Cedar barks

[Isa]

Hello

Can I put Cedar barks (medium pieces) in my Hermann's enclosure (I guess I would put it on the cold side), is it going to be safe. I heard some kind of woods are not safe to put in an enclosure.

We put the last coat of scealer on Hermy's new tort table on sunday. We will put the laminate inside it and glue it with the sillicone on sunday. Hermy should move in on the saturday (the 31st) I cant wait!.

Thank you very much

Isa

 

[Itort]

No, cedar is toxic to all herps.

 

[Crazy1]

No Cedar. It’s like pine, or a conifer. Not good when it is warm gives off bad (noxious) fumes. Use cypress (shredded), coco fiber (also called bed a beast), outdoor dirt, organic top soil, rocks larger than Hermy can swallow. All these can make up parts of good and varied substrate also a mix of coco fiber and play sand.

 

[Isa]

Thanks for the info.

I put her in the soil last weekend and she tried to eat it like crazy, it looked like heaven to her . So I wont take the chance to put that in her enclosure. I want to put carpet, some rocks and aspen but I wanted to put something more in her cold side. I just called a couple of plant stores and they dont have cypress mulch or other forms of cypress. They told me it would be very hard to find that in Montreal. In what kind of store do you find the cypress in the states (I will go there in the end of June for a wedding so maybe I could buy some)?

I just looked on the exo terra site and they have forest bark and jungle earth? are one of those is cypress. It does not say so on the description. Does anyone of you know these products?
http://www.petsandponds.com/c194892.2.html

Thanks

Isa

 

[Itort]

The forest bark is fir (another conifer) and the jungle earth is ? (they don't say). I would put the aspen on the cold side until you find cypress. Due any nurseries have hardwood mulch in Montreal ? I also use this. The cypress mulch you can find at Walmart, Home Depot, ect.

 

[Isa]

Thanks Larry

My bf went to Homedepot and there dont have cypress. I will put rocks and more aspen substrate on the cold side untill I go to the states.

Isa

 

[Crazy1]

Here are some sites that sell shredded cypress. You can look for it in the Snake area or Gerbil area of some petstores. I think Aspen would work just fine though.
http://www.kamlar.com/KamCompProduct.html in NC USA
http://www.gardenscapeinc.com/products/mulch.htm PA USA

 

[Isa]

Thanks Robyn

The problem is I cant order something from the us (trees or seeds) I called the custom because I wanted to import some seeds from carolina pet supply and they told me if the person from the custom suspect something, they will send my package to the labo and will make it analyzed. The problem is I will have to pay for that. So I will try to go buy some at wal mart or home depot in the connecticut when I will go in June.

Maybe I will try the mix of exoterra plantation soil and play sand. What makes me scared is Hermy eats almost everything, she even took a bite of the soil outside! I am scared that if she is hungry and I am not home, she will eat the mix!

Thanks

Isa

 

[Crazy1]

My little hatchlings taste everything. the soil, the aspen just everything. I was worried also when I first put Comet on soil and sand. I was told they may taste it but the chances are of them eating it much was slim. So I kept an eye on her and they were right. She tasted it a few times them just stopped. Like she had figured out it wasn't anything she really wanted to eat. Remember when they are born outside in the wild they are on dirt and this is how they test things. They take little tastes. I even saw my adult Greek bite into a big white grub. I laughed so hard she looked so disgusted as she tried to spit it out and then looked like she was trying to wipe her tongue off. Never the less to say she didn't try it again.

 

[Isa]

Haha poor thing .

You are right, when they live in the wild, they live in the dirt and they are ok. Since I cant find natural top soil (i found one organic top soil or black earth I am not sure but it has hummus in it, do you know if Hummus could be dangerous?) If the soil is not ok I will mix the exo terra plantation soil (made of coco) and some play sand and put it in her cold side.

PS Comet is a very very cute name for a tortoise, I smile everytime I see it in your posts

Thanks

Isa

 

[Itort]

If it is organic it'll be fine. Humus is well "rotted" plant material. Think of what a forest smells like, thats humus. The big problem with humus is it is heavy and holds moisture making it heavier.

 

[Isa]

Hello Larry

Should I go with that one or with the exo terra plantation soil (with the coco)?

Thanks

 

[stnb]

can you use the repti bark?
Someone at Petsmart said I could use it with my juvenile CA. Desert tortoise.
After reading these post I think I need to go home and get the bark out of the enclosure.

 

[Itort]

can you use the repti bark?
Someone at Petsmart said I could use it with my juvenile CA. Desert tortoise.
After reading these post I think I need to go home and get the bark out of the enclosure.

I would suggest you stay away from this product. It is made from douglas fir which is closely related to cedar and pine.