Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what does everyone use for a water dish for redfoots? I've been using a plant saucer and they poop in it daily and it STINKS!!! What is everyone else doing about this aroma issue besides cleaning the dish 20 times a day!
Also what sort of substrate are you using for larger indoor enclosures? Thanks!

I keep my Cherry Head in a 75 gal planted vivarium. I mixed peat moss, top soil, and forest floor, by zoo med. Then I put some green moss on the top, and planted some dandilion and small Rose of Shannon. In the hide I put long fibered moss. The water dish is in the middle, and I just clean it once a day. The viv. never had an odor and I haven't changed the substrate since I set it up 10 months ago. On one side over the hide I have a heat emitter, and on the other side a long tube 10.0 UVB. I put a screen top to filter out the light..(most people say they don't need to bask and live on the forest floor with only sun filtered through tall trees) He is a year old now and so far so good.
Here's Pio

I use cypress mulch in the pen when I move my redfoot inside during the winter. Holds moisture if needed, drys out well so doesnt mold, and is cheap when purchased at a garden supply center (big bag for a couple of bucks). I am currently keeping my baby redfoot and yellowfoot on cypress mulch inside as well. As far as the water dish, I also use plastic plant saucers of appropriate size. My babies poop in theirs on a daily basis too. Part and parcel of keeping them. You just got to empty and clean daily. My subadult outdoors doesnt defecate in her dish near as much, but it does happen occasionally. The dish has to be shallow enough for them to get in and out easily, so you are kind of limited in what you can use. You can use a larger plant saucer when they get older, or build a small shallow pond/puddle like feature in their pen if kept outdoors using concrete. I even used a shoebox sized plastic box for bigger torts.