[slygecko]

What is your recommended sand mixture for T. scincus? Is yours capable of holding burrows? I have some play sand that I soaked, squeezed the excess out, and layed down in the tank about 3 inches deep. The female I'm taking care of for a little while for a friend just loved the new substrate (she was on lizard litter before), and dug an extensive burrow system under the entire tank. It was awesome! But now, the sand seems to be drying out more, and she is having trouble keeping a burrow open. The sand fills in after i stick my finger down into it. Which leads me to my questions...
What is the exact method for hardpacking sand? How do you keep it so it can hold burrows? Do you mix any dirt into it?

Thanks,
Nick

[Symbiont]

I use exoterra brand desert sand, the reason yours is caving in is
probably because play sand is bin pre washed which gets rid of the fine
particals in it that help it keep its shape, or different parts of the tank are
drying faster than others making it harder to hold its shape and I could go
on and on but you get the idea basically the finer the sand the better and
play sand is usually quit large grain so its having problems staying
together.

but you can buy some at a pet store that
they bag for lizards to dig and lay eggs in, but it does get expensive.
so if you do live near a beach go find somewhere that theres fine grain
sand and get as much as you need and bake it in the oven at about 350
degrees on a pan for about an hour and make sure to mix it around with
a spatula or something to make sure its baked evenly and that will kill
everything that might harmful to the gecko. that should solve your problem.

[slygecko]

Thanks. I have some of the fine grain sand, I'm experimenting with it now. What does it take to get it to pack hard and stay hard? After soaking does it tend to just dry out and return to loose sand too?

~ Nick

[Symbiont]

just don't wash it, put the sand in the tank and soak it with a spray bottle (don't pre soak) and then it won't go back to loose sand unless she completely digs out everything and it caves.
but if your conserned abouy it give it a "light" mist with a spray bottle every 2-3 days and it'll help to get it to last longer, but because of the properties of sand every now and again you will have to re soak it beacause it will eventually fall apart.

[slygecko]

Okay, thanks!

[Brian]

I mix in some dirt. Some pictures I have seen of T. roborowskii habitat seem to be more dirt then sand. Sandy dirt, but still. Probably doesn't hold for all species though.