Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking to put peat moss in my spotted turtle set up. Im not sure if there is living peat moss that can purchased or if it is all dead. PLease advise and if anyone knowsw where I can purchase some I would be greatful

HI,

You can purchase live peat moss or more specifically, live sphagnum moss through several stores that carry supplies for exotic plants such as orchids and carnivorous plants. Just do a search on google for these plants. I grow carnivorous plants in addition to my herp hobby so there's a community out there too that needs this stuff. If you go to a nursery (or Home Depot/Lowes) they also carry sphagnum in bales but those are dried and processed so I don't know if you want that in your tank...you might as well go for soil in that case. In addition, usually that dried stuff is already dead and won't grow back like live moss would. There used to be a pond near my house that was starting to fill in and had tons of peat moss growing along its edges so I dug some up as a kid. I wouldn't advise taking it from anywhere wild anymore to be environmentally conservative.

If you do acquire some live sphagnum, try growing them on your own in a separate container..if you get the conditions/lighting/water correct, they will flourish and give you a steady supply. Also, peat moss will acidify the water and might help prevent fungus in the process.

Johnny

I looked into this a couple of years ago and found that it can be purchased from a local florist, if you’re willing to pay the price: $50.00 for the same-sized bag that the florist buys from his wholesaler for use with living arrangements of exotic plants. It’s about half the size of the bags of peat moss that you buy at a lawn and garden center, but it’s green (instead of the brown of dried peat moss), and it’s in clumps instead of shredded powder.

I can’t say for sure that it is re-vivifiable (because I decided that, for my purposes, the dried brown stuff was fine for the money) but it looked like it would work.