This may or may not be a stupid question, but....

[IrishEyes]

I currently have coco fiber substrate (over mesh and hydroballs) in my vivs, with plants in pots of organic soil, covered with sphagnum moss to keep the geckos out of the plant soil.

However, I'd kind of like to be able to add plants directly to the substrate, and I'm wondering if 100% organic, non-animal fed red worms' castings would be safe to add to the substrate along with some other items to make a safe but fertile place to grow plants and isopods/springtails? Also thinking of adding either cypress mulch or orchid bark, and organic, non-fertilizer potting soil to the mix with leaf litter on top of the whole lot. I could add sand, but I doubt our salty beach sand would be good for plants or anything else in the vivs :shock::roll::crackup:

Yays or nays, and why or why not, please? These are all for arboreal geckos who like a humid, warm environment.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Many gecko keepers keep fully planted enclosures including isopods and springtails. Their geckos are lucky! .

Beach sand is composed of sharp silica crystals. Jurassic Sand would be better (Jurassic Sands | Play Sand | Sandbox Sand -- 877-531-8600). Jurassic Sand is composed of smooth quartz crystals. However, one of my Oedura castelnaui prolapsed from Jurassic Sand.

Josh's Frogs carries ABG soil especially mixed for terrariums. I use fine grade orchid bark mixed with coco fiber in one enclosure, but still keep plants (sansevieria) in natural terra cotta or dark green plastic pots.

I plant most my sansevieria in this custom mix or in a fertilizer-free sandy soil. They do well.

• 2/3 Wonder Worm Earth Worm Castings (pure form of humus)
• 1/3 Eco Earth coco fiber

 

[IrishEyes]

Many gecko keepers keep fully planted enclosures including isopods and springtails. Their geckos are lucky! .

Beach sand is composed of sharp silica crystals. Jurassic Sand would be better (Jurassic Sands | Play Sand | Sandbox Sand -- 877-531-8600). Jurassic Sand is composed of smooth quartz crystals. However, one of my Oedura castelnaui prolapsed from Jurassic Sand.

Thanks for the suggestions . I was just kidding about using beach sand . It works great for my yard, surprisingly (what passes for soil here is extremely sandy, consisting mostly of the same kind of sand that makes up the beaches a block away), but I wouldn't want to put it in with my darling geckos. I treasure those animals! Besides, I can be somewhat lazy--I wouldn't want to spend weeks trying to wash all of the salt out of the sand, even if it WAS made of smooth silica crystals.

So, do you think it would be safe enough to mix worm castings into a soil mix, if I want to make the whole floor into something suitable to grow plants and help feed the isopods and springtails? We opted not to purchase the ABG soil, as we have all of the ingredients to make that recipe, ourselves, and while the price of the pre-mixed stuff wasn't bad, the shipping was exorbitant! Since my darling husband needs a new-ish car this week, (his Horrible Little Car/'90-something Dodge Neon punked out on him (clutch) on the way to work in Portland this past week), the budget is tighter than we'd like, and I don't really want to spend a metric crap ton of dinero on shipping anything. The thought of spending almost $50 on shipping makes me feel horribly guilty atm, especially since I can mix up the same ABG soil mixture myself using online "recipes". Because of those things, I'm disinclined to purchase the pre-made stuff and have it shipped. I hope that makes sense and doesn't sound too terribly idiotic.... ;-)

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I think it would be OK to mix earthworm castings into a fertilizer-free, perlite-free soil for the substrate of your vivariums.

 

[IrishEyes]

Woot! Thanks, Elizabeth .

No worries--the vivs are now, and always will be "No Fertilizer or Perlite Zones" .