Substrate - Page 3

**Graham_s** · #21 06-23-2008, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabberwock486

one thing i have started doing is using leaves to cover the soil. it provides a more inviting ground cover for the geckos to hunt. also it does prevent the from getting mouthful of dirt, its easy to spit out a leaf. although dirt doesn't seem to be a problem, they can spit it out. a small amount of coco fiber will not hurt. after all these animals must deal with this in the wild.

i get the leaves from my yard, but i process them first. they get baked in the oven at 315 F for around 15 minutes. this dries and kills almost everything. then they get bagged and placed in the freezer until needed. maple and oak leaves are used for the most part. large cottonwood leaves are great too.

i did this first in a small chameleon cage. then decided it was a good idea for the geckos. they love it.

I have some leaves that I have been using for other gecko viariums but I was thinking of using them as a substrate for the uroplatus, but My concern would be that the crickets will constantly be hiding.

You are right that they have to deal with having some substrate inside them in the wild, but then they also die a lot younger in the wild as well.

sammaroo420 · #22 11-16-2010, 02:12 AM

so repti bark is not good?

Calfirecap · #23 11-28-2010, 01:07 AM

I'm quite satisfied with the mix I use which is 5 parts perlite free potting soil, 3 parts Coconut Coir, and 1 part play sand. I also have dry leaves scatterd about.

Lawrence

Nocturnal80 · #24 06-06-2011, 01:59 AM

I also use coco fiber and am not too thrilled with it. Ive witnessed the geckos taking in mouthfulls when striking at crickets. Even though that bothers me not as much as the fact that it undoubtably has some feces in it. Ive used live moss which is the best but difficult to find and expensive. It filters out the feces from substrate and hold water which helps with humidity and flodding. Also, the geckos cant eat it and its soft on their snouts. Problem is it doesnt last long. It eventually decomposes but is great to crumble up and use as compost. I wouldnt use the stringy moss because obviously the geckos could choke on it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Mallick · #25 06-06-2011, 03:57 PM

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if i repeat someone else.

I use a mix of coco fibre, peat moss and some crushed leaves. On top of that i lay full leaves (oak). Never had any problems with that. Also, if the substrate is moist enough, it wont stick to prey as good. if u still have worries about it but want to change the paper towel. Just feed them with thongs...

Hope this helps ^^

**Graham_s** · #26 06-06-2011, 04:12 PM

thread is about 3 years old

Mallick · #27 06-06-2011, 04:34 PM

LOL, did not mention that XD

Nocturnal80 · #28 06-07-2011, 12:25 AM

lol....Yeah sorry I left that out but was reading through and thought I would give my opinion.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #29 06-07-2011, 06:00 PM

Old thread, but a good one as I assume there are often people wondering about substrate for Uros. Since it's been pulled up from the depths, I guess I'll comment on it.

First let me say that almost all of the cases of impaction that I've seen have been secondary to other issues (stress, poor husbandry, internal parasites, or various diseases). These animals don't just go around eating dirt in nature for no reason. Agreed that an animal might get some in its mouth when diving for food. A helpful solution for this is to feed from a bowl. My lineatus loved diving for dubia in a bowl. Feeding from a bowl also allows you to keep a more accurate count of how much food is being consumed. To allow for the impact of the "dive", I always use "gladware" type bowls which are relatively soft plastic and don't damage the animals face when they dive into it. Lately, in my tokay and other large arboreal gecko enclosures I've been using a lot of bamboo leaf on top of my soil substrate (which generally consists of a peat/sand/cypress mulch combo). Bamboo leaf looks natural, lasts a long time, is large and hard to eat/swallow, and makes cleaning big poops easy (ever seen a lineatus crap?...it's like a large parrot!). I also use the bamboo leaf while it's still attached to smaller branches as decoration in the enclosures. Anyway, before I digress too much, although you can certainly play it safe with paper towels, IMO, soil based substrates can be used safely as well.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #30 06-07-2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham_s

thread is about 3 years old

I'm curious to know Graham, 3 years down the road, what are you using these days for Uro substrate? Still going with the paper towel over soil?