What are your choices for substrates?

[invertkurt]

I am always looking for new suggestions for my S. salamandra trio. Topsoil got too wet, woodchips are never a good idea... right now I am using crushed fallen leaves for ease of cleaning. Oh, I should mention that they are in a modified long plastic sweaterbox rather than a glass aquarium.

--Kurt

 

[tomthlee]

Have you tried coconut fiber yet?

 

[tonymontanaflows]

i house a. opacum in a plastic box too and use a mix of cocofiber, lots of crushed leaves, a little old ground sphagnum moss, and cypress mulch. some of the cypress mulch looked sharp kind of regret adding it at first but it hasn't caused any harm and has softened since being sprayed and mixed in the substrate. all of this mix loosely rest ontop of a packed topsoil "floor" so some of the dirt, sand, peat sphagnum, rocks of the topsoil gets mixed in as well and doesn't get muddy. here's some pics of my setup

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2743/p1290196kh1.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5378/p1290197jw9.jpg

 

[Jennewt]

I also use sweater box setups. I have found disadvantages with nearly any "single" substrate. For me, top soil dried out too fast; pure coconut fiber stuck to the animal's skin and got moldy anywhere that there was any poop or uneaten food.

Like Tony, I make a mixture of ingredients that works well. My mix is about equal parts coconut fiber and top soil (not potting soil), and I also mix in some wood chips, either fir bark or cypress mulch.

 

[invertkurt]

I will give coconut fiber a chance next time I need to clean everything out. I am actually pretty happy with the dead leaves I have in there now so many I will try a mix. Thanks for the input!