Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking to grow moss in my terrrarium to, among other things, keep the bedding from getting everywhere when my RETF climbs around. I will, at the same time I start this project, make a pretty extensive re-do of the entire tank.

I have two goals surrounding the moss in the terrarium
1. to get it to grow on plastic features like an exo-terra waterfall and a fossil wall and
2. to do so without having to suspend the long-term activity of the tank

I've read about the moss buttermilk milkshake, and thus far only heard one person say it was ok to use alongside animals, so that one definately lacks potential.

The other one I've heard is stale beer and clay put in a blender. This actually sounds pretty appealing. If I leave the beer out long enough or cook it, the alcohol problem should not be an issue. What I'm concerned about is it's pH- fresh beer has a pH of about 3.5, which I am afraid will be bad when my RETF creeps over it, and that it may also sour the water supply below her substrate. Using my basic college chemistry experience, I would imagine letting the beer flatten or stale would raise the pH some, but I don't know if it would be a safe level.

Any feedback on 1. required substrate pH for RETF's or 2. the safety of the procedure?

Has anyone tried this?

Well, I don't know much about either method your speaking of in regards to accelerating moss growth. Unfortunately you're talking about trying to encourage growth on an inert substrate - ie. the plastic of a waterfall and background piece. The mosses you're thinking of like to grow on an organic substrate thereby having a source of nutrients extracted both from the decay of the organic material and also from minerals carried in the water/humidity that comes in contact with the moss. Pretty much all of the frog vivaria I've seen with really lush growth are the product of months and even years of plant growth on natural substrates like tree fern panels, coconut fiber panels, or cork bark. I just doesn't sound to me like there's an easy solution to getting that 'lived-in' look more quickly.
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Matt Campbell
25 years herp keeping experience
Full-time zookeeper
Personal collection - 21 snakes (9 genera), 20 lizards (4 genera), 6 chelonians (2 genera)

Well, I know didly about didly, but you could try a dark beer, like Guinness, it's not carbonated with carbon dioxide, it's done with nitrogen. This should help cut down on the pH, but thats just a guess. Probably not a good idea to go with beer anyway, I'd just drink it all instead.
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Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

i have tried it and got nothing but mold.i tried both methods and its been over 4 months.just a side note,the exoterra waterfall is not made of plastic,at least not the new ones(i just bought one)they are made of some sort of rock or cement or something other than plastic.i bought it after trying the moss trick and even though i used no moss slurry on it,im not starting to get moss growth on it,or maybe algea,but either way it looks older and less fake.it has lots of texture and tiny holes it it,so before you install it,make a thick mud from soil and water and rub it all over the waterfall and let it dry.then install it as usual and it will have something to support life.hope this helps.i think the moss slurry idea is more for outside and the high temps and humidity in vivariums,combined with the food(buttermilk or bear is just too tempting for mold and other faster growing fungi that kill off all plants and moss.