substrate

tontolizard · Member Joined: Sep 17, 2008 Posts: 24 Location: san diego

Hi all;

I am setting up my new enclosure. How deep should the substrate be ?
thanks

dpjm · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:52 pm Post subject:

Tegus like to dig, so some people use enough substrate to facilitate this, but it can be expensive depending on the substrate. On the other hand, my tegu isn't permitted to dig at all and he is perfectly fine. As long as they have a good hide, deep substrate isn't necessary. Really its just a personal preference.

agallegos37 · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject:

dpjm · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 6:22 pm Post subject:

I don't use any. I don't have an enclosure for my tegu, he has free roam of the entire apartment.

tontolizard · Member Joined: Sep 17, 2008 Posts: 24 Location: san diego

Ok on all ! I had 2 large bags, so I put about 6 inches in. This is here first night at my house and when I turned the lights out , she dug underneath , all I can see is the tip of her tail.I think she is quite happy.

DaveDragon · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:13 am Post subject:

I use 2X the thickness of the Tegu, about 6" to 8" deep. That's (5) 3 cubic foot bags in a 7ft x 3ft enclosure. I've never weighed a bag but I'd guess 30-40 lbs per bag = 150 to 200 lbs of cypress.
_________________
1.1.16 Blue Tegus, 1.0 Red Tegu, 0.1 B&W Arg. Tegu
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, 0.1 Dumeril Boa, 1.0 Suriname Boa
1.2 Ball Pythons, 1.0 Coastal Carpet Python
0.1 Cuban Rock Iguana
2.1.3 Bearded Dragons, 1.0 Veiled Chameleon, 0.0.1 Tokay Gecko

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 578

i pile up about 6 cu feet of cypress in one corner of mines tank, she loves it.

cypress cypress cypress. it's the ultimate in tegu bedding, i would never use anything else and i pay allmost 30 bucks for a 3 cu bag. i just bought 2 more cause she's worth it.
_________________
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"

DaveDragon · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:52 pm Post subject:

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 578

yea, no cypress in cali, i believe i have it shipped from luisiana.

honestly i've tried atleast 5-7 different substrates including strange ones like decomposed granite which is supposed to be able to maintain a burrow.

all substrates but cypress have been thrown away within a month. she loves her cypress so thats what she gets.
_________________
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: 214

lol.....Your all talkin small potatoes here.........they do not sell huge bags of cypress mulch anyway around here. I buy the Zoo Med forest floor cypress mulch. Its like an 8 qt size bag. Its about $10 a bag.

I recently moved Smokey into his new enclousure. I found about 9 bags total from 3 different Petcos....Also picked up a couple of bags of the T-rex cocunut husks to fill it in even more...so we are talking $110-$120 just to mulch the new enclosure.

He really enjoys himself in the mulch, he will dig in it sporadically thoroughout the day in different spots and really likes to make his own burrow in it at night. It's like he prefers it to a hide spot. Even if he has a hide spot he burrows down if there is mulch in it.

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 578

here's the site, i pay like 30 bucks a bag, but only 4 of those dollars are the product price. the other 26 is shipping.

still beats t-rex selling the stuff for the going rate of gold per ounce.

http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-25114/3-CUFT%2C-Cypress-Mulch%2C/Detail
_________________
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"

corn-ball · Honored Member Joined: Jul 02, 2008 Posts: 221

again, i highly revere coconut fiber as substrate. but thats just me. i think its perfect in every way.

dpjm · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject:

I remember now why I didn't like using substrate. It would get so dusty and made Ripper sneeze a lot. I think that was some sort of bark chips, Zoo Med I think. It was the only thing I could get where I was. All the large mulch bags at Home Depot were cedar. Do you people have any problem with your cages getting dusty using cypress mulch?

DaveDragon · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:07 pm Post subject:

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 578

yea, i have a misting line hooked up to my showerhead, it runs through her tank, so no, as long as you try to maintain humidity, you'll be dust free.
_________________
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"