Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all - I have indeed read the pro exotics page, but am still a bit confused on substrate.

What do you all use? I am not lucky enough to have the substrate they recommend.

Please help me if you can. Right now I have my own mix of playsand/peat moss/coco husk/and cypress bark and they seem ok...

i just got four baby ackies a couple of days ago and i tried to find the "decomposed granite" and i couldn't find it. i live in the New England region and it isn't available here. I called every place and they never herd of it. They like laughed at me when they asked what i needed it for and i said for some lizards. But what im using now is a thing called "fine river run silt". it is pretty much an extremly extremly fine sand thats almost feels liek dirt it's so fine. the thing i love about it is that it holds moisture excelently and it packs down really easily and hard. they seem to love it and dig in it under their water bowl. everything i've herd about these little guys are true. i purchased four of them (tehre jz a coupel of weeks old) and they all have different personalities, they can run and jump really fast and good. they like to lay on each other and run and climb on everything. yesterday i fed them some mealworms and crickets and today i fed them finely chopped fuzzies, they loved it! i can't wait until they're adults so i can breed them. when i breed them and have babies i will try and attend the herp shows in the New England region so if any of you would like some of the best and reddest ackies look for me in a year or so at herp shows.

Nathan

what folks seem to miss most in our Soil FAQ is that OUR SOIL DOESN'T MATTER

it isn't about being able to find decomposed granite. most people can't. some that can, only find the chunkier, unusable stuff, and then they think i am some kind of lunkhead...

there is no brand name for it, but it is not important. what IS important is to get out there and FIND YOUR OWN LOCAL OPTIONS. call around, sure, but not just for decomposed granite, call around for "soil", find some good possibilities, and then go try it out.

we went through half a dozen different types before settling on what we thought worked best. and the DG is just that, a SETTLED FOR soil. it does perhaps 85% of what i would like it to do. but for our setup, our tonnage, and our needs, it was the best choice we had.

take a few five gallon buckets, and go get some different types of soil. setup some 10 gallon or 20 gallon tanks, just like you would for a baby monitor, with hides, basking stacks, water bowl, lids, ventilation, etc, and work with it for a couple of weeks. get your temps right, and see how it responds. dig in it, burrow in it, just spend time with it.

some soils will be crap in 6 hours, you will know right away they are bad. others will work great when wet or moist, and then turn to concrete overnight. just mess with different stuff, and while you are learning about soil, you will find one that works.

if you completely fail at finding a nice local soil, then try the Home Depot mix from the FAQ. it works pretty well, and while using it, you can start to understand what it is that you are looking for, the good and the bad.

perhaps i will add an addendum to the soil FAQ, because so many folks get stuck on the "DG" and really miss the true point, and that is to explore your local resources, and find something accessible to you that works well. there are plenty of choices out there, folks just need to learn to recognize them

best of luck!
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I think it's more ammusing that everyone wants ackies in hopes of breeding and selling the offspring.

Is this the right time for my OWN shameless advertisement?