Moss Type?

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 590

hi, i'm making hides for my tegu as she spends 80% of her time out of her cage.

my question is what type of moss to put in the hide? i saw a huge bag of peat/sphagnum but it looked like dirt, not moss.

i also see green moss like they put on the top of planters, is that the stuff i want? if so, is it allways expensive or are my local stores just trying to rip me off?

800cu for 8 bucks. seems kinda high.

has anyone who can't find an appropreate mulch tried using moss as a general substrate?

my tegu hates her decomposed granite. she doesn't even try to dig in it. i'm getting it out of there as soon as i can locate a replacment.
_________________
1.1.0 Arg B/W Tegu Joker n Groxy
1.0.0 Australian Water Dragon "Spyro"
1.0.0 Red Eared Slider "Turdy"
0.1.0 White Dwarf Hamster "MiMi"
1.1.0 Black&Albino Kingsnakes "Pearl & Hannibal"

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1470

Hi worldeater, I just use the cypress mixed with organic top soil for the hides as well. using about 1/3 of the top soil helps solidify the burrow.

I know the sphagnum moss is NOT good to use it can carry a fungus that can infect your tegu.

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 590

i went with green moss. i have no idea if it's sphagnum or not. it looks like feathers kinda. i soaked it all in scalding water for an hour. made a huge hide for her.

lol, yea, go ahead, brag about the easy avalibility of cypress in your area, don't worry i will bottle up all my envy and stuff it deep down inside my soul where it will fester and rot. slowly eating away at the last vestiges of my humanity.

hey, speaking of substrates, i found orchid bark, but it looks like the eco earth stuff. there is no "bark" in it. is that normal? it looks like it would get dusty. it's a good substrate?

god i hate norcal and our mulch issues. i was at a huge home improvment and lumber spot dude, they have pallets and pallets of mulch, literal walls of the stuff. you know what i saw? Redwood, Cedar, Redwood, RedBark, Shredded Redwood, Peat, Rubber Mulch, Dyed Pine, More Redwood!, Assorted Softwood mix, Redwood small, Cedar Large, Redwood large, and on and on and on. you'd think you can only make ground cover out of coniferous trees and rubber. not a single bag of anything without phenols.

Pisses me off to cause if redwood didn't have phenols i can tell groxy would absolutly LOVE the shredded stuff, it mattes togeather and is so light and fluffy, like wooden cotton.
_________________
1.1.0 Arg B/W Tegu Joker n Groxy
1.0.0 Australian Water Dragon "Spyro"
1.0.0 Red Eared Slider "Turdy"
0.1.0 White Dwarf Hamster "MiMi"
1.1.0 Black&Albino Kingsnakes "Pearl & Hannibal"

malevolence714 · Member Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 38 Location: Buena Park

So, is New Zeland moss bad for a tegus hide?
_________________
2 Colombian B/W Tegus
1 Red Tegu

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 590

sorry, i've never heard of new zealand moss.

now i'm wondering if the moss i bought was sphagnum or not, i took a pic of groxys hide and moss is hangin out the enterance so i'll post a blown up pic of it.

here's the new hide, She Loves it! slept in it last night!

i'll post a closeup on the moss in a bit.
_________________
1.1.0 Arg B/W Tegu Joker n Groxy
1.0.0 Australian Water Dragon "Spyro"
1.0.0 Red Eared Slider "Turdy"
0.1.0 White Dwarf Hamster "MiMi"
1.1.0 Black&Albino Kingsnakes "Pearl & Hannibal"