# Best substrate



## KayleeJ (May 19, 2019)

I’m currently using orchid bark (two bags) as the substrate. However I want something better for her to dig into and that holds humidity well. I did see that you could use “organic top soil” as a good substrate for tegus but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to use. What would you recommend? And how many bags of the substance do you use?


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## Girros_the_tegu (May 19, 2019)

I use a mix of 1 part eco earth to 1 part organic top soil. It holds humidity decently well and my tegu hatchling seems to like digging it up and kicking it around. How many bags really depends on your enclosure size. I have a 4'x4' enclosure for my 3 week old hatchling and I used two 40lbs bags of top soil and like 9 bricks of eco earth.


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## KayleeJ (May 20, 2019)

Girros_the_tegu said:


> I use a mix of 1 part eco earth to 1 part organic top soil. It holds humidity decently well and my tegu hatchling seems to like digging it up and kicking it around. How many bags really depends on your enclosure size. I have a 4'x4' enclosure for my 3 week old hatchling and I used two 40lbs bags of top soil and like 9 bricks of eco earth.


I have a 5x2 currently but once she’s bigger I’m looking to upgrade to a 7x3. What type of top soil do you use? I want to find the right one for her.


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## AlphaAlpha (May 24, 2019)

I've used all sorts of substrate in the time I've had Alpha. Moss, bark, wood chip, hay, sand, gravel and soil or anything I have left over from any jobs...
The best??? all depends on your personal preference and extremes of cleaning or worrying that you go through.
Depth?? all depends on does your gu like to dig and forage.. Alpha only does it with his hay in his hide so I only have 2 to 4 inch substrate in the main enclosure and the depth of that is mainly to try and support some plant life.


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## KayleeJ (May 24, 2019)

AlphaAlpha said:


> I've used all sorts of substrate in the time I've had Alpha. Moss, bark, wood chip, hay, sand, gravel and soil or anything I have left over from any jobs...
> The best??? all depends on your personal preference and extremes of cleaning or worrying that you go through.
> Depth?? all depends on does your gu like to dig and forage.. Alpha only does it with his hay in his hide so I only have 2 to 4 inch substrate in the main enclosure and the depth of that is mainly to try and support some plant life.


I actually don’t mind the cleaning so that doesn’t matter to me. She absolutely loves to dig especially in her hide, she’ll take a bunch of the wood chips put them all in her hide and dig in. She’s currently near the end of her shedding (only the tail left to do) so i just wanted a bedding that’s good for digging and can hold up humidity well. That’s why I thought soil would be the best kind to do and mixed in with a bunch of moss.


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## AlphaAlpha (May 24, 2019)

In cleaning I meant more along the lines of how far you go to make sure things are clean for her E.g. pet store bought items only or anything with sense goes.

but all you can do is try and if it don't work just add something else


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## Tizzay89 (May 26, 2019)

Coconut husk n moss. Works well for me.


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