New substrate

Hello,

I have been struggling with keeping the humidity levels right for Mabel using aspen. Probably because it’s nearly winter in the UK and the heating it on drying out the house. I looked for advice on here and found out about coconut bark chips.

I’ve followed the instructions that came with it and mixed it with water and left the stand for 30 minutes so the block breaks up and the chips absorb the water.

It feels wet/damp to touch and I’m wondering if I should let it dry out a bit in her viv before I put it back in. I don’t want to harm her in any way by putting her back when the substrate is wet.

Any help would be much appreciated.


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You could spread some out on baking sheet or something to help dry it out a bit more if you think it is too damp. Turn/mix it up a bit as it dries so you don't dry it out too much. If nothing else, you can always make it wet again, but you don't want it too wet for too long.

I had the same issue the first time I used the coconut husk bricks. I ended up squeezing some of the water out of the bedding, a handful at a time. It was a pain. Since then, I'll add tiny amounts of water at a time and watch it absorb into the brick. Once it's soft enough, I break it apart by hand, adding tiny amounts of water as needed and mixing it well, sometimes just letting it sit to absorb the water. It takes a while, but has the added benefit that I've touched and felt every part of the bedding that's going into my bp's tank and know it's soft enough, not too damp, and has no foreign material in it. I love this bedding though and don't have to spray for humidity at all for about the first two weeks after replacing it. Mixing in some sphagnum moss adds to this effect.

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Originally Posted by elleon

I had the same issue the first time I used the coconut husk bricks. I ended up squeezing some of the water out of the bedding, a handful at a time. It was a pain. Since then, I'll add tiny amounts of water at a time and watch it absorb into the brick. Once it's soft enough, I break it apart by hand, adding tiny amounts of water as needed and mixing it well, sometimes just letting it sit to absorb the water. It takes a while, but has the added benefit that I've touched and felt every part of the bedding that's going into my bp's tank and know it's soft enough, not too damp, and has no foreign material in it. I love this bedding though and don't have to spray for humidity at all for about the first two weeks after replacing it. Mixing in some sphagnum moss adds to this effect.

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That’s exactly what I did! I squeezed it a handful at a time before putting it in her enclosure and then left the doors open while she came out to play for an hour. Thank you [emoji4]


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