Last night I decided to try the Eco-Earth Soil in my 30gal breeder. I've never used it before but the aspen and cypress combined with a dry/heated house was just not keeping in the humidity, even with a tinfoil cover thanks to the extra heat lamp. I was tired of spritzing.

I followed the instructions, but used 3 liters of water instead of 4, hoping it would not get quite as wet and be able to install it the same night. Seemed like it worked...I poured out the extra water, fluffed it while breaking up the chunks that did not expand, turning it occasionally until it was a uniform moistness...not really wet, just damp, like a towel after showering.

It seems like Osiris LOVED it, he was all over the place last night, even knocking over the acurite in an attempt to skate his plastic hides across the floor, under and around the half log and all that. Yay for new smells/feels!

However, I guess the soil was still too moist, as the acurite just says 'HIGH'. Which concerns me -- I don't want him getting scale-rot, but I'm not sure how much exposure to a moister environment it takes for that to be a concern.

The warm side is holding a steady 94 degrees, and it seems that side is drying fairly quickly with the UTH. The cool side is 83ish, and I moved the 75watt red lamp around a bit to help dry various sections out last night.

Should I lay a layer of cypress in his hides until the humidity reaches a norm, or is it ok for a while? The good thing is, he's nearing a shed, so he does need a little extra humidity for now...


Thanks in advance for the advice!