Monitor Pics...or Oak leaf question.LOL

Well too bad fans, it's the second one.:D

BG wants to know if anyone has used dirt and Oak leaves for their Monitors. If so, how did you like it?

Well, I used to use a half dirt half sand mix and only had leaves once. I hated having the leaves in there, they smelled funny, and were always in the way for cleaning, and for feeding insects. Now I have switched all together to excavator clay, but it is very costly to get enough of it for large enclosures. I like the excavator clay because it holds the burrows so much better than anything I have seen, but it could stand to be a bit cheaper.

I use white oak leaves, leaf compost, organic topsoil, sand, dirt from the yard, and big chuncks of rotted wood filled with isopods, milipedes, wood lice, and substrate mites... We also have colonies of superworms in the dirt as well...

This is a great way to keep monitors... Bio active substrates are the way to go with most species, not just monitors... No real cleaning is required as the natural bacteria and insect life break down waste within a day... No fecal smells in the cage at all Some of our cages have had the same dirt in them for over 5 years with no traces of fecal matter... When the leaves start to break down, we just add fresh ones on top...

Here are some photos..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/...e56c56dc_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/...b9dfbea3_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/...369d40be_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/...0a18cb51_b.jpg

Yellow Ackie
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/...7015e07f_b.jpg

Box turtles in brumation bin
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/...8b6a68d7_b.jpg

Clump of the soil when picked up...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/...df077472_b.jpg

Good stuff, Greg.

Is that FRP you are using to line the bottom?

Chris

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Originally Posted by mumps

Is that FRP you are using to line the bottom?

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Yeah, you can tell by the texture. It looks like a 7-11 bathroom wall.

Hey Greg. How large are you Monitors? BG has some monsters and wonders how it will work with Monster crap.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

BG has some monsters

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Tired game is tired.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by allergenic

Tired game is tired.

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For the weak:D....BG never tires.(completely anyway). He's tired right now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

Hey Greg. How large are you Monitors? BG has some monsters and wonders how it will work with Monster crap.

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My friend John has kept 6 foot plus water monitors on this substrate and it worked beautifully...

Right now we have four V. spinulosus that range from 32 inches to 40 inches in one cage and it is holding up well... They are constantly dropping scat and it seem to just vanish in a day... No smell what so ever...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gregg Madden

My friend John has kept 6 foot plus water monitors on this substrate and it worked beautifully...

Right now we have four V. spinulosus that range from 32 inches to 40 inches in one cage and it is holding up well... They are constantly dropping scat and it seem to just vanish in a day... No smell what so ever...

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Can you tell me the size of his cage? This can be a real time saver for anyone with big monitors, so BG is really interested in how it works out with larger(8 foot 80 pound;)) ones.