# Home Made Burrowing Substrate?



## Creepy Crawling Guy (Apr 9, 2017)

i was wandering if i can make a home made burrowing substrate ,buying a excavator clay or desert sand is kinda hard from my location. 

and did someone already make a home made burrowing subst. ?? and if you do can you tell me what did you use??

im thinking if i can use materials lying around the house
ex.
i got 1 kilo of vibro sand(filtered and washed sand, no dust)
lots and lots of organic fertilized soil
loam soil(close to clay soil)
chalky soil
bunch of coconut husk
shredded wood(so shredded it looks like sand) i forgot what type of wood it is but my best guest is its a mango tree 
(everything in the list has been sanitized 1 week under the sun 1 week on the counter and 10 minutes in the microwave)

im thinking of mixing a bunch of these and look if scorp can burrow or not

if you have home made recipe can i take a peek at them? so i can get a general idea ^^


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## Hiking Mike (Apr 9, 2017)

What kind of substrate do you need, dry desert or a more humid tropical type?


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## soldierof4cheese (Apr 9, 2017)

I would stay away from anything with fertilizer in it.. just use organic soils.


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## user 666 (Apr 9, 2017)

FWIW, my tarantulas are happy to borrow in coco fiber - but that could be probably too expensive for you.

Is there a reason why plain old dirt isn't god enough?


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## RTTB (Apr 9, 2017)

Organic only soil. Don't use treated fertilizer with Perlite and all the additives.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Creepy Crawling Guy (Apr 9, 2017)

Hiking Mike said:


> What kind of substrate do you need, dry desert or a more humid tropical type?


i going for dry desert



user 666 said:


> FWIW, my tarantulas are happy to borrow in coco fiber - but that could be probably too expensive for you.
> 
> Is there a reason why plain old dirt isn't god enough?


well the one that my scorp have right now is not suitable for burrowing and im thinking to get a burrowing scorpion i just want to prepare the enclosure before hand



RTTB said:


> Organic only soil. Don't use treated fertilizer with Perlite and all the additives.


i would never use anything that had industrial fertilizer in it every fertilized soil i have is made in my backyard only (50% soil and 50% earthworm poop)


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## user 666 (Apr 9, 2017)

Creepy Crawling Guy said:


> going for dry desert


So what you really want is texture rather than burrowing substrate.

I have found that a 4-4-1 mix of coco fiber, play sand, and tunneling clay makes for a great desert soil substrate for my Ts - they happily dig burrows in it.

Someone on here is using a similar mix for his scorpions, although I can't find the thread at the moment.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 9, 2017)

Might be me lol. I use cocofiber. Excavator clay and sand mixture to make my burrowing substrate for scorps 

This is the enclosure for a baby P. Transvaalicus. Lightly compacted

Reactions: Like 1


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## Creepy Crawling Guy (Apr 9, 2017)

ArachnoDrew said:


> Might be me lol. I use cocofiber. Excavator clay and sand mixture to make my burrowing substrate for scorps
> 
> This is the enclosure for a baby P. Transvaalicus. Lightly compacted


did you mixed this your self ? can you share your procedure and ratio


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 9, 2017)

I don't have exact ratio... to be honest. I "eyeballed" most the time. It's trial and error with them sometimes I'll compact or to hard or add too much E clay and it becomes too solid. I would start with 60% sand 10-15% cocofiber and the last 20-25% E clay.

E clay is what's going to be what gives u the trial and error part. If it's for a smaller Specimen try a tad less clay and don't compact so tightly after you mix with water....For a larger or matured animal who's enclosure will go untampered with for a long period of time.  i would compact tight.will hold a better structure

Reactions: Like 1


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 9, 2017)

And by trial and error. I test with the scorps (they're all I own) I leave It in the enclosure after about the first inch has dried . And place a flat hide over a pre started indentation exposed by over night maybe a day or 2 if they haven't burrowed .  It's probably too hard


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## Creepy Crawling Guy (Apr 10, 2017)

ArachnoDrew said:


> I don't have exact ratio... to be honest. I "eyeballed" most the time. It's trial and error with them sometimes I'll compact or to hard or add too much E clay and it becomes too solid. I would start with 60% sand 10-15% cocofiber and the last 20-25% E clay.
> 
> E clay is what's going to be what gives u the trial and error part. If it's for a smaller Specimen try a tad less clay and don't compact so tightly after you mix with water....For a larger or matured animal who's enclosure will go untampered with for a long period of time.  i would compact tight.will hold a better structure


thanks ill try this method

Reactions: Like 1


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## brolloks (Apr 10, 2017)

I also could not find excavator clay in my area so I bought bentonite clay which is readily available since it is used at health spa's and such. 
The smallest quantity I could get was a 50KG bag about 110 pounds, and it was "dirt" cheap. 

I mix the clay with play pen sand, about 3% clay to the amount of sand used. Personally I find if I mix more than 3% clay the mixture becomes as hard as cement.


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 10, 2017)

3%?? And it's that hard? Must  be something different with the materials your using


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## user 666 (Apr 10, 2017)

brolloks said:


> I also could not find excavator clay in my area so I bought bentonite clay which is readily available since it is used at health spa's and such.
> The smallest quantity I could get was a 50KG bag about 110 pounds, and it was "dirt" cheap.
> 
> I mix the clay with play pen sand, about 3% clay to the amount of sand used. Personally I find if I mix more than 3% clay the mixture becomes as hard as cement.


You should mix in regular dirt, too (or coco fiber). I think that would bring it closer to the desert sand found in the southwest.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## user 666 (Apr 10, 2017)

Bentonite clay is some weird stuff:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bentonite+clay&ia=web


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 10, 2017)

Probably shouldn't use lol


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## Creepy Crawling Guy (Apr 10, 2017)

brolloks said:


> I also could not find excavator clay in my area so I bought bentonite clay which is readily available since it is used at health spa's and such.
> The smallest quantity I could get was a 50KG bag about 110 pounds, and it was "dirt" cheap.
> 
> I mix the clay with play pen sand, about 3% clay to the amount of sand used. Personally I find if I mix more than 3% clay the mixture becomes as hard as cement.


bentonite would be good for forest/humid enclosure coz it absorb too much water and expand when wet like a sponge but that could be a double edged sword coz thats a good breeding ground for fungus


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## brolloks (Apr 10, 2017)

Na, bentonite clay is perfectly safe to use. Been using it for a while now and I know of a few other people that use it.
As for mixing different substrates into it, yes I have actually mixed different colors of sand and things into it. I like to experiment and see what works and looks good.


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## brolloks (Apr 10, 2017)

Creepy Crawling Guy said:


> bentonite would be good for forest/humid enclosure coz it absorb too much water and expand when wet like a sponge but that could be a double edged sword coz thats a good breeding ground for fungus


You get two types of bentonite clay, get the one that does not expand. And of course wait for the mixture to dry out completely before introducing your scorpion or you will have issues.

Sodium Bentonite is the one that expands, Calcium Bentonite is the one that does not.

Reactions: Like 1


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## user 666 (Apr 11, 2017)

ArachnoDrew said:


> Might be me lol. I use cocofiber. Excavator clay and sand mixture to make my burrowing substrate for scorps


Are you the one with the 40-gallon tank which included a water dish down at the bottom?


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 11, 2017)

Absolutely not lol


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## user 666 (Apr 11, 2017)

ArachnoDrew said:


> Absolutely not lol


Then there is someone here even more ambitious than either of us.


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## ArachnoDrew (Apr 11, 2017)

I don't house my sp. In large tanks. Have too many of them.  But sounds like an interesting setup


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