Crestie substrates?

[freekygeeky]

Originally Posted by babey_shmoo

so orchid back a no no? coco husk ok? what do you use? what would you recommend?

most people use eco earth, i have a couple of cresties who ate this and kinda became impacted so i now nolonger use it.
i have (beacuse of the rescues) also had worms and mites in my collection, so i use paper towel.
-easy to spot poos wees
-easy to see worms, mites
-easy to clean - out bin new one
-just easier cleaner easier to spot nasties etc
-dopesnt look amazing, but i dont keep geckos so i can have a pretty viv

[crouchy]

Originally Posted by freekygeeky

most people use eco earth, i have a couple of cresties who ate this and kinda became impacted so i now nolonger use it.
i have (beacuse of the rescues) also had worms and mites in my collection, so i use paper towel.
-easy to spot poos wees
-easy to see worms, mites
-easy to clean - out bin new one
-just easier cleaner easier to spot nasties etc
-dopesnt look amazing, but i dont keep geckos so i can have a pretty viv

This is where me and Freekygeeky disagree on crestie husbandry. Neither of us are right or wrong its just a difference of opinion and experiences.

I have been keeping cresties for a few years now and ive always used a soil type substrate. Never have i had an impaction problem or any other problem caused by the substrate. If used as a natural active substrate i find it to be cleaner and less hassle to maintain than a paper towel substrate. I have used paper towel substrates in the past and in my experience they need completly stripping down and cleaning out every 3-5 days. If you leave it any longer than that they start to loook grubby, smell bad and grow mold.

Now im a little confused as to what you mean coco husk. Originaly i thought you ment the stuff that comes in compressed blocks but then you mentioned the blocks as if it wasnt what you are talking about. Did you mean the pieces of coco husk (like pieces of hairy bark?) If so then that shouldnt be used with any type of lizard either. Anything thats small enough to get in their mouth and big enough to block the insides is a complete no no.

As for an active substrate. In order to create an active substrate you have to use live plants. Its a simple system once you kno how it works.
1. The geckos poo on the soil
2. the little springtails and woodlice eat and help break down the poo into the substrate
3. The soil absorbs the nutrients from the broken down poo
4. The plants use the nutrients to grow.

You cant miss any part of that out otherwise it just wont work. thats why you need a soil that plants can grow in. Without the plants you just end up with a soil full of poo, nomatter what other creatures you put in the viv

[babey_shmoo]

Originally Posted by crouchy

This is where me and Freekygeeky disagree on crestie husbandry. Neither of us are right or wrong its just a difference of opinion and experiences.

I have been keeping cresties for a few years now and ive always used a soil type substrate. Never have i had an impaction problem or any other problem caused by the substrate. If used as a natural active substrate i find it to be cleaner and less hassle to maintain than a paper towel substrate. I have used paper towel substrates in the past and in my experience they need completly stripping down and cleaning out every 3-5 days. If you leave it any longer than that they start to loook grubby, smell bad and grow mold.

Now im a little confused as to what you mean coco husk. Originaly i thought you ment the stuff that comes in compressed blocks but then you mentioned the blocks as if it wasnt what you are talking about. Did you mean the pieces of coco husk (like pieces of hairy bark?) If so then that shouldnt be used with any type of lizard either. Anything thats small enough to get in their mouth and big enough to block the insides is a complete no no.

As for an active substrate. In order to create an active substrate you have to use live plants. Its a simple system once you kno how it works.
1. The geckos poo on the soil
2. the little springtails and woodlice eat and help break down the poo into the substrate
3. The soil absorbs the nutrients from the broken down poo
4. The plants use the nutrients to grow.

You cant miss any part of that out otherwise it just wont work. thats why you need a soil that plants can grow in. Without the plants you just end up with a soil full of poo, nomatter what other creatures you put in the viv

I agree about the kitchen towel, which is why I'm looking at getting something else in there. Sorry for the confusion on the coco husk, must have been the way I said it. It is the compressed block.
So both the coco husk compressed block and the bag of orchid bark I bought are no good for cresties? Some needs to tell Crestie Care book authors about this...

Thanks you the info im the active soil, I thought I might be able to get around the plant bit, but I'll look into it, find out what Ficus's and other plants are like and cost etc.

This is all becoming alot more complicated than I though it would be...

[crouchy]

The stuff in the compressed block is fine for cresties just not if you want an active substrate. The orchid bark though should never be used as a lizard substrate unless it is under a fairly thick layer of a soil type substrate.

Same link as freekygeeky posted earlier but this is the reason why lizards shouldnt be given orchid bark as a substrate
For those of you who use bark substrate ( necropsy photos) - Gecko Resource Forums

[freekygeeky]

Originally Posted by crouchy

This is where me and Freekygeeky disagree on crestie husbandry. Neither of us are right or wrong its just a difference of opinion and experiences.

I have been keeping cresties for a few years now and ive always used a soil type substrate. Never have i had an impaction problem or any other problem caused by the substrate. If used as a natural active substrate i find it to be cleaner and less hassle to maintain than a paper towel substrate. I have used paper towel substrates in the past and in my experience they need completly stripping down and cleaning out every 3-5 days. If you leave it any longer than that they start to loook grubby, smell bad and grow mold.

lol mine are just special.. lol. tbh i do have rather alot of resuces, maybe they dont realsie they arent supposed to eat substrate, same goes for leos. lol

my cresties get cleaned out every week anyway, by that time (the messy ones - the ones who like to spread foood EVERYWHERE lol) are grubby. but thats gonna happen lol.