best crestie substrate??

[gecko888]

I am currently using coconut fiber as substrate, but one of my cresties is a really awful hunter and is constantly getting mouthfulls of substrate when attempting to catch a cricket. So I put a square (about 6" x 6") of repticarpet in one "feeding corner" where I could drop the crickets and he could go after them. Well he lunges at them so hard that today I noticed he was getting his mouth kind of stuck on the repticarpet! I don't want him to get injured, but don't want him to get impacted either. Any suggestions??

I was thinking about getting a piece of laminate tile from Home Depot to put in that corner...and comments on this or experience with this problem?

Thanks!!

 

[firecrested]

the best substrate is newspaper or paper towels.

 

[Royal-City-Reptiles]

I use paper towels with all my cresties, very clean, safe, and easy to change.
I've never used newspaper, I've always kinda thought the ink would come off on the cresties like it does on your hands, or run when it gets wet...

-Deb

 

[gecko888]

thanks for the replies!

I was hoping to find a solution that was a little more aesthetically pleasing, as my set-up is very natural looking. But obviously my cresties' health is most important so I will give paper towlels a try. ) How do you keep the humidity right when using paper towels (and not a substrate that absorbs water)?

 

[firecrested]

daily misting will keep it humid enough.
I changed to newspaper last year, the paper towels work great but the newspapers last a little longer and I havent had any problems with the ink coming off of it when misted. Maybe our papers are made with a different ink or paper.

 

[Cresties]

you called also try feeding in a different area away from the coco fiber...i use both..paper towel for the young ones..and coconut fiber for the older ones. But i do not feed insects in the cage.I use a separate feeding tank.
I have never had an experience with laminate tile....i wonder if the glue on the back of it will do anything.......let us know if you do try it.

 

[Robert_ramo]

Humm, I don't think I've ever heard of a lizard being impacted my coconut fibre.. Seeing how it's organic and quite fine, I can't see it happening. I could of course be very wrong with this, please correct me if I am.

 

[gecko888]

Honestly I don't know if they can get impacted from coconut fiber...but I would think that ingesting anything in large amounts is not necessarily good for them. (but i'm no expert ) Like I said, Clyde (I have two cresteds, Bonnie and Clyde - even tho they both turned out to be girls. oops) is an aggressive hunter so he would get mouthfulls of the stuff --and no cricket-- and would spend about 10-15 mins just trying to get all of it out of his mouth. He isn't gaining weight like Bonnie, and I am guessing it is because he has such trouble hunting. They also eat CGD, but he isn't a huge fan of it.

Anyways, today I cleaned out their tank and removed the coconut bedding. I put in two vinyl tiles to cover the floor of the tank, but didn't remove the backing to make them stick. I think that they will be easier to clean if I can remove them easily, instead of (semi) permanently attaching them. I will let y'all know how they work out. Thanks again for all the advice!

I am attaching pics of their enclosure...you can kinda see the tiles...but the fact that they don't stand out too much is nice