John Brazell
New Member
My indoor enclosure is a 2 foot by 4 foot Sterilite Christmas tree storage bin. I have two of them fit together so in the winter when she is burrowed under I can collapse it down to 2 foot by 4 foot and the more active months I can extend it to a 2-foot by about 7 1/2 foot. I am doing research on building her and outdoor enclosure this coming summer but that is a thread for another topic. The current substrate is a mixture of topsoil, peat and vermiculite. Not liking it because it is too difficult to keep any real humidity and I fear that while she is borrowed under for winter she is going to become dehydrated. Not to mention I just noticed mold starting in one corner. So I would like to ask everyone's opinion on this following a plan.
1. I ordered five 24 quart bags of Zoo Med repti bark from Amazon. There seems to be a shortage of it in the pet stores and orchid bark is non-existent at Home Depot and Lowe's this time of year. I got a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket and drilled dozens of small holes in the bottom of it. I empty a bag of Repti bark into the bucket and rinse with hot water from the kitchen sink sprayer.
2. After letting it drain for about an hour pour the bark into turkey roasting pans and back at 300° for 1 hour to kill any mold or fungus spores or gnat eggs Etc.
3. After all of the bark is rinsed and baked I will then remove Tulow and current substrate from her enclosure and clean it.
4. Upon putting the repta bark in the enclosure should I mix it with anything or what about putting a bottom layer of 1-inch vermiculite to help hold moisture and release it?
5. Also along with the bark I see there are a lot of Small wood pieces about about the size of matchsticks in with the bark. Should I pick all that out? I worry about it poking her in the eye or getting lodged in a nostril when she's borrowing.
I do apologize. This seems to be more wordy and longer than I had originally intended. Thank you for bearing with me and all advice and opinions are appreciated. Thank you so much.
1. I ordered five 24 quart bags of Zoo Med repti bark from Amazon. There seems to be a shortage of it in the pet stores and orchid bark is non-existent at Home Depot and Lowe's this time of year. I got a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket and drilled dozens of small holes in the bottom of it. I empty a bag of Repti bark into the bucket and rinse with hot water from the kitchen sink sprayer.
2. After letting it drain for about an hour pour the bark into turkey roasting pans and back at 300° for 1 hour to kill any mold or fungus spores or gnat eggs Etc.
3. After all of the bark is rinsed and baked I will then remove Tulow and current substrate from her enclosure and clean it.
4. Upon putting the repta bark in the enclosure should I mix it with anything or what about putting a bottom layer of 1-inch vermiculite to help hold moisture and release it?
5. Also along with the bark I see there are a lot of Small wood pieces about about the size of matchsticks in with the bark. Should I pick all that out? I worry about it poking her in the eye or getting lodged in a nostril when she's borrowing.
I do apologize. This seems to be more wordy and longer than I had originally intended. Thank you for bearing with me and all advice and opinions are appreciated. Thank you so much.