Tiger salamander substrate?

[NeekaLovesYou]

Hi all,

I've just bought a new (nice and roomy!) tank for my sals but I'm having trouble finding 100% organic soil. Everything I find has peat in, a list of other nasty's that make it a big no-no or doesn't list its fertilisers (etc) at all! Which I'm not risking... Their initial set up was substrated with moss, which I in turn changed for coco fibre. I was hoping to use a coco fibre/top soil mix for their large tank but so far things arent going that way. The tank is 3ft, if I don't get anywhere with finding soil will it be ok to use coco fibre as the soul substrate in the large tank? I know it's quite absorbent but is their a strong chance it can get too moist?

 

[Jan]

Reconstituted coco-fiber blocks alone are fine. I often use just the coco-fiber for my tigers...sometimes I mix it with organic soil. Where I live, it doesn't dry out quickly. As for getting too moist, you just need to observe it and only mist/add dechlorinated water to the substrate when it appears to be drying out...which is pretty obvious with coc-fiber. I keep one side of my tanks more moist than the other side so that the animals can chose their environment.

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

Just thought I'd give a quick update:

The sals have now been moved into their big forever home with a coco fiber substrate and I feel it a great move. They seem much happier and at home! I myself have fallen in love with the coco fiber as it's so easy to prepare and maintain - Thanks alot for your help Jan!

 

[MessyJessy]

I have found the cocoa fiber sticks to our salamander. We already have him in quite a large tank for just the single guy... it's a 33 gallon, 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. Is there any other options for substrate?

 

[Jennewt]

If you mix the coco fiber with plain top soil, it doesn't stick to the skin. There are various recipes for substrate mixes here:
Caudata Culture Articles - Vivarium Substrates
I make a big tub full of my favorite substrate mix: coco fiber, plain top soil, and bark chips.

 

[JoshBA]

Also if you set up a drainage layer the soil would last a lot longer. The drainage layer would allow any excess moisture to drain from the soil.

 

[Jennewt]

In my experience, I haven't found a drainage layer useful. I keep substrate just barely damp, so there's not enough moisture to drain.