Vermiculite in water...

[Alboy84]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering about something. My T's have 100% vermiculite in their enclosures and they often get fragments of the stuff in their water bowls. Is this water still okay to drink or should I quickly change it? I'm asking this because I usually don't take out the water bowl (because of webbing attached to it) and just add water to it. Thanks for any help!

 

[Talkenlate04]

Little flakes here and there are no big deal. There is nothing in vermic that can seep into water that is harmful.
Much like you I dont remove the water dish all that much with some species because they seem to like to web it to the ground.

 

[Alice]

there is no harm in vermiculite getting in the water dish, it's not poisonous.

however, i wouldn't keep my ts on vermiculite. it's ok for adult arboreals, but not for slings or terrestrials/burrowers as it cannot support a burrow. of course not all ts burrow but nearly all my terrestrials have done at least a bit of landscaping activity. why not try peat moss or a mixture of potting soil and vermiculite so they can burrow if they want to? also, that's much cheaper than pure vermiculite

 

[lunixweb]

hi

The water is ok, there is no problem with the vermiculite getting in the water dish, but it could be better if you make a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite (60/40).

 

[NBond1986]

vermiculite was recently on recall in many garden centers and hardware stores based on a paranoya of people thinking that it contained asbestos. i think this is 100% bull, and people are just uneducated and paranoid.

even if it really DID contain asbestos, it still wouldn't be dangerous. in order for asbestos to be dangerous to you, you must inhale it in its particle form. it is perfectly safe as a solid......same goes for bakelite (the plastic before plastic existed)

But your T should be perfectly fine with vermiculite getting in the water. No problem.