Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious about what substrate seems to work best for gaboons, I use dcl cage liners for most of my collection, was going to go natural for my gaboon. Cypress is good but i am worried about maybe bringing mites into my collection (have not seen a mite in 4 years)would love to keep it that way. Thanks Jason

Substrate will depend on what your goal is: naturalistic/semi naturalistic or easy maintenance. You can certainly keep a gaboon on paper despite their high humidity requirements. You can even provide a thick bed of shredded newspaper that is moistened and then wrung dry. I personally get nervouse with cypress due to the large splinters that can be ingested by the huge gape of a gaboon. For our exhibit, we provide 3-4 inches of a combination of top soil, peat, leaf litter/forest humus and some grounded fir bark or something similar. We then place 6" of leaves on top which is where the gaboon nestles into. This provides a great set up for a gaboon and its very easy to maintain (just "rake" the substrate once a week to stimulate good aerobic activiy with bacteria).

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>Just curious about what substrate seems to work best for gaboons, I use dcl cage liners for most of my collection, was going to go natural for my gaboon. Cypress is good but i am worried about maybe bringing mites into my collection (have not seen a mite in 4 years)would love to keep it that way. Thanks Jason
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I've used cypress mulch for the last 6 years and have never seen a mite. You're getting cypress mulch from a hardware/garden store and not a pet shop. I don't get where it would pick up reptile mites.

I have been using cypress mulch for most of my venomous for the last 5 yrs and have not had mites. I get it at Home Depot. It's cheap, holds humidity well, easy to clean, and looks good.
-robbie