~Coir~Anoyed~Tired~Tiago~Substrate

[tyler0912]

Well im thinking off going with coir...
But i heard that it needs to be kept wet or it becomes dusty....
So will spraying it a couple times a day be enough?
It will be expanded in water soo it will be pretty humid for a while...
Is it a good substrate?
Will it be good for tiago?
Any answers we be much appreciated! ​

 

[MatrixDJ]

I recently switched to coco coir and I like it a lot. It retains moisture like a sponge and it does need sprayed down at the very minimum once a day to keep it nice. Churn it once a week or so and you will love it. My only word of advice is to use boiling water to expand it and wring it out pretty good cause it will hold a ton of water. What kind of tortoise is Tiago again?

 

[tyler0912]

Tiagos is a warm...wet....humid loving redfoot!
How often will it need cleaning as spot picking will probably be hard to find poop.

 

[ascott]

Tyler I use 20% yard dirt 50% organic soil 30% coco coir..also a few spots of leaf litter....watered like once per week then misted 3 or so times a day...so far so good...

 

[tyler0912]

Awesome...i think i will buy it!
Will 3 expandable blocks be enough for a 6' x 2' enclosure?

 

[ascott]

Tyler depending on how deep overall your substrate will be that will be a good starting point....my gut says you will need likely a couple more than that...

 

[jaizei]

How big is each brick? The package should say how much volume they will fill when they're expanded. Then it's simple math. Assuming you're going with a depth of 6", you need 6 cubic feet of coir. Or about 170 liters (I've often seen coir packaged using liters.)

 

[tyler0912]

i cant find how much there is...
here it is:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Komodo-Trop...et-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1323122759&sr=1-2[hr]
welll....i am thinking...... 3 coir bricks......a sphagnum moss brick.....6L humus brick........this sound any better?

 

[ascott]

yes, that sounds better Tyler

 

[tyler0912]

Thanks Angela!

 

[ripper7777777]

I think mixing it with other stuff like Angela said is the key, I have tried it alone and it was way to messy for my liking, even with a 12x12 slate and the food in the corner it still made it to the food all the time. I kept it wet, I tried it damped and I packed it till it was hard, but it sticks to anything.

I mixed it with Organic top soil and that helped, but it was still primarily coir and was very messy and Peanut was always dirty.

I put Cypress Mulch in with Scarlet my new redfoot, it was all I could get on short notice she was a black friday impulse buy and I liked it so much I switched out peanuts enclosure yesterday.

I think your mix sounds good, I see alot of people that add a Cypress mulch layer over the top, might be something to consider or a leaf layer if it is messy.