Vermiculite as a substrate?

can I throw in a hand ful of vermiculite with aspen to keep the humidity level up? Thanks

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Originally Posted by lilnash0

can I throw in a hand ful of vermiculite with aspen to keep the humidity level up? Thanks

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Hmmmm??? I never thought of that. I'm interested to see what some of the experts would have to say.
Maybe the vermiculite in first and the substrate on top of it??

Yeah, that was my idea, I never thought of it, I have an extra tub filled with it and im not going to use it anytime soon, so instead of throwing it away I thought I could make use of it..

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No experience with it mixed personally, I only use it for egg boxes. But I would think the moisture it would hold, would make the aspen too wet and cause mold.

Not sure about vermiculite I know perlite will expand when it hits moisture which if injested can go pretty bad for geckos. So I wouldn't recommend feeding on top of it. Do you have any moss you could put into a cup and put in there wet?

Nope, I don't have humidity problems I was just wondering, I mist like 3 times a day and that's when I wake up, when I get home from school, and before I go to sleep and I have a steady 60-70%

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Vermiculite is not a great idea.
1st off the vermiculite we get in North America contains enough asbestos that prevents it from being used in most of the applications that it used to. In fact, if you have vermiculite insulation in a home you'll probably have to pay to have it removed to get anyone to buy it.
2nd, it isn't nearly the sponge you think it is.
Try Sphagnum/Peat Moss or Eco_earth to hold and release moisture instead.

i think its a bad idea because its a mineral that is too soft to really hold together. so you get dust formation as soon as its dry, and when its wet and the snake crawls around on it or digs into it you will have all these tiny hard mineral pieces all over the snake. i dont think it feels good. i would not want to crawl around in something that feels a bit like sand paper.

and on top of that, you have potential health risks if its ingested or if the dust is inhaled.

so i think its a bad idea. its good for eggs, but thats it. for humidity, i would use sphagnum moss. it feels nice, is natural, its soft, and can safely be ingested. yes, well, vermiculite is also natural, but its a mineral, not plant matter, its mined, and as such it definitively has a higher chance to contain something toxic. and the dust is known to be risky, the dust of some vermiculites is really dangerous, basically like asbestos.

or maybe just a larger water bowl, with a bigger surface area?

Thanks for the replies, and I never knew about asbestos? Thank you very much

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I used it once as a kid as a substrate and had a snake get a piece stuck in its mouth and choke to death. Honestly use coconut husk as your substrate as it hold your humidity really well for at least three day after one solid misting.


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