 Recent Herp Discussion | | | | | | | | Online Users: 176 | | 113 members and 63 guests | | -Andrew-, 8438478395783468, akira2828, andymc1970, Anthony, Australis, baxtor, beeman, Benjamin, bkevo, BlindSnake, blueline, Br3ndo, Brock Lobster, BrownHash, bruce34, buck, bundybear, CassM, caustichumor, Chrisreptile, Chyka, cmclean, coastal-shagg, Davem54, DA_GRIZ, DDALDD, dickyknee, Dipcdame, disasterpiece7.0, DragonKeeper, dtulip10, Duke, dunno103, Ewan, falconboy, fishead, fuegan13, funcouple, Gabe, gomeztime, Helikaon, Hetty, hiddendesires, hodges, horsesrule, hozy6, jase75, Jason, jmac, JoeBlakes, johnnyeggbeater, Jungletrans, Jungle_Freak, KaaTom, Karadiddly, Katherine, Kenshin, lez1971, luvezit, m3r, manksy, Marlon, MatE, mattmc, matty91, mattyandnat, mazzaandbrad, mb_64, mckellar007, method, miley_take, MMAnne, mrillusion, mungus, MzSel, m_beardie, paulandtamie, peterbuilt, photogypsy, PiggyKreffts, Pythons08, rash, ravan, Renagade, rob74, ryanharvey1993, rythmnblu, saratoga, Saz, scottynstanley, Shanno, Shonfield, Slytherin, Smellie, solar 17, stripe, STURNUS, swampie, the.badger, tomcat88, Tricia, TRIMACO, TWENTY B, VixenBabe, w3ap0n, waynej, xycom, zuyax | |  | 
30-Jun-07, 07:52 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22  | | |
what does everyone use in their bluetongues enclosure in the way of substrate?
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
30-Jun-07, 07:57 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jun-06 Location: Here Gender: | | | |
Red desert sand.
|
30-Jun-07, 08:14 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22 | | | |
how many coul dbe housed in a 4 X 2 ft cage?
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
30-Jun-07, 08:29 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jun-07 Location: sydney Gender:  | | | |
I used to use the sand as well but got sick of my bluey looking dirty, and any snails got covered in it whilst he ate them...
I then got some of the reptile carpet which really does'nt look natural so that idea was ditched as well..
Third time lucky i'm now using the commercial reptile bark chips, and the bluey has'nt been happier.. He can burrow in it it looks a lot more natural and the crickets can't burrow in and hide from him...
4 x 2 might be okay for a while but it seems a bit small for any more than 1
|
30-Jun-07, 08:31 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: gold coast | | | |
marine ply,from bunnings. Material doesnt snag on his toenails and its washable and crickets cant hide.
|
30-Jun-07, 08:34 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jun-07 Location: in the bushes Gender: | | | |
dosnt look very natural but i use breeders choice kitty litter they love digging in it and its easy to keep clean
|
30-Jun-07, 08:38 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22 | | | |
hey bump, how do you spot clean the bark? does poo stand out, or is it just a matter of throwing the lot and replacing very often
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
30-Jun-07, 08:42 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jun-07 Location: sydney Gender: | | | |
the poo stays on the surface and i just spot clean with my pooper scooper fork.. apparently it is washable but i've only had it i for a couple of weeks so no need yet, you just rinse it and spread it in the sun to dry off..
|
30-Jun-07, 08:47 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22 | | | |
that sounds like a good idea, recently i thought i had decided on another dragon species but i keep coming back to blueies despite the fact they aren't that active or from what i've been told interesting to watch
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
30-Jun-07, 08:49 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Brisbane Gender: | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by wood_nymph  what does everyone use in their bluetongues enclosure in the way of substrate? | Well it actually depends on what type of Blue tongue, I have an Easter/Common and I know for sure that sand is a big NoNo. I use something simple like Cat litter (Made out of paper).
|
30-Jun-07, 08:52 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22 | | | |
i'm thinking of some of those blotched alpines that are up for sale
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
30-Jun-07, 09:00 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Feb-07 Location: Macarthur | | | |
Hi there,
there are many options, each with its pro's and cons. I have tried marine carpet/reptile carpet but as you know bluey poo is messy and the urine often sat under it unnoticed. I used newspaper but felt it didn't give much environmental enrichment in the fact they couldn'y burrow through it. and didn't look great. I used Breeders choice with great results for years, but found that although i was spot cleaning regularly, there was still bacteria amongst the unchanged litter. This results in skin rot/blister disease on the bellies of blueys.
Now i use clean Sydney sand, and just use a pan-handled sieve to clean the poo from the sand and it works a treat. Have been using it for a year now on all my blueys, though it does build up in the sliding door tracking and they need to be fed in dishes as the sand sticks to snails/wet mice etc.
Hope this helps
Tiliqua
P.S
I keep breeding trios in enclosures with a 4x2 foot floorspace
__________________
1 x Blue-tongue
|
01-Jul-07, 09:16 AM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: sydney Age/Gender: 22 | | | |
anyone else out there? i'm talking about apline blotched blueies
__________________
Understand the me and i'll understand the you.
|
01-Jul-07, 12:24 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: Vic Gender: | | | |
It all depends on how often you want to clean and how much effort you're willing to spend cleaning + what kind of look you're going for or if you don't mind it looking synthetic.
Haven't tried bark chips but they sound ok, or you could used leaf litter, spot cleaning daily and a total substrate change when it's been in there a while.
You could use newspaper but you should provide a tray of gravel or some big rocks throughout the enclosure so they can keep their nails down, looks a bit unatural but easy to replace weekly.
"Astro turf" is ok, probably better than newspaper because it gives them some grip (rougher surface), have two pieces so you can replace the dirty one weekly then clean it ready to use when the spare gets dirty, however it's quite hard to clean well.
I wouldn't recommend sand for blotchies, gravel is ok but hard to clean and may be swallowed with food. Whatever you use a good idea is to provide a deep tray they can easily get into with something they can dig in like leaf litter, and put a hide on top of it so they can dig under it. If using anything from outside like leaf litter, bake it in the oven and heat it to at least 70-80 degrees and that will kill most harmful bacteria and pathogens that may be present.
Sdaji did a good article on substrates in a resent Reptiles Aust. Mag if you can hunt that down.
__________________
[5:55:17] ihaveherps: pfft i took a dare at work to eat a chilli some blokes dad grew..... within 10 mins i was sh***ing fire..... have been applying lucas paw paw cream to my date daily since and every day a bit of my shpinc skin has been peeling off..... 3rd degree burns from a pepper.... best $20 i have ever made
|
01-Jul-07, 02:01 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-06 Location: Brisbane | | |
Bark chips look good (preferably not pine if you can find some) they love burrowing and hiding in it, put a large flat piece of stone under the basking light and they will use that
Mine live outdoors in a pit - I put hollow logs in which they love and in cold weather I put straw over the logs making perfect insulation
Blueys are too stinky to be kept indoors or I am just lazy 
__________________
Nothing great is ever acheived without enthusiasm - Emerson-
| |
|
