Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone had success with Robyns formula for substrate? My ornates are on millet and they aren't gaining weight nor are they losing weight. I have had them for about 6 months now. They eat a mixute suggested by Doug Dix (from whom I purchased them). They seem to eat okay judging from their fecal matter. I am open to trying new things but would like to hear from those who have "been there done that". Thanks

Well, Robyn himself has had great success with soil substrate. (Read my post below).
I once tried birdseed but looking back I don't recall any positive results. It seems a bit odd to use something like that as substrate. It is not anywhere near natural. Not only that, since they eat the seed they are basically defecating and expelling urates into their food bowl. Just because one person uses that and says it works doesn't mean it's what's best for the lizards. In my opionion, a uromastyx is going to respond to living in as natural conditions as we can furnish. This means substrate, lighting, heat, food etc. I have yet to see pics of the African Birdseed Desert.
For even more about soil as a substrate, check the monitor forum here on kingsnake and varanus.net.

My Uros are all on playsand, though it leaves alot to be desired. Let's face it, they want to make burrows & that's near impossible in most enclosures. They can't tunnel in sand, but just scatter it all around. Birdseed is no different & let me tell you, if you ever are unfortunate enough to inherit a moth population from your birdseed, well, trust me, you will never use it again!! I won't.
I've heard good stuff about decomposed granite but haven't a clue as to where you can get it. At this point in our luck with Uros, playsand seems to hold the fewest negtives. Just make sure & give them LOTS of rocks to scrunch up underneath, none of which can fall under their burrowing attempts.

I got to thinking about growing up in Arizona and how as a kid, if you wanted to be cooler than the ambient temperature you just dug a hole in the sand. Not only was the ground cooler but also contained moisture. It stands to reason the varying degrees of moisture in an environment gives the lizards the ability to regulate themselves. I am not talking about surface humidity but subsurface. The relative humidity in the Sonoran desert(aside from monsoon season) is 5-15 percent yet in a tortoise burrow it is well above that. Sorry about the rambling. I changed my 4 diamter stock tanks substrate to a mixture of sand and topsoil and am going to see what difference it makes. One of the immediate things I have noticed is they ( 2 pairs of ornates) have stopped scratching at the sides as much and have started digging in the dirt. The jury is still out however time will tell! I am interested in seeing if their weight increases. I weigh them every Saturday prior to feeding so I hope to see some improvement within a month or so.

The only problem with using soil is your research. Robyn has had success because he has been using similar setups before and knows what will work from experience. If you want to use a soil/sand mixture (which I do by the way) DO NOT experiment with it in your enclosure. You do not want to use trial and error at the animals expense. Play with it in a big rubbermaid bin but please don't do it in the current setup with the uro's. Thats my thoughts.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.1 Weimaraner

your thoughts are definitely on track, nice application : )

check out the soil FAQ at our site, linked below, the Home Depot mix in particular works well and is easy to do, it works well for a wide variety of animals, lizards, geckos, snakes, and tortoises : )
Pro Exotics FAQ on soils

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles