Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we now have all the freaks on sandy loam. this sh%t has been working out real well.

it holds burrows, the beasts love burrow in it, love to mess up their cages in it (a sure sign)and have been digesting whatever they eat of it just fine.

it is called SANDY LOAM, you can get it at rock quarries and nurseries. the problem with a shovel is A: it takes too damn long, B: its difficult to find the right stuff (we have tried oh so many times), C: well i live in the PNW and have highly rocky soil due to you know all the mountains around us.

Anyways it only costs us like 15-20 a yard (yes, that would be a whole lot of digging, and for something that is probably better than the dirt you're gonna find in a lifetime).

i did find 2 yards for 25.

cheers, andrew
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Varanus Creations

Sandy loam??? My dad just bought some of that and its out in the backyard. I could use this for my ackies also????? Its the white sand right??

I have never seen it in a white form, it is generally brown like dirt.

cheers
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Varanus Creations

ok tne maybe im talking about the wrong sand.

Hey there. This is Jed Hassfeld, Andrews business partner. We use it with our ackies, and they LOVE it. It is some of the best subrtate that you can use with ackies. Have a good one!
Jed Hassfeld
Varanus Creations
varanuscreations.com

Thanks for letting us know! I live in the Pacific Northwest too and everything is rocking. I'll be looking for some of that stuff soon.

it actually works good or you are expecting it too?

Is it breathable or suffocating like clay?

Oh and by the top question I am just wondering if they have only burrowed in it and not actually laid fertile egg's that you hatched in it or???

Where is this sandy loam found? riverbeds? marshes? Or is it some sort of broken up rock like decomposed granite.

I am just curious cause you can dig a good burrow into snow but I doubt it wopuld make good substrate for my monitors. LOL

yeah, we have had argus lay and hatch in it, flavi argus crosses were laid and hatched by a local breeder (not us yet, because we haven't hatched any, they are a new project).

a red ackie female went down today in it.

so yeah, i think its fine.

btw, i didn't say it was snow, i think you know that

andrew
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Varanus Creations

Haha I know you did not say it was snow. I said you can dig a burrow into snow.

I was just offering up some of your anal_ogy is all.

I've had crosses lay a few good clutches in it, ackies as well.
Be careful, some places add manure to it before selling it.

thanks rsg,

would the acid in the soil be the worry?

it does seem to hold burrows well and the monitors seem to like it (as they use it).

andrew
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Varanus Creations

Personally, I think it has too much clay in it (at least the loam I get).
I have 1.2 ackies with loam, and 1.2 ackies with a material called "gold fines". I'll see which is better in the next few months.
Man I love ackies.

i'm really loving ackies as well. they are an all around great monitor. i will post pics as soon as my monitor buddy gets back from california (he's the picture guy we picked up 1.2 young adult reds a little while ago. before that i had a pair of yellows and a male red, great animals.

andrew
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Varanus Creations

what exactly is gold fines? is it available at nurseries? well, i will just call around, but i was curious in case they start asking questions that i can't answer at the nurseries, hahaha.

do you know of a finer substrate i could use for the kimberlys?

andrew
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Varanus Creations