Bluetongue Subsrate???

[rreptiless]

Hey everyone,

This is my first day on APS! I am desiring to buy some baby Bluetongues in the near future. I am currently preparing there tank but have stumbled across the question on what substrate to use! I have read many different care sheets with different opinions, I am puzzled on which one to trust! So, I am coming to you for your opinion as owners!

Thanks in advance,
Terry

 

[Beard]

I personally like marine carpet

 

[snakeynewbie]

Mine are on fine Eucalyptus bark. I buy it from Bunnings and then i put it through the oven to kill any nasties off(makes the house smell pretty too ). They get fed in a dish so I'm not too worried about them ingesting it.


I guess it depends what you want from your enclosure, if it's just a house for them and prioritied are things like ease of cleaning, etc then carpet, etc are your b est bet. Personally I'm going for a fairly realistic display tank type set up so I sacrifice ease of cleaning for that.

 

[miss2]

hi terry. mine are out side and are in a mix of eucie mulch, sand and leaf litter.
when i had them inside i kept them on breeders choice cat litter for a while to.
good luck

 

[Chris1]

mine (shingles, same family as blueys) are on Oz Pet cat litter (compressed wood pellets) on one side, and newspaper/paper towels on the other side where i feed them.

being indoor lizards i needed something that drastically reduced teh feral stench, which the ozpet did!!

before that i had newspaper/woodchips/sand, at which time you could smell them the second u walked into the house,..ewwwww,....>!!!

with Ozpet, i need to bend down and sniff a nugget from an inch away to get the poo smell,...the stuff is brilliant!!!!!!!

if ozpet gets wet it turns to sawdust, so risk of impaction is minimal,....

 

[rreptiless]

Wow thanks everyone for the replies!

I am increasingly liking the idea of cat litter, my only concern is does it heat well?

 

[Chris1]

what do you mean by heat well?

if youre using heat cord covered in tiles, it will make it thru a thin layer (i use no more than 1 inch so i can just scoop out the piles of sawdust every arvo, deeper and the wetness will sink too low to see, making it less hygenic.)
but the lizards will wriggle/burrow into it, so they will get to their heat source no worries

i use lights, and its fine with them,..

 

[LadyJ]

I think Breeder's Choice is a good option. It eats the smell so well... just make sure none is ingested, kitty crumble swells with moisture, imagine that in the gut.

Personally I've always used tiles or a short astro-turf, buy exess of it so you can just take it out of the set-up, soak it in the sink with 1/10 parts bleach & water and then rinse very well. Hang it on the clothes line and check your spare sheet in there. Too easy!

 

[rreptiless]

Sorry, by heat well I mean heating by a heat mat/pad.

 

[Serpentess]

You may also want to look into Kitty's Krumble or Kritter's Krumble, I use that with a few of my snakes and I think it is great. Needs a bit of a misting once in a while as it does get a bit too dry. But if were to ever have a Bluey in my care again I would give it a go with them as well. Previously have used breeder's choice with Bluey's though.

 

[rreptiless]

Is there any harm to bluetongues if any cat litter is digested?

 

[Serpentess]

When I kept bluey's they would get their salads, dog roll and meal worms on a plate, which they ate on the plate if it was cut into nice sizes, if it was cut too big they would take it off the plate and try to mush it up by pushing it into things (like the floor, hides, enclosure sides). When they were fed Crickets or Woodies they were put into a separate feeding tub where they could catch them and eat them. Ingesting substrate brings the risk of impaction and intestinal blockage, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[rreptiless]

When I kept bluey's they would get their salads, dog roll and meal worms on a plate, which they ate on the plate if it was cut into nice sizes, if it was cut too big they would take it off the plate and try to mush it up by pushing it into things (like the floor, hides, enclosure sides). When they were fed Crickets or Woodies they were put into a separate feeding tub where they could catch them and eat them. Ingesting substrate brings the risk of impaction and intestinal blockage, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks Chantelle!

I would also like to thank everyone tremendously for your help so far!!!


So, after revising everything I have decided to go with cat litter considering its odor terminating, affordable and looks presentable! Now for the last task to find out what brand to use!

Thanks in advance, Terry

 

[snakeynewbie]

If I was using litter I would look into one of the lucerne based ones, atleast you know if it gets accidentally eaten it should be mostly digestable.

 

[rreptiless]

If I was using litter I would look into one of the lucerne based ones, atleast you know if it gets accidentally eaten it should be mostly digestable.

Great, that will narrow down the search a lot!

 

[James_Scott]

I have just completed the new enclosure for my Bluey. I use eucalyptus mulch and have it on slabs of slate which are heated from underneath via a heat cord. A bit of uv and calcium supplements and he is happy as Larry or in this case Henry.

 

[rreptiless]

Invalid attachments James!

 

[Serpentess]

You won't find lucerne in Kitty Litter, it's a sort of hay/grass that can be eaten by rabbits, horses and guinea pigs (well, at least that was my understanding of what it is). Kitty's Krumble is coconut husk based so if a small amount were to be ingested it should not be a worry.

 

[Red-Ink]

I have breeders choice kitty litter on mine... nice and neat and keeps the humidity down for my stumpy.

 

[snakeynewbie]

We used to sell it at a pet shop I worked at so it does exist or atleast did at lone stage