrows.
-----
if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

i dont mean to be an ass but didnt you have apost about this like a week ago and we all gave you our opinons then? your best bet is going to be either soil or mulch and you will not go wrong with either. they both have the good and bad. it is basicaly trial and error. ty both and see what you get for results.

yeah i posted a week ago. i got two responses. what's your point? i already got another person to give his opinion by using a broader topic for my post title rather than just asking if they use soil or mulch. what's the big deal? does it bother you? i really appreciate the responses you gave me, i read them, i was just hoping to get other peoples attention, which i did. that's all, if it bugs you... why? i'm not usually the guy who bugs people. i just posted the topic again because i know not everyone goes all the way down the list of topics, you might, i may, but not everyone always has the chance to, and i was just trying to get their attention.
-----
if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

I'm using Repti Bark, and while it might not hold the moisture as well as soil or mulch, it is tremendously easy to spot clean and keep clean. I just shovel out about half of it every two weeks and then rinse it, and put it back in. My Tegu seems to like it to, burrows in it, uses it to wipe his face and whatnot. I use shredded coconut bark for the hide box to hold moisture a little better.
JonV

I currently use a mixture of peat moss and play sand. Probably about 70% peat moss and 30% play sand. They seem to really like it. Plenty of digging. Does really well with humidity. Definitely easy to clean up. And best of all........it's cheap!!! Which means that I'm happy to do large substrate changes more often.

I've tried Repti Bark in the past and it was okay. If you get it too moist and areas don't have a chance to really dry out, you can have mold and mildew problems. That and the dust really got to me. Blake would pop up from burrowing and just be coated in red dust.

I've also tried Forest Bed and all three tegus have loved it. I actually have Trinity (blue tegu) on a mixture of left over Forest Bed and play sand. It works just as well as the peat moss and is also inexpensive. I use it in the same ratio as the peat moss and play sand.

Lindsay

I've used cypress mulch, peat moss and now coconut fiber. I've put all these in the hide box and for the substrate. Peat moss seems to hold the most moisture but if it got too wet it would sometimes mold. The coconut fiber looks very similar to peat moss and holds almost as much moisture but it's not supposed to mold as easily (mine hasn't).

I was wondering why you say "i want to increase the humidity in the entire cage to stimulate more activity".
Where have you heard that, why does it stimulates activity?

my tegus always seem to get more active after i mist their enclosure. i don't think it's because they think they're going to get fed, because sometimes i do it while they sleep, or are in their hidebow, or burrowed under the hay. but whenever they have a moist enclosure they seem to dig more and explore more. i think i read somewhere (i may be mistaken) that tegus are more active in the rainier periods of the year.
my enclosure, while it hasn't caused any shedding problems yet, seems a little too dry for my tastes if i don't stay on top of misting (like once or twice a day). the tegus haven't had problems shedding because they always use the hide box (filled with peat moss) whenever they're about to shed.
-----
if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

Mine always seem a bit more active too after I mist........not sure if it has to do with them wanting to just warm up or something though. If they were hiding or even just on the cool side of the cage and I mist them, they all wind up basking for a bit and moving around afterwards. I think it is probably to heat up/dry off, but im not positive. Chris

For my Tegu, I'm using straight cypress mulch. I should have his new enclosure built in another month or so and I will try soil (the current cage is not deep enough to hold the dirt). He has no hides in his cage but instead just buries himself in the cool end where I pile up the cypress. My baby Water monitor has about 4 inches of soil (just good ol' South FL dirt which is a sandy, loamy mix) and he/she loves it! Loves to dig and create burrows and I'm hoping the Tegu will like it just as much. Here is a pic of the baby Water in a nice burrow it dug out under the water bowl. Crappy pic, I know, but you get the idea.

>>hello all. if it's not too much trouble, i'd love to hear what everyone uses for substrate (not just in the hide, but everywhere also). so, whether its mulch, soil, or a mixture (tell me the ingredients and ratio!) please take a minute to state what you use and how well it works. also, feel free to post any anecdotes, opinions and experience on the matter. this is a huge help for me and probably tons of other owners who are contemplating a change in substrate. thanks a million!
>>
>>what i use: shredded shagnum peat moss (it looks just like dirt) in the hide box and timothy hay for the rest of the cage. they seem to enjoy bothand i haven't had any shedding problems, but i want to increase the humidity in the entire cage to stimulate more activity, so i want to put something like mulch, soil or a mixture under the timothy hay and perhaps do away with the hide box and let them make their own burrows.
>>-----
>>if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

It's ok at discuss this from time to time. Heck, I'm gonna try some of your ideas.

Thanks,

Mike B