| Author |
 Topic  |
|
oakleyman18
Hatchling
United Kingdom
269 Posts |
 Posted - 16/12/2010 : 14:48:41
|
Hi guys and girls,
For anyone new to Rainbow keeping, I thought it'd be useful to illustrate some of the types of substrate available which can help keep humidity levels at the high ranges needed for these animals...
I found this type of Husk/Bark to be OK, but nothing special...
Next I tried "Jungle earth", and exo terra branded substrate, but available in many forms...
But so far personally I have best results with "Plantation Soil", by quite a long way infact. It seems to regulate very well over time and keep levels high!
They all do the job to a certain extent, but I thought it'd be useful to share my experiences... Anyone else have any input??
Oscar
x
|
Oscar Morrell
0.1.0. Brazilian Rainbow Boa CB'10 "Jade"
1.0.0. Normal Cornsnake CB'00 "Camo" _RIP_
0.1.0. Normal Stripe, het Hypo, Amel, Lavender Cornsnake CB'11 "Amber"
0.0.1. Spider in the bathroom |
|
|
IncurableFlirt
Yearling
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - 16/12/2010 : 15:07:25
|
Great post, Oscar.  I had Marius on Astroturf for a looooong time. He liked it, and it was relatively easy to take care of, plus it is mold resistant and if you keep several pieces cut to the size of your tub/tank, cleanup is fast. The downfall is that you have to remove everything from the tub/tank in order to put a fresh piece in....but this method did work for me for a very long time. I never had problems with keeping the humidity up because I kept a water dish partly over his heat pad and since I use a tub for the time being, moisture is never a problem.
I have since switched to Eco-Earth, which I believe is just like your "Plantation Soil". It is made from crushed coconut husk and really holds the moisture extremely well. Marius LOVES to burrow in it and often curls up between it and the Sphagnum moss. I'm pretty sure that he likes it much better than the astroturf. Anyway, here's a picture of his astroturf setup back when I had that:
 |
Jenn.
11.8 Ball pythons
1.0 BCI boa
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa |
 |
|
|
Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 16/12/2010 : 17:21:45
|
| I agree: great post, Oscar! Another good option is a bark mulch made by Earth-Gro. It's a reddish-bown color, and I've heard good things about it (and know at least one breeder who uses it). It has the silver lining of available from garden supply stores, which saves herpers money and also lowers parasite risk. |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
|
|
|
oakleyman18
Hatchling
United Kingdom
269 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2010 : 17:34:21
|
Yeah I've seen lots of garden-type substrates available, and have been tempted because they are usually cheaper. I usually buy the dried Exo-terra ones, just because they seem to keep for a while before you need to actually use them, which is quite handy! I suppose I'm just a bit apprehensive about picking up something that might have been dug up from someone's garden  I'm sure that's not the case though!
Would you recommend doing something like putting hydroleca balls (can't remember exactly what they're called?!) underneath, then the main substrate ontop? What would you say was the perfect moist substrate setup? |
Oscar Morrell
0.1.0. Brazilian Rainbow Boa CB'10 "Jade"
1.0.0. Normal Cornsnake CB'00 "Camo" _RIP_
0.1.0. Normal Stripe, het Hypo, Amel, Lavender Cornsnake CB'11 "Amber"
0.0.1. Spider in the bathroom |
|
|
|
Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 22/12/2010 : 18:49:04
|
I'd say clay balls are great for certain situations: if you're having humidity issues, and don't mind the extra expense to buy and time to set up and clean/replace. I considered them for use in my moist hides, but decided to hold off for now.
As for a "perfect" Brazilian substrate, again it's a tradeoff against expense/time. I use a mixture of inexpensive paper towels and newspaper in the cages, but high-quality moss in the hides, coupled with automated monitoring and regular misting.
If neither time not money were an issue, I'd probably go for a cage design that either:
A) had a bottom tray of clay balls with water, some type of removable mesh floor divider, and a layer of bark mulch on top of that, or
B) had a bottom layer of bark mulch, and an automated misting system in the upper cage
Neither of those, however, are going to happen any time soon.... ;-) |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
|
|
|
martinking6
Hatchling
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
|
|
Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 14/01/2011 : 00:10:23
|
| I have not tried it myself, but have heard of people successfully using similar coconut-based products. |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
|
|
|
Welly
Hatchling
United Kingdom
164 Posts |
Posted - 14/01/2011 : 12:55:15
|
| I use orchid bark and spagnum moss mix. Samson buries him self in it and it holds humid well. Works for me. |
0.1.0 Royal Python
0.0.1 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
 |
|
|
|
oakleyman18
Hatchling
United Kingdom
269 Posts |
Posted - 15/01/2011 : 11:54:30
|
| I found Coco Husk to be OK, but much prefer plantation soil, I seem to get a bit of standing water underneath the bark which doesnt actually soak it up too well... But others seem to have had more luck |
Oscar Morrell
0.1.0. Brazilian Rainbow Boa CB'10 "Jade"
1.0.0. Normal Cornsnake CB'00 "Camo" _RIP_
0.1.0. Normal Stripe, het Hypo, Amel, Lavender Cornsnake CB'11 "Amber"
0.0.1. Spider in the bathroom |
|
|
|
hiper2009
Banned
United Kingdom
845 Posts |
Posted - 17/01/2011 : 15:14:24
|
| Nice post Oscar , However these substrates can get a lil over priced and what i do is pop down to my local garden centre (B&Q) and i buy a huge 100L bag of Orchid Bark its the same as reptile orchid bark and i buy this at the price of £5.99 or you can buy two bags for £10 and that one bag will last me about a year , I take some out and put in a big bucket and leave for it to dry out taking about 2days. |
|
|
|
jonty
Snake mite
11 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2011 : 00:21:29
|
| i've been using eco earth, but i found if you don't have enough ventilation to allow good air circulation the eco earth goes mouldy quite quickly, the problem is the better the air circulation, the quicker you loose humidity. |
1.1 Paraguayan rainbow Boa
1.1 Salmon Hypo Boa
1.1 common Boa Het albino
1.0 common Boa (partial tail stripe)
1.1 Sonoran Darf Boa
1.1 Western hoh nose snakes |
|
|
|
n/a
deleted
1 Posts |
Posted - 19/07/2012 : 20:12:35
|
#24444;#12425;#12399;#29872;#22659;#12395;#23384;#22312;#12377;#12427;#12391;#12354;#12429;#12358;#26893;#29983;#12398;#12392;#21516;#12376;#31278;#39006;#12391;#26368;#39640;#12398;#32321;#26628;#12377;#12427;#24444;#12425;#12364;#12356;#12383;#37326;#29983;#12395;#12392;#12393;#12414;#12427;#12398;#12391;#12399;#12394;#12367;#12289;#12372;#33258;#23429;#12398;#27700;#27133;#12434;#39166;#12427;#12395;#26469;#12427;#12371;#12392;#12364;#12391;#12365;#12414;#12375;#12383;#12290;#12371;#12428;#12399;#12424;#12367;#12354;#12394;#12383;#12398;#22633;#27700;#12398;#26893;#29289;#12398;#31119;#31049;#12434;#30906;#20445;#12377;#12427;#12383;#12417;#12395;#12356;#12367;#12388;#12363;#12398;#29305;#21029;#12394;#35698;#27497;#12434;#12377;#12427;#24517;#35201;#12364;#12354;#12427;#12363;#12418;#12375;#12428;#12414;#12379;#12435;#12290;#26893;#29289;#12399;#12381;#12398;#20809;#21512;#25104;#12503;#12525;#12475;#12473;#12434;#23455;#34892;#12377;#12427;#12395;#12399;#20108;#37240;#21270;#28845;#32032;#12392;#20809;#12434;#24517;#35201;#12392;#12377;#12427;#12289;#12354;#12394;#12383;#12398;#12424;#12358;#12395;#12289;#12479;#12531;#12463;#12399;#12289;#19968;#26085;#12398;#23569;#12394;#12367;#12392;#12418;#19968;#37096;#12418;#28857;#28783;#12377;#12427;#24517;#35201;#12364;#12354;#12426;#12414;#12377;#12375;#12424;#12358;#12392;#12375;#12390;#12356;#12427;#12392;#20154;#24037;#30340;#12394;#20108;#37240;#21270;#28845;#32032;#12398;#12503;#12525;#12487;#12517;#12540;#12469;#12540;#12398;#36861;#21152;#12364;#24517;#35201;#12394;#22580;#21512;#12364;#12354;#12426;#12414;#12377;#12290;
http://www.coachtokyo.net #12467;#12540;#12481;#12496;#12483;#12464;
http://www.coachtokyo.net #26032;#20316;#12467;#12540;#12481;
http://www.coachtokyo.net #12467;#12540;#12481;#36890;#36009;
http://www.coachtokyo.net #12467;#12540;#12481;
http://www.coachtokyo.net #20154;#27671;#12467;#12540;#12481;
#12467;#12540;#12481;#12496;#12483;#12464;: http://www.coachtokyo.net
|
Escorpio |
|
|
|
CDN_Blood
Rainbow oddball
Canada
489 Posts |
Posted - 19/07/2012 : 21:09:03
|
| Plantation Soil rocks! |
TODD
25 Years of Commitment and Responsibility in Private Herpetoculture |
|
|
|
Nathair2012
Hatchling
United Kingdom
158 Posts |
Posted - 18/08/2012 : 19:00:39
|
| So what is the best and cheapest substrate to use? We were sold some crappy wood chip stuff which completely drinks any moisture in the viv. We were then advised to use Orchid Bark next. Any advice? |
Dee |
|
|
|
jeff7377
New Member
USA
76 Posts |
Posted - 18/08/2012 : 19:17:04
|
| I use cypress mulch. It holds humidity well, is fairly inexpensive, easy to spot clean, and Peanut love to bury himself in it. I do not know what the availability is for it in the UK though. |
|
|
|
rfalla1980
Snake mite
United Kingdom
25 Posts |
Posted - 19/08/2012 : 09:35:18
|
I use Orchid Bark for the main floor and 2/3 sphagnum moss hides across the viv. I work long hours so I can't spray the viv during the day so it's important that my setup retains humidity as much as possible.
The Orchid Bark is really easy to spot clean every day and I do a full clear out every month which is a full disinfect, new bark, new moss, bleach hides, wood, everything basically.
I don't know about you guys over the pond but Orchid Bark/Sphagnum moss works out pretty cheap, I spend about £12 GBP every 2 months as a full bag of each does around 2 full cleans. |
0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa - Lolita
0.1.0 Pastel Royal Python - Miranda
0.0.1 Western Hognose - Squee
|
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Substrates
