best type of substrate

[New2Blues]

I was going to get soft coco husk but now I dont know. What would be the best substrate to use? I have Eco earth for my tarantula but I don't want to use that because its like dirt. What do you use and what works the best?

[Coomassie]

I did aspen for my northern for awhile but it dried out his belly a lot so I switched to cyprus mulch. I really like it.

[Kbell31]

I don't want to ruffle anyones feathers here, but I would suggest against using cypress mulch. I know many members do and like it a lot however cypress trees are becoming very limited in the southern states due to deforestation. Harvesting these trees destroys wetlands and also takes away one of the best natural defenses against hurricanes. If this concerns you, I would not contribute to the demise of these trees. It should be noted some mulch companies state they only use mulch from dead trees but I would be cautious of this. If you want to learn more, google save our cypress coalition

[Katrina]

I don't want to ruffle anyones feathers here, but I would suggest against using cypress mulch. I know many members do and like it a lot however cypress trees are becoming very limited in the southern states due to deforestation. Harvesting these trees destroys wetlands and also takes away one of the best natural defenses against hurricanes. If this concerns you, I would not contribute to the demise of these trees. It should be noted some mulch companies state they only use mulch from dead trees but I would be cautious of this. If you want to learn more, google save our cypress coalition

I wouldn't worry about ruffling feathers - this kind of thing is important to know. I've been trying to find an alternative to cypress, although I haven't found anything that I like nearly as much. I've been looking into various other mulches, although the most common mulch is cedar which should be avoided at all costs (this is the worst for the aromatic compounds that can cause respiratory problems in reptiles). I know members in Europe use beech chips, although I haven't found any locally. I've found reliable info that says that pine mulches are ok for reptiles, so that might be a possibility, although other reports still caution against its use due to the aromatic compounds (it isn't nearly as bad as cedar though). Aspen is fine, but I don't like how light and fluffy it is and it isn't as nice aesthetically as cypress. It also doesn't have the anti-molding properties that make cypress so ideal for more humid species. I've found reptibark is ok, same as cocohusks, but I can't find it as cheap.

Any thoughts? I'd love to find some sort of mulch that is similar but without the environmental concerns.

[Linnea]

how come people dont make their own mulch? from an environmental aspect that isnt very hard or a bad idea.
grass is a simple one to use, youd also do me a favour since im very allergic to it lol. most types of long grass isnt toxic and so on, just make sure not to get any poisonous plants mixed into it. but the chance your cypress mulch doesnt have that too is very small.

they have cypresses in my village o.o lots of them. old ones too. a street was named after them since theyre counted as exotic xD
they make a crazy mess by dropping plant parts all over, so i wouldnt be surprised if this could be used to make good mulch too. are you sure the company isnt doing this collecting too instead of dragging the whole tree down? i odnt have much hope they dont though.
all pine trees drop a lot.

i have tons of moss here. but if you dont have it then dont buy much - if you think its bad to remove cypresses then dont even start about the moss growth rate. or your furniture. from russian forests jah? they just mow it all down and dont say anything to anyone. great money for them.

[Katrina]

I think you are thinking of compost. The mulch people are referring to is the shredded wood of the trees, so you could required the whole tree and some sort of equipment to shred it up.

[Coomassie]

I don't want to ruffle anyones feathers here, but I would suggest against using cypress mulch. I know many members do and like it a lot however cypress trees are becoming very limited in the southern states due to deforestation. Harvesting these trees destroys wetlands and also takes away one of the best natural defenses against hurricanes. If this concerns you, I would not contribute to the demise of these trees. It should be noted some mulch companies state they only use mulch from dead trees but I would be cautious of this. If you want to learn more, google save our cypress coalition

I had no idea, honestly. I am going to have to start researching new substrates again.

[critterguy]

I've done some research on this. In many areas loggers are taking mainly floodkilled trees. Now this probably isn't harming anything but the slow growth and lifespan of these trees, along with the huge losses of these forest to farmland due to draining makes the idea of cypress forestry management somewhat laughable it seems.

I don't know what is ideal for bluetongue lizards(seems you want something that can be kept slightly moist, and is in large enough bits as not to get everywhere but not so large bits as to pose an impaction hazard) but many monitor people simply use topsoil dug from someplace(some hardware stores also sell topsoil, as well as compost). Many people don't have access to sites where they can get large amounts of clean soil. Soil also varies from locality to locality. Hard packing silty/clayey mixes might be particularly nice as they would be particularly easy to spot clean.

Pine mulch is probably better than pine shavings since from my understanding mulch has been aged for a bit, some much of the aromatics may have been broken down. Actually, I've toyed the idea of composting wood/cardboard to produce soft moist substrate. You'd probably need to harvest a bit of the innards of a old log in the forest, but this mixed in might provide the correct micro organisms to start the decomposition process and produce soft, moisture holding substrate. If you've ever dug into a really old log on the forest floor I'm sure you'd agree that the stuff would make amazing reptile substrate if it could be had in quantity.

[Blucas]

I've just switched to hemp based bedding, Aubiose. It's meant for horses, which means that a bale is huge, and is super cheap. It also seems to be pretty ethical. I'm liking it more than chips or aspen as it's softer and as Gonzo is lacking in the toe department he seems to find this easier to walk on.

[kcassoen]

one of the breeder who owned bts suggested me to use rabbit pellets for the substrate. He said that rabbit pellets are digestible, so dont need to worry about the way bts scoops their food. I hadnt tried out yet, but it sound very good for me

[Kbell31]

one of the breeder who owned bts suggested me to use rabbit pellets for the substrate. He said that rabbit pellets are digestible, so dont need to worry about the way bts scoops their food. I hadnt tried out yet, but it sound very good for me

Yes that is an option, but I believe rabbit pellets tend to mold easily. Just a thought to keep in mind.

[Kbell31]

I've just switched to hemp based bedding, Aubiose. It's meant for horses, which means that a bale is huge, and is super cheap. It also seems to be pretty ethical. I'm liking it more than chips or aspen as it's softer and as Gonzo is lacking in the toe department he seems to find this easier to walk on.

This sounds interesting. Does anyone know if we have that here in the states?

[Katrina]

I've just switched to hemp based bedding, Aubiose. It's meant for horses, which means that a bale is huge, and is super cheap. It also seems to be pretty ethical. I'm liking it more than chips or aspen as it's softer and as Gonzo is lacking in the toe department he seems to find this easier to walk on.

Oddly enough, I'd prefer a harder substrate rather than softer. I think that soft isn't great for getting shed off, I love that cypress is bits of wood rather than light and fluffy. They can dig in it, is keeps their nails down and it helps wear shed off. Not everyone agrees with this, but I much prefer having hard surfaces and stuff that they can possibly hurt themselves on (like driftwood or angular rocks) because they are tough creatures and I think it goes a really long way in helping shed and in keeping nails trim (assuming that they have nails to wear down!). I've thought of trying carefresh or other fluffy substrates, but I haven't wanted to go any fluffier than aspen. I know lots of people use carefresh or similar, so obviously this is just my opinion!

Critterguy - I've thought of soil mixes, fine texture soils such as clay / silts wouldn't be good for burrowing at all. I think varanid owners use a potting soil mix with sand, which allows some moisture retention as well as burrowing. It seems like it could work, it would be awfully heavy though. I might look into it, it would look nice.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Woohoo go soil scientist.
I've been thinking about that for the longest.
The three substrates I haven't tried but want to are:
-Dirt and dirt sand mixtures
-Leaf litter
-Aspen pellets

[Katrina]

Woohoo go soil scientist.

Well, if the blueys want to classify / map their soil and then get construction and reclamation guidance to meet environmental guidelines for their proposed disturbance to their enclosure I can probably help them. Otherwise, people who have been keeping varanids and other reptiles on soil mixes probably know a bit more than I do and I would listen to them over my speculation! But that was my guess, based on what I've read.

[Fernando]

Bummer. I just picked up my IJ from Deer Fern Farms (Doug) this weekend @ the show. They only had aspen shavings (the smaller shavings). I thought it would be okay to get if I fed my skink outside of his enclosure.

There goes money wasted...if I knew cypress mulch was better I would have just gotten a bag of that. Is my aspen okay to keep for the time being?

[Blucas]

I've just switched to hemp based bedding, Aubiose. It's meant for horses, which means that a bale is huge, and is super cheap. It also seems to be pretty ethical. I'm liking it more than chips or aspen as it's softer and as Gonzo is lacking in the toe department he seems to find this easier to walk on.

Oddly enough, I'd prefer a harder substrate rather than softer. I think that soft isn't great for getting shed off, I love that cypress is bits of wood rather than light and fluffy. They can dig in it, is keeps their nails down and it helps wear shed off. Not everyone agrees with this, but I much prefer having hard surfaces and stuff that they can possibly hurt themselves on (like driftwood or angular rocks) because they are tough creatures and I think it goes a really long way in helping shed and in keeping nails trim (assuming that they have nails to wear down!). I've thought of trying carefresh or other fluffy substrates, but I haven't wanted to go any fluffier than aspen. I know lots of people use carefresh or similar, so obviously this is just my opinion!

The hemp is strange, it's softer but not as fluffy as aspen, it seems to settle in a fairly smooth, dense layer, feels almost like short pieces of straw. I'd agree with you on the selection of surfaces in general, my other reps have naturalistic vivs with branches I've collected, rocks and real plants but Gonzo only has one toe and struggles to climb anything more than about an inch off the ground, poor boy. When I first got him I had planned to pimp the viv loads, but I'm unsure that he'd cope with it... We'll see how he fares after the weightloss.

[Katrina]

Bummer. I just picked up my IJ from Deer Fern Farms (Doug) this weekend @ the show. They only had aspen shavings (the smaller shavings). I thought it would be okay to get if I fed my skink outside of his enclosure.

There goes money wasted...if I knew cypress mulch was better I would have just gotten a bag of that. Is my aspen okay to keep for the time being?

Aspen is just fine. There is no reason to change unless you want to, but aspen is great for now.

[Fernando]

I noticed that when I first layed down the aspen and maybe 20 minutes later when I placed him inside he let out a sneeze/blow from his nose, I'm assuming because of the dust that is settling?

I went back home during lunch, took him outside to get some natural sun for about 20 minutes, when I put him back in, he did the sneeze/blow from his nose again. Is this normal?

Any suggestions?

Should This be split from the thread to its own? Sorry.

[Katrina]

It's ok - sneezing is totally normal, nothing to worry about. Any kind of discharge or weeping from the eyes or nose will be cause for concern, but sneezing it very normal, especially as they spend time digging and burrowing.