switch substates?

[anelk002]

I use cypress mulch for my 2 month old b&w tegu. I feed him on a platform in his cage so that it isn't eating over its substrate but today it threw a piece of meat on its substrate and ate it before I could get it and swallowed a piece of mulch. Should I switch to soil and sand or what?? Any suggestions or do u think mulch is fine just watch him?? The platform in the back right corner( his hide) is where I feed him usually.[/i]

 

[paulsreef]

I use cypress mulch for my 2 month old b&w tegu. I feed him on a platform in his cage so that it isn't eating over its substrate but today it threw a piece of meat on its substrate and ate it before I could get it and swallowed a piece of mulch. Should I switch to soil and sand or what?? Any suggestions or do u think mulch is fine just watch him?? The platform in the back right corner( his hide) is where I feed him usually.[/i]

My tegu ate his substrate even when he was fed out of his enclosure. I switched to eco-earth, but it was too late, he got a prolapse and died soon afterwards. I also now read that they can get impacted from eco-earth because if it drys out and is swallowed, it will re-expand in the tegus moist intestines and cause a blockage. When I get my next tegu, I'll go the topsoil/sand mix because I don't know about you but I can't sit and baby sit my tegu 24/7.

 

[anelk002]

Yea I can't either but how well does soil and sand hold humidity? Won't it get muddy

 

[Ntyvirus]

If you mix it right it'll hold humidity very well just don't go at it with a garden hose.

 

[james.w]

Sand/soil holds humidity extremely well.

 

[Skeetzy]

I suggest using 1-3 sand to soil. For example I buy 300 lbs of sand and 600 lbs of soil. Makes a good mixture. My humidity was in the 90s at first from it raining the day before I grabbed the soil and it being a little damp. But it was never muddy or tacky. Now my humidity sits around 65 and the humidifier only comes on once or twice a day. Almost never mist anymore