Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took Pro Exotics advice and gave my uros new substrate. I Mixed Clay, Potting Soil, Sand, and vermiculite together. I tried packing it myself before giving it to them and it held nicly... I started a little dent into the "soil" so hopfully they'll get the idea and start tunneling... For those who have been using dirt, how long does it take for them to start digging? They were exploring and basking and eatting right away. Didn't act too upset by the change... How long before they start digging and tunneling?
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2.0.0 Iguanas, 2.4.0 Beardies, 0.2.1 Saharan/Nigerian Uromastyx, 1.1.1 Leos, 0.0.1 African Fat Tail, 1.0.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 0.0.1 Fla Garter Snake, 0.1.0 eastern garter, 0.0.1 Corn Snake, 0.0.3 Fire Belly Toads, 1.0.0 Eastern Painted Turtle, 0.0.1 African Sideneck, 1.1.1 Horses {Baby next May!!!}, 2.2.0 cats, 0.1.0 dog, and I'm done for now.....

My small mali's and ornate dug burrows within a couple of days. My adult mali's havent really dug any burrows but they have dug under the large rocks. Thay have been on dirt for a few weeks.
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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

My adults never really dug tunnels, I have lots of pieces of slate and rock scattered all over the tank. They just dig under them. So instead of digging tunnels, mine just dig under surface rocks and make their burrows their, and my hatchling Hummer sleeps in rock crevices. Each of them have "their" spot, so if i go into the tank i usually know where they are. my hatchling stuby dug under neath a rock and made a small tunnel, but decided to start sleeping in the crevices with Hummer eventually. I know that my soil is perfect for digging, but i think if you supply them with lots of surface rocks they wont need to dig tunnels, they will just dig under the surface rocks.
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Mike
1.1.2 maliensis (Spike, Marshmellow, Stuby, Hummer)
0.2 acanthinurus-werneri (Athena,LS)
0.1 ornata (Chubs)
0.1 Pit Bull/German Shephard/ Lab/ ect. mix (Kodak) - looks like an over grown toco bell dog.

I don't really like the idea of keeping my uro in an enclosure where it hides somewhere I can't get to if I have to. I also don't have a very big enclosure right now (it's 48"x13"x13", so I couldn't do more than a couple inches of dirt anyways. I'm thinking if I do try out the dirt thing this summer, I'm going to do 3" or so and then make some of those hide things where you just break an entrance hole in an upside down saucer from a clay plan pot. Then sort of make it so just the top of the thing is sticking up, but the whole inside is filled with dirt, and the entrance way is sort of dug out a little (to give him the idea).

I'll have to wait till summer to try it out though. For now I'll just use the old stand bys of uro husbandry.

-ryan