my redfoot is a substrate snacker as well, but only when it's new to him. from the beginning i kept him on bed-a-beast, and he tasted a good bit of it, but after a couple of days he tired of it. i don't think that bed-a-beast has very much chance of causing an impaction - junior just pooped it out. i read somewhere that the ground coconut husk is just harmless fiber.

i tried switching to cypress mulch (much cheaper!), but of course he went to eat it - the pieces were big and jagged enough that i felt that there was too much risk of injusy, so to this day i stick with the bed-a-beast.

because it's been an exceptionally dry winter here and i was worried about humidity, i got some organic spagnum moss for him to play in... and right off the bat he came at it full speed like it was a salad buffet and ate it. he just sleeps in it now, though.

i suppose that for them, tasting things is a way to check out the environment around them...

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