best substrate for cresties

[kris6383]

apart from eco earth,

[Art_Gecko101]

depends what you want from it, i dont particularly like ecoearth. its messy and gets in their mouths when they eat livefoods.

For young geckos I will always recommend kitchen paper towel... yes its impaction free blah blah but the best reason for using it is to monitor their stools. When they're young they eat so little that normally the only way you can tell theyre eating is by checking for their poos, and thats easiest on paper towel. Plus its cheap and easy to replace when you clean them out. You could also use tiles or lino for the same reasons, but are more expensive and harder to clean out.

For adult geckos I use either organic soil (no additives), layered on top of something with good drainage, so either gravel, or preferably hydroleca. (use weed membrane, a hanging basket liner or something similar to separate the layers. In my favourite vivs, I use large smooth river rocks which have water circulating through them (under the level that the rocks come up to in the viv so the geckos arnt wet) via a filter and pump. It works brilliantly. I have tried to grow livemoss on the rocks but failed lol. It's something i'll be trying again in the future though, when ive got a spare tank to grow the moss from spores for a few months before adding any geckos. If you want to see more of what I mean then go to the viv design section of my website and look at the 'advanced gravel bottom design'. www.TreasureCrest.co.uk

Substrates i've tried and dont like include ecoearth (as i said before, its just no better than good organic soil, apart from the ease of storage when its in brick form) and because eggs tend to 'go off' in it if I miss them, whereas in soil theyre just fine.
I HATE that sphagnum moss you get dried in packets, its nasty, harbours bacteria when moist i'm sure, and it gets stuck in the geckos mouths if they miss a cricket (i do know of people who have had geckos die from swallowing long strings of it). It's ok for a bit of decoration, like in my chahoua geckos vivs I attach it to branches and it looks rather cool!

so thats my substrate review!

[beege_3]

Very good guide AG, I will be following your advice in your Advanced Gravel Bottom Design when redoing my exo(s) soon.. Will pm you with the outcome if you want..

[Art_Gecko101]

oooooh yay i'd LOVE to see how it turns out!

One tip i'll make is to make sure the pump is in a spot thats easily accessible, like under one or 2 large rocks instead of a load of little ones! When i 1st came up with the idea, i didnt think that bit out and made it all pretty and landscaped, only to find out my pump clogged and i had to dismantle the entire thing to get at it! lol

Originally Posted by beege_3

Very good guide AG, I will be following your advice in your Advanced Gravel Bottom Design when redoing my exo(s) soon.. Will pm you with the outcome if you want..

[kris6383]

Originally Posted by Art_Gecko101

depends what you want from it, i dont particularly like ecoearth. its messy and gets in their mouths when they eat livefoods.

For young geckos I will always recommend kitchen paper towel... yes its impaction free blah blah but the best reason for using it is to monitor their stools. When they're young they eat so little that normally the only way you can tell theyre eating is by checking for their poos, and thats easiest on paper towel. Plus its cheap and easy to replace when you clean them out. You could also use tiles or lino for the same reasons, but are more expensive and harder to clean out.

For adult geckos I use either organic soil (no additives), layered on top of something with good drainage, so either gravel, or preferably hydroleca. (use weed membrane, a hanging basket liner or something similar to separate the layers. In my favourite vivs, I use large smooth river rocks which have water circulating through them (under the level that the rocks come up to in the viv so the geckos arnt wet) via a filter and pump. It works brilliantly. I have tried to grow livemoss on the rocks but failed lol. It's something i'll be trying again in the future though, when ive got a spare tank to grow the moss from spores for a few months before adding any geckos. If you want to see more of what I mean then go to the viv design section of my website and look at the 'advanced gravel bottom design'. www.TreasureCrest.co.uk

Substrates i've tried and dont like include ecoearth (as i said before, its just no better than good organic soil, apart from the ease of storage when its in brick form) and because eggs tend to 'go off' in it if I miss them, whereas in soil theyre just fine.
I HATE that sphagnum moss you get dried in packets, its nasty, harbours bacteria when moist i'm sure, and it gets stuck in the geckos mouths if they miss a cricket (i do know of people who have had geckos die from swallowing long strings of it). It's ok for a bit of decoration, like in my chahoua geckos vivs I attach it to branches and it looks rather cool!

so thats my substrate review!

nice 1 ive bin keeping cresties for bout 5 yrs so pretty much no the score bout impaction n other stuff, that moss is terrible got mites every time ive had that in my viv, as organic soil, is peat anygood? i am havin bio active setup got all the hydroclea n that wats better weed stop or hangin basket liner?

[Art_Gecko101]

Originally Posted by kris6383

nice 1 ive bin keeping cresties for bout 5 yrs so pretty much no the score bout impaction n other stuff, that moss is terrible got mites every time ive had that in my viv, as organic soil, is peat anygood? i am havin bio active setup got all the hydroclea n that wats better weed stop or hangin basket liner?

Cool, i figured you'd know about the impaction stuff but thought i'd explain and include it for anyone else reading it. I hate it when people dont explain what they say and i'm left feeling like huh?!

To be honest, i'm not sure about peat. I'm sure i recall someone telling me you cant use it, but i cant for the life of me think who and why?! If i were you, i'd go to vivariaforums.com and ask, theyre mostly dartfrog keepers but i imagine the same principles would apply, and they really know their stuff!

I find that if you're using gravel, the main advantage of the hanging basket liner is that it absorbs water quite well, meaning that the plant roots tend to like it! if you're using hydroleca, it does that anyway but gravel not so much. Both are equally good its just whatever you prefer/can get hold of. If you're going bioactive, i will say 1 thing, that the liner and membrane can both move when you turn the soil, and so a little soil sometimes falls through into the hydroleca level. I'm thinking about ways to stiffen up the layer so that doesnt happen.... so far i think the best option would probably be to put a sheet of plastic egg crate (like the stuff they make false bottoms out of) on top of the hydroleca, with the membrane stretched over it and pinned on(sort of like a canvas on a frame). I think that'd still allow the moisture through, but stop the liner moving when you turn the soil.

Let me know if that makes any sense at all!

[Art_Gecko101]

Originally Posted by kris6383

nice 1 ive bin keeping cresties for bout 5 yrs so pretty much no the score bout impaction n other stuff, that moss is terrible got mites every time ive had that in my viv, as organic soil, is peat anygood? i am havin bio active setup got all the hydroclea n that wats better weed stop or hangin basket liner?

Cool, i figured you'd know about the impaction stuff but thought i'd explain and include it for anyone else reading it. I hate it when people dont explain what they say and i'm left feeling like huh?!

To be honest, i'm not sure about peat. I'm sure i recall someone telling me you cant use it, but i cant for the life of me think who and why?! If i were you, i'd go to vivariaforums.com and ask, theyre mostly dartfrog keepers but i imagine the same principles would apply, and they really know their stuff!

I find that if you're using gravel, the main advantage of the hanging basket liner is that it absorbs water quite well, meaning that the plant roots tend to like it! if you're using hydroleca, it does that anyway but gravel not so much. Both are equally good its just whatever you prefer/can get hold of. If you're going bioactive, i will say 1 thing, that the liner and membrane can both move when you turn the soil, and so a little soil sometimes falls through into the hydroleca level. I'm thinking about ways to stiffen up the layer so that doesnt happen.... so far i think the best option would probably be to put a sheet of plastic egg crate (like the stuff they make false bottoms out of) on top of the hydroleca, with the membrane stretched over it and pinned on(sort of like a canvas on a frame). I think that'd still allow the moisture through, but stop the liner moving when you turn the soil.

Let me know if that makes any sense at all!

[kris6383]

Originally Posted by Art_Gecko101

Cool, i figured you'd know about the impaction stuff but thought i'd explain and include it for anyone else reading it. I hate it when people dont explain what they say and i'm left feeling like huh?!

To be honest, i'm not sure about peat. I'm sure i recall someone telling me you cant use it, but i cant for the life of me think who and why?! If i were you, i'd go to vivariaforums.com and ask, theyre mostly dartfrog keepers but i imagine the same principles would apply, and they really know their stuff!

I find that if you're using gravel, the main advantage of the hanging basket liner is that it absorbs water quite well, meaning that the plant roots tend to like it! if you're using hydroleca, it does that anyway but gravel not so much. Both are equally good its just whatever you prefer/can get hold of. If you're going bioactive, i will say 1 thing, that the liner and membrane can both move when you turn the soil, and so a little soil sometimes falls through into the hydroleca level. I'm thinking about ways to stiffen up the layer so that doesnt happen.... so far i think the best option would probably be to put a sheet of plastic egg crate (like the stuff they make false bottoms out of) on top of the hydroleca, with the membrane stretched over it and pinned on(sort of like a canvas on a frame). I think that'd still allow the moisture through, but stop the liner moving when you turn the soil.

Let me know if that makes any sense at all!

ye that makes sense lol, never thought of pinning it 2 a frame that sounds like a good idea will definately b doing that