coco-NUTS

[arachnube]

So, I replaced the Kritter Keeper that had small gravel in it with a 10gal tank and shredded coconut substrate for my G. rosea (first T.). The coconut comes in a compressed brick that needed to be soaked to expand. After I did that I got the new enclosure set up with a nice little ceramic "bridge" for him to hide under. I noticed condensation building up underneath the bridge and on Menzo (the T). Obviously too much humidity for the little guy. Any body have experience using this stuff? Will little menzo be OK untill it dries out? I'm currently baking the coconut on low temp in the oven piecemeal to dry it out.

 

[testdasi]

Apparently, you forgot the "let it dry out before introducing the rosea" step.

 

[Sterlingspider]

So, I replaced the Kritter Keeper that had small gravel in it with a 10gal tank and shredded coconut substrate for my G. rosea (first T.). The coconut comes in a compressed brick that needed to be soaked to expand. After I did that I got the new enclosure set up with a nice little ceramic "bridge" for him to hide under. I noticed condensation building up underneath the bridge and on Menzo (the T). Obviously too much humidity for the little guy. Any body have experience using this stuff? Will little menzo be OK untill it dries out? I'm currently baking the coconut on low temp in the oven piecemeal to dry it out.

A rosea is going to be pretty grumpy about it being that damp and may climb the walls, but as long as you have good cross ventilation and it's in a dry room it should dry out pretty fast.

How high up do you have the substrate? If it is more then the Ts legspan from the top you may be able to kill two birds with one stone if you add he dry substrate on top of that to get it to the proper height.

Be very careful with hard items like ceramic decorations, generally it's not suggested to have decorations in the tank that are too hard as they can be a burst injury hazard, if you must have them in the tank make sure they are far from the walls so that if the T climbs it can't fall on it.

 

[IrishPolishman]

the coco substrate does tend to dry pretty quickly. I normally get a little overzealous and forget the drying stage. I haven't had any ill effects yet. I do now keep a large tank and rotate my substrate through it. I don't use the tank for any T's, just a place to mix and air dry the coco substrate. It works very well.

 

[gvfarns]

the coco substrate does tend to dry pretty quickly. I normally get a little overzealous and forget the drying stage. I haven't had any ill effects yet. I do now keep a large tank and rotate my substrate through it. I don't use the tank for any T's, just a place to mix and air dry the coco substrate. It works very well.

It works even better (faster, at least) if the tank you use for drying is sitting on the radiator, as mine is.

Actually my drying "tank" is just a bucket, but sitting on the radiator more than makes up for its lack of surface area.

 

[IrishPolishman]

I have a pretty similar setup...space heater is right next to it. Works well and I just add a little when I take some out. Sure beats screwin around with an over or microwave.

 

[arachnube]

I put loose substrate around the edges of the ceramic to pad any falls the T might have. It has been trying to climb the walls but as of yet hasn't had any success. Probably too wet! I will try spreading the now cooked coco over the wet stuff still in the tank. Do I have to worry about little mezo being wet? Or is the concern mold and bacteria etc...

 

[Sterlingspider]

Do I have to worry about little mezo being wet? Or is the concern mold and bacteria etc...

Mold, bacteria... and grumpyness mostly.

Roseas like being wet just about as much as cats do, as long as there is proper ventilation it won't hurt her any though.

 

[gvfarns]

Your T clearly doesn't like the wet substrate but I think you are doing fine handling it. Drying out the substrate in the oven will speed things up.

In the meantime having something in there that the T can sit on instead of the substrate is probably fine. I had the same situation with my first T and it ended up hanging out on top of its hide the whole time. I ended up taking out the substrate and drying it because I'm not patient enough but if I had just let it dry over time I'm sure it would have been fine.

Overall, I don't think you need to be excessively worried about your T. She clearly doesn't like having wet toes, but a little water won't kill her either. Probably the evaporating water is making her cold, which she also won't appreciate. A lamp with a red party bulb pointing into the enclosure will speed the drying and warm the T. You might consider increasing the ventilation by melting a few holes in the sides (if it's plastic). A little more ventilation than the average enclosure has is a good thing anyway.

 

[Mina]

Yes we do use the coco fiber substrate but we mix it up a week before we need it and then put it in a big plastic tub with a lid and some ventilation holes and let it dry. We just stir it every day and it dries out just fine.

 

[LeilaNami]

I just always squeezed out the substrate by hand. At first it was always a little damp and my rosie would be really mad and sit on top of her half-log hide for awhile. Every now and then she would touch the substrate before slowly pulling leg back kind of like she was going "Ew." After a few days or so she would be just fine and dandy. Never had any problem with mold because I had good ventilation.