Will this Coco coir be safe to use with my Ibera Greek hatchling?

StaffordC

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I have been looking at different brands for coco coir because buying them at Petco/Petsmart can get expensive. I came across some on Amazon, and I’m fairly certain that it will work just fine, but I wanted to get some other opinions on it. It says that it is 100% organic and OMRI listed with low EC and pH levels. I will include a screenshot and a link if you want to check it out for yourself.

Link:

Coco Bliss Premium Coco Coir Brick 250g, OMRI Listed for Organic Use (20 Bricks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DPVKB4H/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
 

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Minority2

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I have been looking at different brands for coco coir because buying them at Petco/Petsmart can get expensive. I came across some on Amazon, and I’m fairly certain that it will work just fine, but I wanted to get some other opinions on it. It says that it is 100% organic and OMRI listed with low EC and pH levels. I will include a screenshot and a link if you want to check it out for yourself.

Link:

Coco Bliss Premium Coco Coir Brick 250g, OMRI Listed for Organic Use (20 Bricks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DPVKB4H/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

That price is higher than normal on amazon. The average cost for a standard 11lb coco coir single brick/multiple bricks that you can easily be broken apart in sections with boiling water is around $18-25. The gardening coco coir version is of a higher quality than most if not all pet branded version.
 

StaffordC

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That price is higher than normal on amazon. The average cost for a standard 11lb coco coir single brick/multiple bricks that you can easily be broken apart in sections with boiling water is around $18-25. The gardening coco coir version is of a higher quality than most if not all pet branded version.

You are right. I just found some other ones that are right around the $20 range. I buy Zoo Med coco coir whenever I get it from Petsmart/Petco. When you say the gardening coco coir is of a higher quality in comparison to the pet branded stuff, what exactly do you mean by that?
 

Minority2

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You are right. I just found some other ones that are right around the $20 range. I buy Zoo Med coco coir whenever I get it from Petsmart/Petco. When you say the gardening coco coir is of a higher quality in comparison to the pet branded stuff, what exactly do you mean by that?

The companies that sell the gardening versions do a better job sifting through the husks to ensure that you're getting exactly what you're buying which is a relatively clean and infestation free product.

On the other hand, members from this forum and other tortoise related sites have reported finding various foreign materials in their product from stemming from sharp melted plastic, sharp jagged metal fragments that have injured tortoises in the past, to mites in their compressed bricks. These aren't one-off incidents because you also clearly see a lot of amazon members complaining about the very same thing; finding stuff that just don't belong. Really makes you wonder whether or not these supposed companies that specialize in reptile products really in fact do take the time to sift through each individual substrate material before they are mixed together to create those sub-par substrate mixtures.

And if they in fact don't bother doing it, why pay more for such a low quality product filled unrelated materials that can possible harm the tortoise when there are better, far cheaper alternatives?
 

StaffordC

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The companies that sell the gardening versions do a better job sifting through the husks to ensure that you're getting exactly what you're buying which is a relatively clean and infestation free product.

On the other hand, members from this forum and other tortoise related sites have reported finding various foreign materials in their product from stemming from sharp melted plastic, sharp jagged metal fragments that have injured tortoises in the past, to mites in their compressed bricks. These aren't one-off incidents because you also clearly see a lot of amazon members complaining about the very same thing; finding stuff that just don't belong. Really makes you wonder whether or not these supposed companies that specialize in reptile products really in fact do take the time to sift through each individual substrate material before they are mixed together to create those sub-par substrate mixtures.

And if they in fact don't bother doing it, why pay more for such a low quality product filled unrelated materials that can possible harm the tortoise when there are better, far cheaper alternatives?

Wow, I never knew that people have found sharp melted plastic, metal fragments, mites, and other various foreign materials in the reptile company coco coir products. I will be sticking to the garden companies from now on. Thank you very much for that information!
 

Minority2

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Wow, I never knew that people have found sharp melted plastic, metal fragments, mites, and other various foreign materials in the reptile company coco coir products. I will be sticking to the garden companies from now on. Thank you very much for that information!

I remember one example not sure if it's documented in this forum where there was an tortoise owner that had found a piece of jagged melted plastic after searching their indoor enclosure for whatever piece of item was the cause of their tortoise's injury. The owner never used an outdoor enclosure and the melted plastic was not broken apart from any equipment or enclosure material. The table was made of plywood if I remember correctly and they had pictures of the pretty large piece of plastic and the damage it caused to the tortoise. Other people started replying by showing the weird stuff they found in their reptile branded substrates as well.

I wish I had remembered to save that link somewhere.
 

jaizei

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I wouldn't assume that the horticultural coir is necessarily cleaner or safer than that for pets, especially if its the compressed bricks. There may be some selection bias: pet owners may be more "involved" with the coir, from the initial rehydration when I think pet owners are more likely to use hands instead of tools to break it apart, to handling/cleaning it on an ongoing basis whereas when its used as a gardening amendment, its more likely to be once and done.

I think it's primarily small pieces of plastic, but I've found enough "other" items in coir of the years to always give it a once over before using with an animal.
 

Minority2

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I wouldn't assume that the horticultural coir is necessarily cleaner or safer than that for pets, especially if its the compressed bricks. There may be some selection bias: pet owners may be more "involved" with the coir, from the initial rehydration when I think pet owners are more likely to use hands instead of tools to break it apart, to handling/cleaning it on an ongoing basis whereas when its used as a gardening amendment, its more likely to be once and done.

I think it's primarily small pieces of plastic, but I've found enough "other" items in coir of the years to always give it a once over before using with an animal.

Agreed. I treat the coco coir I purchase from gardening retailers the same I way would suggest to others that use reptile branded substrates mixes. Pour enough boiling water to cover the brick or bricks until it looks like a thick bucket-filled soup just in case in order to kill any insects and or eggs that might have been scooped up during the grounding and packaging process.
 

StaffordC

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I remember one example not sure if it's documented in this forum where there was an tortoise owner that had found a piece of jagged melted plastic after searching their indoor enclosure for whatever piece of item was the cause of their tortoise's injury. The owner never used an outdoor enclosure and the melted plastic was not broken apart from any equipment or enclosure material. The table was made of plywood if I remember correctly and they had pictures of the pretty large piece of plastic and the damage it caused to the tortoise. Other people started replying by showing the weird stuff they found in their reptile branded substrates as well.

I wish I had remembered to save that link somewhere.

Im sure that many companies get their coir from one or a few different sources and then they rebrand it as their own and mark it up as they see fit for the situation. Whenever I rehydrate the coir, I always go through it with my hands and mix it all up in the container and press it down by hand in the enclosure so that it doesn’t get all over the place and I have found that my hatchling can walk on it easier. The next time I need new coco coir, I am going to order it off Amazon and go through my same process and then come back and write my honest opinion on the similarity or differences in another forum post.
 

Ubercat

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I bought mine from eBay. The only foreign object I found was a small pebble. As commented above, I mashed mine up by hand, so I would hopefully notice any other objects. Except if there were any mites - I’ll be doing mine with boiling water, just in case, next time. Thanks for the tip!
 
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