Coconut fiber: Exo Terra and Zoo Med Vs the Stuff from the nursery?

[Jared2608]

Hi All,

I had to take my Gran to the Nursery yesterday, she apparently needed some new plant food and this turned into several dozen new plants...Anyway, whilst there, I noticed that they had bricks of coconut fiber, that look exactly like the stuff that you get from Exo Terra and Zoo Med, so this got me wondering, could you use these bricks as substrate, instead of the brand named ones?? The bricks where quite cheap, and apparently you mix them with water just like the other ones??

What do you guys think??

[gardenfiend138]

It's all the same--shredded coconut husk. Most compressed coco coir isn't enriched with nutrients (but if it is, stay away), and I'm sure they sterilize the horticultural grade stuff same as the pet-shop stuff, but if not, sterilization is easy enough. They come in pretty huge bales, too, which would last you daaayyyssss (I'm not sure how many cubic feet the bales are, but filled around 8- 5 gallon buckets or so).

[kitedemon]

I buy mine from an organic nursery locally it is super cheap (I get a bale for about 70$ and it is 1200L or just over 100 pounds and last me and the 9 snakes I have just over a year.) Just make sure there are no added fertilizer on a rare occasion I have seen it added in. Certified organic to be sure.

[Jared2608]

Cool guys thanks!!! I saw the big bags, some are the fibre and some are the chips, apparently they use it for the plant potting. They also have the compressed bricks, and are much cheaper than the pet branded one...I figured to be safe I could sterilize it with the little steam cleaner my mom has, the TV said it kills bed bugs and things and it only uses steam!

I guess the next question is, does this stuff work well for ball pythons, it looks nice and I would like to use it when I get mine!

[kitedemon]

Yes it works really well almost too wet at holding humidity sometimes I prepare the blocks with boiling water and then let them stand for a few days before using it to allow it to dry out some. I have had no problems with the snakes eating it (unlike wood chip substrates never again for me) I do use a feeding mat it keeps things slightly less messy.

[Jared2608]

What about a mixture of the Fiber/Coir, and coco nut husks which look like broken shells, that you can also get at the nursery, I figure this might ease the problem of the excess humidity?