Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just purchased a pair of Niger Uros and will pick them up in about 9 days and I cannot wait. They are a couple that has a good history of reproducing in captivity and I hope to breed them. I have several options for substrate and have looked into several products from Millet seed to sand. I have herd several people talk about Play Sand and I would like to make their environment as close to the wild as possible so I think sand is the way to go. I would like to know a name brand of Play Sand that people have had good luck with. Of course a non silica blend is what I am looking for! Any information would be great.

Uros don't live on sand dunes, or in a sand box, so playsand is not "natural".

they live in a diggable, burrowable soil. you can read more about soils in our FAQ, i will link it below.

not all soils are the same. some folks have great soil in their backyards, or get it from a local creek bed or forest. some folks only have poor soils naturally available. if you want to work with a store bought soil, try the "Home Depot mix" of topsoil/sand/vermiculite. we have used that in a 50/25/25 mix and it works very well. others have used 50/50 soil and sand with success. the ratios are not exact, and you also need to add moisture, but you must learn for yourself (by doing) what ratio works in your situation, and what amount of water moisture is either too much, or too little.

if given access to a decent soil, Uros will burrow, dig, and thrive.
Pro Exotics FAQ on soils

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Once you've established your mix & introduced the Uro to it, what do you do to maintain the moisture within it? Sounds like that might be the tricky part. I have to agree with you; sand by itself really provides nothing of substance. The Uros spend too much time in futility trying to burrow into something that only collapses around them.

adding water is part of your husbandry routine. you add water once a week, or half as much twice a week. it doesn't take much to figure out exactly how much to add, you develop a feel for it pretty quickly.

we don't bother misting it or spraying it, just dump some water in, it will disperse on its own : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I understand they dont live in the dunes and I also understand they do not live on Millet seed or for that point any type of seed, and I have seen how they thrive in captivity with both types of substrate. I am going to look into your recommendation on the topsoil from Home Depot.

Thanks again and hopefully I will have some pictures in the near future.