# Woodmites/New substrate....



## Kharnifex (Jun 23, 2008)

hi all, my tank has cypress mulch mixed with coconut coir (brick stuff) i got wood mites, BAD thousands of em. Gora hates em, she won't burrow she stays on her basking site or the bare wood in one corner, basicly i leave her tank open and she just goes in to bask or drink water. this is bad as my room is only 50% humidity. so i'm overhauling the tank. taking out all the cypress mix and cleaning the tank.

1st: i'll be using a 10% bleach/water solution. for the walls and floor of the tank. can i let this air dry or do i rinse it and soak up the water? the tank is 8' x3'6" and like 2' tall its a pain to get in it's actually a cheap boa tank laid on it's back. made of plywood. basicly a peice of crap. but untill i can afford a nice tank it's all i got. how do i get the bleach out of the tank after i've killed the mites? will it be ok to air dry? if so, how long? as this could be a potential health hazard for my girl i will not move foreward on this untill i get some answers on how to do this the right way.

and now, my new substrate: Decomposed granite! 
i read on the pro-exotics page that they've been keeping high humidity burrowing monitors on this stuff with great results, they were using cypress mulch before. but the granite actually seems to preform better.
it's very soft, holds moisture, and clumps well enough to hold a burrow. my choosing this is based off my mite problem as well. Mites eat wood. Granite is not wood. Mites don't eat granite!

here is a little thingie on there new substrate:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ2.html#19a">http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ2.html#19a</a><!-- m -->

what are your thoughts? i got this stuff locally once i get an answer on the sterilization process i'll be moving this stuff into her inclosure. then in a few days i'll give my (and more importantly her) thoughts on this stuff as a tegu substrate.

also last but not least i have a few large peices of eucalyptus bark that i want to keep as hides. to be placed on top of the granite. they are mite infested, what temp do i bake and for how long??

thanks folks.


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## Kharnifex (Jun 24, 2008)

bobby answered all my questions last night (Man that guy is awsome!) and i was able to get everything done. lol who'd think granite would be so heavy ehh? man, lugging that stuff was a pain. 

my girl hasn't tested it out yet as she was sleeping still when i went to work today, but the cage is open, so she'll be checking it out soon (her curiosity is unquenchable) hopefully she'll like it, i'll be able to tell, and keep you updated.


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## wildartist (Jul 25, 2020)

Kharnifex said:


> hi all, my tank has cypress mulch mixed with coconut coir (brick stuff) i got wood mites, BAD thousands of em. Gora hates em, she won't burrow she stays on her basking site or the bare wood in one corner, basicly i leave her tank open and she just goes in to bask or drink water. this is bad as my room is only 50% humidity. so i'm overhauling the tank. taking out all the cypress mix and cleaning the tank.
> 
> 1st: i'll be using a 10% bleach/water solution. for the walls and floor of the tank. can i let this air dry or do i rinse it and soak up the water? the tank is 8' x3'6" and like 2' tall its a pain to get in it's actually a cheap boa tank laid on it's back. made of plywood. basicly a peice of crap. but untill i can afford a nice tank it's all i got. how do i get the bleach out of the tank after i've killed the mites? will it be ok to air dry? if so, how long? as this could be a potential health hazard for my girl i will not move foreward on this untill i get some answers on how to do this the right way.
> 
> ...


I’m curious about the decomposed granite, it’s expensive ($29 for a 20lb bag), but I like the idea of a more sterile environment. Keep us posted!


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