Hey guys,
I just updated four of the pictures, they are clearly marked:
http://www.geocities.com/deadfrog_fl/Pets.html
So I renovated the enclosure and changed the substrate out. Wow what a job. Anyway, it was previously 40% Sphagnum Peat, 40% playsand, 20% aspen, without moisture. The new substrate is 40% playsand, 40% planting soil, 10% vermiculite, 10% perlite, with lots of moisture (to start out anyway). Please note I only added the perlite because they ran out of vermiculite at Lowe’s. The substrate was previously about two inches and is now a full four inches deep. I also added some more climbing rocks and a new fake plant.
Findings: It appears that the size of the granules comes into play. Sand by itself is too small and becomes dusty and non-cohesive. So is the potting soil (the granules are too big). But together, along with the vermiculite (which has a consistency in between the two), they fill in each others’ gaps and become reasonably cohesive and retain moisture well. I think we have all been barking up the wrong tree, however. I think that baseball clay (Alabama Red Clay) or other clay based soils would work so much better than this sandy potting soil mix that everyone seems to like. Of course I came up with that after I was finished, go figure. At any rate, I found that putting a lot of moisture in the soil, and pounding it down with a brick works well. I deduce that this occurs outside, as everyday the rain and gravity pound the soil until it settles into something fairly dense. Anyway, the effect of pounding the moistened soil down with a brick seems like the most interesting finding.
Tomorrow I put them back in their renovated enclosure, and after a few days, we’ll see if they make any tunnels. Stay tuned…
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida
