Using peat

P

pascal

Guest
Substrate, once again...

I am planning to begin in the world of urodeles with tigers (Ambystoma mavortium). After reading a lot, I could not decide what to choose.
I decided to mix 1/2 peat, 1/4 perlite and 1/4 leaf litter, with 1cm of leaf litter at the surface. All the substrate would be disinfected with vapor (boiled 20 min.) in an autoclave.

The topic itself, now...
Sphagnum moss and peat are quite acidic (pH 4 or so), but...
It's possible to increase this value with various methods. Adding lime, thanks to crushed cuttlebone, or adding those pH buffers for aquariums.
Adding fertilizers may help preventing ion loss from the amphibian epiderm.

I would like to avoid using only leaf litter because it's not hygienic, even when boiled.
 
You are making this much too complicated, and in ways that could be dangerous to the animals. I would not recommend using any perlite, lime, buffers, or fertilizers. Peat moss, as you noted, is acidic and better to avoid (although people have used it without problems, it just depends on the batch you get). If you have a good source of leaf litter, that alone (or over a layer of soil or bark) should be enough without any other complications.
 
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