Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i need help badly on this. right now i have cypress mulch as my substrate but it creates so much dust when my tegu digs. he has humidity but it still creates a mess. not just a mess around his tank but everything in my room gets covered in a brown film. i can't stand it, i'm always cleaning. please what can i use that won't do this??

Let us all in on it. Big Tegu=big poo=big pee. My tegu tank holds 4-5 bags of Home Depot cypress mulch. The problem is that the mulch is not absorbent. Everything runs straight through. Right now I am looking for something, peat moss, potting soil, Tek-Fresh, etc. to mix with it to keep the dust down and hold a little moisture.

The cypress mulch has a good $ to product ratio but it isn't perfect. We are all open to suggestions and ideas.

Mike B

Hello there, A guy posted a while back about the same thing. He used a ratio of cypress and also a product like bed a beast mixed in with it I believe he said half and half. The bed a beast will cut the dust and hold moisture better as well as being more absorbant for your tegus byproducts. It should also cut the dust factor pretty good as well. Its just a thought. I plan on giving it a shot when I get home to see how well it works for me. Good luck
-----
Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

Home Depot yesterday and there was a smaller chunk cypress bark. It looked a little like that Jungle Mix. I'll let you all know how it works.

Mike B

I use that expandable substrate (like bed-a-beast) and it works good, raises the humidty, non-dusty, absorbs, and best of all doesn't mold (atleast not yet). The only problem is it can be quite expensive so mixing it in with something like cypress mulch would probably be a good idea.
-----
0.0.1 Green Water Dragon
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.1.2 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Columbian Red-tailed Boa
1.0.0 Yellow Ratsnake
0.0.1 California Kingsnake
0.0.1 Black and White Tegu

-----
0.0.1 Green Water Dragon
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.1.2 Bearded Dragons
0.1.0 Columbian Red-tailed Boa
1.0.0 Yellow Ratsnake
0.0.1 California Kingsnake
0.0.1 Black and White Tegu