Substrates

[Marion]

Hi all
I see that there are always posts on what is the best substrate to use for our reptiles. I have tried bark and for my monitors I mixed potting soil with playsand. It made a heck of a mess and the monitors were covered in dust and sand all the time. Don't even ask what their water looked like!!!

I really recommend just plain old newspaper for all reptiles. I know it does not look very pretty but you can dolly up the habitat with hides, branches and plants - real or false ones. Have enough in there and the newspaper is not as noticeable. Especially if you put them at the front of the enclosure against the glass.

My 60 cm boscs have no problem with the paper and when they want to sleep they dig underneath the paper and stay there. Otherwise they are out and about during the day.They mess up the paper but what the heck - it's their home! It's also easy to clean and soaks up a lot of gunk that you would otherwise have to pick up with a pooper scooper or rubber gloves!!!

I have brought them inside for the winter but I think I may keep them inside every night even during summer. I get such a kick out of watching them and they are where I can keep an eye on them all the time. They have plants and branches to climb on and lots of places to hide. I also have a large water container for them which they use all the time.

It's such a pleasure to be able to remove the paper, give the cage a wipe and then put my guys back in double quick time. With sand it's scoop and sweep for ages to get it all out. Not to mention how heavy it is. So I recommend newspaper - it's cheap, easy to clean and always available.

Marion

[XyGorf]

I suppose it also depends on what you're keeping in the enclosure. I tried news paper and also kombuis towels in the beginning with my bearded dragon. I really didn't like it very much, even although it was super easy to clean and was the safest option for a baby dragon. Feeders make there way underneath the news paper, so not only do you have to clean the cage regularly, you also have to hunt for left overs as well.

Then I switched over to astro turf which is awesome if you have more than one piece to use for the enclosure. When the one's dirty, you can just relace it with another and wash the dirty one. The only downside is the cost, but once you've got it, you've got it. Also, feeders can't really get underneath it if you've cut it to the right size.

Then I switched over to washed play sand... UUGGH... Whenever you open the enclosure the glass goes screeeeeech... And, like you said, everything (including the animal) is covered in dust. But, since my dragon is a female, she enjoys digging in the sand. Eventually I just tiled three quarters of the cage and left a sand pit on the hot end of the cage which made up the last quarter.

But again, I think it depends largely on what you're keeping in the cage and what will work best for that specific animals needs.