Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I was wondering if the bags of peat you can get at the plant store would be a good substrate for a tiger sally----it is much less expensive than the jungle mix and more accessible, and I don't trust the soil around the house, since I had more sallies who died of something that appeared to be eating at their bellies and hands (and I didn't have any crickets in the tank with them). Thanks for any info!

I've never tried commerical peat moss, but what I do use and have for a few years noe is cypress mulch. I get 40 pound bags for $4 and that's a lot cheaper than that compressed crap that you get at pets stores. Stick it in a plastic bag and microwave for a few minutes to kill anything that shouldn't be in there. once it's cool use it the same way you'd use any other substrate. I have all my amphibians on this and they thrive. A good rule of thumb with substrates is to make sure that there are no impurities ie, fertilizer, coloring, pesticide, etc. If you can find commerical peat without anything added I'm sure it would be fine, just use common sense. Best of luck.

Thank you so much for the help! Will try and see if I can find some cypress mulch. Also, do you know what "activated" peat is? That's apparently what I got, and no one at the plant or pet stores around here can tell me what that is and if it is safe for a salamander substrate. Frustrating!

I'm not sure what activated means specifically, but you may want to avoid it as it probably has something added.