"Softchips" substrate

[Hoomi]

Since I picked up a bag of the stuff from an old friend at the Reptile Show today, and have since cleaned and lined the enclosures for Phil, Dixie, and Nippy (the newest BP in my collection that decided to bite my wife), I figured I'd pass along the information and the link for others to look over and post their thoughts about. Here's Daryl's webpage with the info on the Softchips:

http://www.creaturetravelers.com/

The 20 Qt. bag provided a layer app. 3/4" thick in two 20L terrariums and one 29 Gal. terrarium, and it appears there is still enough in the bag for the remaining 29 that Magellan is in. The chips are made from the outer husk of coconuts, and have a rather squishy feel to them. The odor is very mild, and according to the label, the husks have no potentially harmful oils in them.

From what Daryl said, the softchips can be soaked with water and will act much like sphagum moss for holding humidity up in the enclosure. He also claims the chips will absorb ammonia and other wastes, thereby helping to control the odors from such.

I'll post my own evaluation after seeing how this works out. If, however, this stuff is even half as good as Daryl said it is, it should be quite nice, and looks much better in the bottom of the terrarium than the newspaper did.

[mlededee]

hmm i checked out their web site but it looks like they are still working on it, so unfortunately it wasn't very informative. i'm curious to hear what you think of it though. maybe if you like it really well you could write up a review for it for the "product reviews" section. :wink:

[Hoomi]

Yeah, the web page is not the most impressive I've seen; for one, he really could use a qualified proof reader to check his spelling and grammar.

I figure I'll give the stuff some time to get an idea of how well it works over a long run, and then post a review. So far it seems kind of neat, but any product like this needs a "test of time" to really know how good it is.

[sophie42204]

Hmm, looks and sounds interesting. Definitely follow-up w/your review. I'm curious to hear how you liked it.

[Marla]

Agreed, I'd like to see a user review as well. However, I'm going to move this over to Inquiries because that's a more appropriate section for product info and reviews and people will find it more easily there when browsing.