coconut dirt

corn-ball · Honored Member Joined: Jul 02, 2008 Posts: 224

hey how do you people feel about coco dirt as substrate? i think its amazing. why would you use cypress mulch instead? Coco dirt holds moisure really well especially in his hide, Yoshi loves to play in it an get all dirty, he loves to block the entrance to his hide with it, theres virtually no chance he can eat it and get an impaction from it, the dirt naturally breaks down waste by sucking the moisture out, and it doesn't stink, and it doesn't attract bugs and mites, and it's convenient and comes in brick form! why would i ever go back to cypress??

laurarfl · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:02 am Post subject:

For me, it's cost and maintenance. I get Cypress for $2 a huge bag and pay much more for Coco fiber. If I'm trying to fill huge 6' and 4' enclosures, it would take a large amount of coco! Plus, I can drag the hose into the garage and just mist the Cypress easily, and scoop out the soiled Cypress.

Basically, it's worked for me and it's very cheap. I use Coco for my frogs, though.
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Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

teguman1 · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject:

well i wish i lived were u r i costs me 40 fore a bag of cypress enough to fill my 4' 2' incloseur i use coco fiber he likes it ok
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one arg b&w tegu oreo
4 dogs ruby, jake, and of corse my rolie
3 rabbits
7 chickens
2 ducks
and 4 breeder rats

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

for me it's the fact that groxy will not burrow into coco coir and it gets really dusty on the top half inch which ends up kinda repelling water unless you spray it with water instead of just adding water with a jug. not to mention her tank is open 99% of the time, so when she walks in and out of her tank she tracks it onto my carpet and bed much worse than the cypress.

i used to use a bunch of it.

mixing it with cypress at a 1 part coco to 3 parts cypress yealds a really nice humidity holding substrate.
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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"

october · Honored Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 224

Hello corn-ball.Well, I can site specific good information I recieved from a tegu breeder. Coco fiber is not the best substrate to use because when tegus burrow in it, there is the chance of small splinters getting caught in the crevaces of their mouth. This can get infected and would need to be flushed out.

On the other hand, the guy that actually sold me my tegu said that it would be ok to use simply becasue if he ate it, it would not casue impaction. However, he doesn't eat in his tank, so its not a problem.

Honestly, if you want the best anwswer, I would say go with the advice of the tegu breeder. Tegus are prone to enough problems and will probably need to see a vet at some point no matter how well you take care of them. Why risk it. Also, to keep the humidity up, the fiber would have to be pretty damp. I am not sure how breathable that stuff is.....It is good for frogs becasue they can breath through their skin. I would imagine that a ton of soaking wet coc fiber might be difficult to breath under. However, this is only my opinion.

Not to mention the coco fiber messy and gets everywhere when you want to take him out of the tank.

Rob

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

You People!? What do you mean "You People!?" LOL
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2 Colombian B/W Tegus
1 Red Tegu

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

I use coconut cube. If you can find it where you live, go with coconut cubes. I tried the fiber before but its messy and turns dust after time. The cube keep their size and texture for a couple months and holds humidity extremely well. To further add to the greatness of it, mix a small amount of spagnum moss. From my experience its been great. Hope this helped. Peace.
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2 Colombian B/W Tegus
1 Red Tegu

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

ohh, also, groxy got impacted once and crapped a coconut coir golfball.
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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"