Tegu Substrate

Hello, i'm working on my large tegu tank currently.... I just relized how much cypress mulch i am going to need in order to give him enough depth to burrow...... What are some good alternatives or ways to get cypress mulch cheaper?? or are there alternatives???? thanks!

I'm no expert, but here's what I've read/done myself:

You can check with landscapers in your area - they may be able to point you in the direction of where to purchase pure cypress mulch. You'll want to be careful - I bought cypress mulch at Lowes until I realized it could be mixed with different woods like pine (which is toxic). You'll want to make sure you check for pure.

I've read about other people using a soil/sand mixture, which you could pick up anywhere, or peat. The peat stays damp so it would require some maintenance making sure it doesn't mold, but it holds humidity well.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I'm no expert, but here's what I've read/done myself:

You can check with landscapers in your area - they may be able to point you in the direction of where to purchase pure cypress mulch. You'll want to be careful - I bought cypress mulch at Lowes until I realized it could be mixed with different woods like pine (which is toxic). You'll want to make sure you check for pure.

I've read about other people using a soil/sand mixture, which you could pick up anywhere, or peat. The peat stays damp so it would require some maintenance making sure it doesn't mold, but it holds humidity well.

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what kind of maintinace to keep it from molding???

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I'm no expert, but here's what I've read/done myself:

You can check with landscapers in your area - they may be able to point you in the direction of where to purchase pure cypress mulch. You'll want to be careful - I bought cypress mulch at Lowes until I realized it could be mixed with different woods like pine (which is toxic). You'll want to make sure you check for pure.

I've read about other people using a soil/sand mixture, which you could pick up anywhere, or peat. The peat stays damp so it would require some maintenance making sure it doesn't mold, but it holds humidity well.

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what kind of maintinace to keep it from molding???

Really just regular spot checking which you'll be doing anyway.

Soil/sand/peat can be dirty - it'll get stuck to them if they burrow. I read this though from a few years ago - if you scroll down, you can see where she cleaned the peat and then used it. Some work, but might be worth it: https://tegutalk.com/threads/help-al...s-mulch.13690/

With an enclosure that big, if you don't go bio-active for your substrate you are going to be spending an arm and a leg changing out mulch when it gets past the point of no return. I really recommend going with a good san/dirt/DG/Peat mixture, it gives good structure, holds humidity, allows them to burrow, and is a great host to all the little critters that will maintain the tank for you.

http://www.savannahmonitor.co/ Click on the link to the right of this page, it discusses bio-active in depth. The setup in bio-active for the Sav I found to be almost identical for the Tegu.

Go with dirt mix. You can add perlite(buy it in cubic yards bags at Ace or landscaping) and add it to topsoil and sand to get a good mix. Once you get that right, you can even sometimes add in earthworms to help keep it dug, and add good bacterias. The lizards will enjoy digging and burrowing much more in real dirt instead of mulch too, since they can't make as good of a burrow in mulch.

As far as how much dirt? It takes a LOT. In a 3x6 ft enclosure for mine, I put a good 400 lbs total in without it looking all that full. PLan on raking it around with a 3-prong digging tool often, if needed.

Adding to my above post, for my 8x4x4ft cage I literally put 1000lbs of my dirt mix in there, that gave me 2ft of depth. Once I got the dirt in, I tossed a bunch of wood and leaves in there (and I keep adding). I put in a bunch of earthworms, springtails, etc. Maintenance is almost zero!