coco coir smells

[HtVic]

should i renew it? but I"ve only used it for 3 months tho...how come it starts smell.
also I found few small flies inside the enclosure, very tiny...:shy:

 

[Michael Bird]

Mine just smells like dirt. I suspect if you have an odd smell and lots of flies, you might have some rotting food (or tortoise droppings) hiding in the soil.

 

[EricIvins]

should i renew it? but I"ve only used it for 3 months tho...how come it starts smell.
also I found few small flies inside the enclosure, very tiny...:shy:

Your substrate is biologically dead.......

Start with new, turn it over every few days, and let the good Flora that keeps the substrate cycled and cleaned do its job.......

 

[ascott]

Smells like what?
The tiny bugs are likely eating at any left over food or waste...

 

[wellington]

I used my coir for almost a year before I changed it. No smell and no flying bugs. I did get bugs that lived in it, but not flying ones. I think you may need to clean up uneaten food and poop better and/or more often. I would take it out and either change it out with new or take it out and either bake it or freeze it. Bake or freeze any new coir before you use it and it will kill any eggs that might be in it.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

^^Agreed. Coco coir should stay pretty free of pests as long as you regularly remove waste and uneaten food.

 

[KimandKarasi]

Oh man you think Coco coir smells.. I just put in some forest moss for my sulcata that I bought in brick form at the pet store, and my god my room smells terrible now... like I run a friggin compost in here or something! XD

 

[Akronic]

i wear vinyl gloves and weekly sift through the substrate, i pick out all their turds and any foreign objects. i also mist it several times a week. i will set my sprayer to the finest mist i get and i will spray the torts even i figure they encounter rain.

 

[lisa127]

Oh man you think Coco coir smells.. I just put in some forest moss for my sulcata that I bought in brick form at the pet store, and my god my room smells terrible now... like I run a friggin compost in here or something! XD

I put that stuff in my boxies enclosure a few weeks ago. My daughter keeps saying it smells like the dog peed in there!

 

[HtVic]

but I remove uneaten food every day, it is hard to see poops because i use big tank for a baby
i am thinking to change bark as bedding, but will that hard to clean? since bark is wood pieces, i guess it won't get bugs easily