Buying Substrate

[Harveysherps]

I use plain old Peat Moss. It works great and you can get it just about anywhere.

 

[Kharnifex]

watch out though, if any of that moss in there comes back to life as it does some times it'll leach all the alkiline out of the water and make it acidic.

or so i'm told.

 

[Harveysherps]

Good to know. I've never had problems so far. That's good to know though.

 

[DaveDragon]

I use plain old Peat Moss. It works great and you can get it just about anywhere.

I'd be afraid of them inhaling the fine dust.

 

[Harveysherps]

If you keep it moist it doesn't have dust. It takes a little more work but It's not really all that bad. But I understand what you mean. They inhale dust in the wild. I'm sure their system would be used to it. To an extent. I've never seen a burrow that the entrance wasn't just powdery dust. Not that I've seen one other than pictures . Just trying to make a point.

 

[DaveDragon]

When our male Blue Tegu got impacted from, I assume from eating his cypress mulch, I changed him to organic top soil (as suggested by someone in another forum). When he couldn't burrow in it I added some peat moss. It was softer but he still wouldn't burrow in it. I talked to Bobby and he said the dirt and peat moss was bad for him and to go back to mulch, except to spray it with a diluted vinegar/water mixture (to make it less palatable).

 

[Harveysherps]

So in other words douche your substrate .To make it's less likely to be eaten. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL Thank god that doesn't apply to all things. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

 

[Kharnifex]

LLLLOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!

 

[DaveDragon]

I'll let that pass.

 

[Harveysherps]

Sorry couldn't help myself.

 

[AB^]

i just bought 6 cu feet of cypress for about 61 bucks. (3 2cu,ft bags) welcome to california, the land of no cypress

I too live in CA, and have never used cypress. I use redwood mulch from the brand "gorrila hair" and though baking the mulch is a good idea it's not really all that feasible for the amount of substrate needed in large enclosures.

 

[olympus]

I also get my mulch from agway.

 

[DaveDragon]

Sorry couldn't help myself.

I know, I expected the douche response. That's what it is! I'm not sure if it helped or even if I used enough.

 

[Kharnifex]

i thought redwood mulch contained phenols??

 

[akward_silence91]

Is kellog gromulch ok? Its not cypress, but california sucks and doesn't sell it as you all know. and its natural.

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[RehabRalphy]

To be honest, I"ve never baked any of my cypress and never had any issues.

Buy plain cypress, no dies are additives.

 

[Markie]

Is anyone else's cypress really splintery and chunky? That kind of sounds like a weird way to describe it, but that's how my cypress was and it didn't seem right..

 

[HaskovoPunch]

I've used ground coconut for a while now and have had no problems. Plus it holds moisture very well. You can buy it in compacted bricks. Soak it in water and it grows like one of those sponges in the pill capsules.

 

[Kharnifex]

anyone know of redwood contains phenols??

i would love to use it in my inclosures as it's dirty cheap here and is the consistancy of shredded chunky hair, perfect for adding volume to my cypress.

dude, DONT use that kellog stuff! thats fertalizer! it's just a ton of chemicles in a little dirt.