Reddit reviews Zoo Med Eco Earth Loose Coconut Fiber Substrate, 8 Quarts

We were told to use Eco-Earth or other pet friendly soils. I hoping that was good information because, fun fact: rats like to eat dirt lol

ZooMed coconut fiber substrate
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00167VVP4/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_U9P4CbFK61SSA

I’m just gonna go off, this will be long as hell. It’s currently really early in the morning so sorry for any formatting/spelling.

• a terrarium. I currently have a 10 gallon since my frog is still small but I’ll probably go up to 20-30 gallon which isn’t necessarily obligatory as they don’t move that much. I wouldn’t personally wouldn’t recommend going under 10.
  
  
• a mesh lid. This doesn’t regularly come with the terrarium and you’ll have to buy one that fits appropriately with the size of your tank.
  
  
• Day and night light stand. an example, this is what I have.
  
  
• UV day bulb, and a night bulb. Make sure to flip the lights over whenever you wake up and whenever you go to bed so he gets a cycle of day and night. find example here, not a huge fan of these ones but you might like it
  
  
• a thermostat and hydrometer. I have one that sticks to the inside wall of my tank. I found that putting it closer to the bottom will give you a more accurate reading of the temperature and humidity. I keep my frog’s temp at a steady 80° Fahrenheit and about 65 - 80% humidity. an example of thermostat plus hydrometer
  
  
  
• substate. Make sure it’s wet but not soppy and give it a good spray at least twice a day. an example
  
  
• shading/ a place to hide. You can plant safe plants in their terrariums but I prefer just to add some fake plants.
  
  
• a water dish that he can get in and out of. If he goes in it by himself then the substrate isn’t wet enough. They absorb water through their skin and need to basically constantly be damp.
  
  
• for food I personally feed crickets, mealworms, and wax worms. I again personally use tweezers to pick the bug up and put them in front of mine so it doesn’t run away from me and get lost. I’ll occasionally dip the bugs in calcium powder as well. Be careful with waxworms, pinky mice, and other fatty foods as the frog could get overweight.
  BE WARNED: crickets stink af and even in their little bug home you can smell it from afar. Not to mention their food stinks and they die easy. Buy the smaller ones if you can, I’ve noticed they smell a lot better and don’t die as quickly.
  
  
• don’t move or hold the little dude to much as it stresses them out.
  
  
• if you’re gonna let bugs roam in the terrarium clean it out once every week. I personally clean mine about every 3 weeks but I don’t keep bugs in there.
  
  I hope this helps! If I think of anything else I’ll add it here. Also if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask.

Oh then check out this channel for direct Leopard Gecko care, and this channel for gold nuggets of care tips. I recommend going with reptile carpet or eco earth. Good luck!

You want fiber not husk.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00167VVP4

That stuff in either the bag or they have it in bricks that you mix with water as well.

If you're keen on doing some work to save money and have some tools lying around, you could build your own enclosure for much cheaper than premade ones. There's plenty of tutorials and the materials (usually wood or acrylic) are fairly affordable. The long term costs of owning a snake are pretty negligible, it's the initial cost that's going to be pretty high.

Aside from the enclosure, you also need; a heat mat (ex), a thermostat (ex1 ex2), thermometer and hygrometer (ex), substrate (ex1 ex2), 2 hides (ex), water dish (ex), ceramic heat emitter (ex), cleaning supplies (ex), and a mist bottle (ex).

Those are all just examples and some of them might not work for you, but it should give you an idea of what to look for. Things that aren't "technically" a requirement but are highly recommended are plants/decor and a light (UVB if you want to spoil them) to provide a day/night cycle. If you're wanting a Ball Python, options are practically endless on MorphMarket. Just make sure you do your research on a breeder before buying.

I have some Mojave Sand already for it. the only two things I'd need to buy would be this. Is this a good start?

https://smile.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Excavator-Burrowing-Substrate/dp/B000N5OM8S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=16MWUGEQOVNWL&keywords=excavator+clay&qid=1570129542&s=gateway&sprefix=excavator+clay%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-2

https://smile.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Coconut-Substrate-Quarts/dp/B00167VVP4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=11MUDK3PQLGV5&keywords=coco+fiber+substrate&qid=1570129565&s=gateway&sprefix=Cocofiber+%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-4

Yes! Forest floor (cypress mulch) doesn’t mold like aspen and you can mist it or pour water in directly. I know Amazon sells it but most stores that I’ve been to that sell reptile supplies have it too. Also I remember I got the compressed coco fiber block and it was SO wet after rehydrating it. I ended up getting a bag of loose eco earth to mix in and absorb some water.
Zoo Med Forest Floor Bedding, 24 Quarts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010OVM7A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_D-czCbXHJYNFD
Zoo Med Eco Earth Loose Coconut Fiber Substrate, 8 Quarts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00167VVP4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ycdzCbDF55X9G

Would this work?


http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Coconut-Substrate-Quarts/dp/B00167VVP4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1414967795&sr=1-1&keywords=eco+earth



And this is what I cant use?

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Laboratories-SZMEE10-1-Brick/dp/B007C8580K/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1414967880&sr=1-5&keywords=eco+earth

Also thanks for the link, it was very helpful. Also the spawn to sub ration is 1:2?

Here's a link for it on amazon so you can read the other reviews if you like http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Coconut-Substrate-Quarts/dp/B00167VVP4

I use this terrarium once they're larger but I invested because I raise mantids as pets quite often.

For a twig, I use this

And for foliage I use this with the suction cup plonked near the top and the leaves hanging down that I found in the reptile section.

The fish and reptile sections at your local pet store are going to be your favorite aisles from now on.

For substrate a lot of people here prefer dirt (NEVER from outside, there are all kinds of parasites and mites in outside dirt!) But I prefer coconut fiber as my substrate because it's naturally antibiotic and will hinder fungal and bacterial growth, and smell nicer too.

You'll really come to love these little guys, and here's why. Mantids, unlike most "bugs" hunt via sight, not vibration. This means they move and act much more mammalian than other insects. They don't skitter, they don't make sudden scary movements or bite or attack on sight (well some do, they all have their own distinct personalities), and they're VERY smart.

Mantids have been known to be receptive to operant conditioning, AKA they can be trained like a dog would. You should try to handle them (gently and with clean hands) as they grow up, every couple of days, and by the time they're adults they'll readily calmly hang out with you whenever you want. You can plop them on your arm as you do computer stuff or whatever. They're very docile creatures most of the time and make great pets. Just be careful because they're fragile.

As others said, keep humidity around 50% and if they're Tenodera Sinesis then temperature should hover around 70F at night and 80F during the day, which means you'll want a dome reptile lamp and you'll need to figure our the appropriate distance from the top of the cage to place it. Don't place it right on top, the mantids love to hang out on top upside down and a lamp right there would fry them. Make sure there's at least 1 cool spot for them to cool off.

As for food and water, once they're a little bigger the crickets at the pet store should work fine. If they're super picky there are lots of online mantis stores that sell larger flies. and whet a sponge or paper towel in there to help with the humidity.

> Also, humidity is still low. Low 50's, about 52. How can I raise that? His water dish can't get much bigger so I don't know the next step.

Better substrate. I recommend the coconut fiber substrate that's fairly common. Also, if you're using a glass aquarium, I recommend covering most of the screen top with aluminum foil or something similar. This will help keep the humidity you generate in the tank.

> It looks like he began shedding before I got him. Now the skin is peeling off in somewhat random spots. Head and neck seem fine but the body is scattered. Could this have to do with the humidity? What should I do about it?

Yeah. This is a bad shed and is very much due to low humidity while shedding. Humidity needs to be around 60% during a shed. In the meantime, you can soak him. Get a small tub with lid. Poke some holes in the lid and fill it halfway or so with water. Then put the snake in and put the lid on. You can leave him in for 15 minutes or so (checking on him every couple min). After that, take him out and put him in a towel. Hold the towel and let him crawl through it on his own while you loosely grip him using said towel. The stuck shed should come off very easily this way.