mixing substrates?

[kneepoles]

I'm in the process of building a semi-naturalistic 20L for a baby ball. My first, actually (never fear, pics will be posted as soon as he comes home!). I've placed an order for a few things so I can have my tank ready (temps, humidity, water, hides, etc) before he gets here so I don't introduce him to some ever changing whacked out home. Stress reduction.
The substrate I've chosen is eco earth because I've read (here and other forums) that it's safe, comfy and helps keep humidity up.Not to mention it was like 4 bucks for 3 pack. HOWEVER, I've also read it's messy and can be a real pain to keep up with (compared to say...aspen or newspaper). My question is: is it ok to mix subtrates? I was thinking maybe eco earth with some kinda bark. Pros? Cons? thanks in advance for feeding the n00b!

[boost3d05]

mixing the dirt substrate with something coarser (bark) isnt going to be bad at all, it will give the substrate more texture...

[spix14]

Personally I love eco earth...I use it in all my snake's cages, and it does pretty good with the humidity...probably better if I didn't keep them in aquariums, but I'm hoping to change that soon. I like it because all you have to do is glance in the cage, if it's light brown then you know it's dried out and needs a good spritz.

[kneepoles]

Another reason I was asking is because it's my understanding that it takes quite some time to dry out enough to use, and I was thinking that having some bark handy might be good for a spot clean here and there. thanks for the input!

[spix14]

Neh, as long as you don't go overboard with the water when you soak it to expand you shouldn't have to wait for it to dry at all. You want it moist enough so it clumps when you squeeze a handful of it but not so wet that you can squeeze water out of it. It might take you a time or two to get the right water amount down. One thing I have noticed is that using warm water when you do it helps it expand faster for some reason. If you use cold water you will be sitting there for like an hour waiting for it to soak it all up. Weird but it works.

[gmcclurelssu]

so far, i love it in my tank. my house is really dry in the winter and it really does a good job of keeping the humidity in the 55% range. i actually have spagnum moss scattered in the eco-earth and arround Lennies hides. it looks pretty good, gives that additional security and humidity retention.

[littleindiangirl]

I love eco-earth. I bought a monster cube for 20$ online, had it for a year now too. LOL. Anyways, I don't like it for tub use, it gets too dry and airy will fly away. I mixed mine with some fine mulched cypress for my corn snake, and it's working great.

I love the color and it's easy of clean spotting, and also knowing when to mist.

[kneepoles]

well good deal, i really appreciate all the input. I actually hadn't seen the eco earth in use in person until I went to check on my little buddy at the store ( he had a laceration on his neck, it's healing very quickly), and they had it in a hermit crab display(eco earth, not the snake). thanks again!