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Amount of substrate

Feyotter

New Member
Messages
19
Please help, I think I'm going to go crazy if I don't figure this out. Whether I use eco earth, or cypress mulch, or a mix of sand and soil and peat moss as the substrate, I must be looking at this wrong because 9 inches deep in a 4by8 enclosure seems to be about 24 cubic feet and eco earth (for example) is about $34 for 48 quarts and at that rate it would be hundreds of dollars to get 24 cubic feet! I must be doing the math wrong! So, to boil it down to its simplest terms - how many bags of a 48 quart bag will I need for a 4 by 8 enclosure? Also, and I know I'm opening a can of worms, but would eco earth be good for a tegu or should I go with something else? Thanks for any help you might be able to send my way!
 

Feyotter

New Member
Messages
19
Please help, I think I'm going to go crazy if I don't figure this out. Whether I use eco earth, or cypress mulch, or a mix of sand and soil and peat moss as the substrate, I must be looking at this wrong because 9 inches deep in a 4by8 enclosure seems to be about 24 cubic feet and eco earth (for example) is about $34 for 48 quarts and at that rate it would be hundreds of dollars to get 24 cubic feet! I must be doing the math wrong! So, to boil it down to its simplest terms - how many bags of a 48 quart bag will I need for a 4 by 8 enclosure? Also, and I know I'm opening a can of worms, but would eco earth be good for a tegu or should I go with something else? Thanks for any help you might be able to send my way!
Someone please help, I will be getting my enclosure made in about a week.
 

TheWonderer

Member
Messages
60
Eco-earth is too expensive for it to be reasonable as a substrate for anything bigger than a 40 gallon breeder. I spent almost $158 on that **** and barely filled up my enclosure. You pay too much for it when you could use a good mix of sand and top soil. I think Cypress mulch is good too.

I can't tell you how much you will need but I would go over the amount you think you will need because having too much substrate is never a bad thing. Trust me on this... Also, it will vary from bag to bag.
 

beantickler

Active Member
Messages
208
Location
Pittsburgh
haha when you figure it out let me know cause i spend around 250 every 2-3 months... I only have it in an area around 4ft x 3ft though just for his little den... I run 100% cypress from petco...
 

Feyotter

New Member
Messages
19
haha when you figure it out let me know cause i spend around 250 every 2-3 months... I only have it in an area around 4ft x 3ft though just for his little den... I run 100% cypress from petco...
Ouch! Too pricy for me! I'm going to go with a mixture of topsoil, sand and some moss to a depth of 6-7 inches which would be about 20 cubic feet. At Home Depot they have 1 cubic foot bags of topsoil for around $2 and bags of play sand for about the same so I should be able to spend about $40 for an adequate amount of substrate. So the only question is what ratio between soil and sand?
 

TheWonderer

Member
Messages
60
Maybe do 33% sand or so bc it might depend on quality. Also, check to be sure no harmful chemicals are in there for plant growth.

Personally, I still need to implement this for my boy.
 

Feyotter

New Member
Messages
19
Maybe do 33% sand or so bc it might depend on quality. Also, check to be sure no harmful chemicals are in there for plant growth.

Personally, I still need to implement this for my boy.
Actually the higher percentage of sand would also be good because I got my tegu from TegusOnly in Florida, and the soil down there is very sandy. And the soil from Home Depot is a children's play sand so it's washed and has no chemicals of any kind added to it.
 

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