lol! when i held my friends mali and thats exactly what had to do!
like a hamster!

i probably could call deerfernfarms, but there's going to be an expo here in texas and i called one of the venders that sells mali uros. that reminds me of somthing else...... i asked him if they had any in stalk and he said they where getting their first shippment from Africa soon..... dose that mean he dosn't sell cb cuz i deffenatly don't want a wc.... hmmmmm

When i use the clay i move the animal to a temporary tank, i put lights over the tank, its never taken it longer then 2 days to dry for me, usualy when i put it in, by the time i get home from work the next day its dry. But you should always use a humidity gauge to check before he goes back in.

Washed play sand would be okay, but i personally think its best to not use sand at all whenever possible. as for mixing the sand and the clay, the problem you get there is that you want it to be hard enough he cant ingest any, and with the added sand it also may get more "flaky" i just use the clay straight. But a layer of sand with the clay over it would probaly work great.

Most petstores sell eco earth, i know petco does. Eco earth is the same thing as bed-a-beast, and theres a few other kinds, all the expandable coconut substrate is about the same. Just make sure its completely dry, it holds humidity well, so i usualy bake mine in the oven to dry it out.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

what exactly IS eco earth??

Eco Earth is an expandable Cocounut fiber based substrate.


courtesy of zoomed.com

Its about the same thing as bed-a-beast, and forest bedding.
And widely recognized as the safest loose substrate, comes in both a brick, and in bags dry and already expanded. The bricks expand when wet, giving you a great natural looking substrate to use, and works great for keeping humidity up, and if you dry it out ,in the sun or the in oven, it can make a good looking soil for your more arid to temperate animals, while still being safe. As far as loose substrate goes its my faviorite, and im sure theres others who agree. I usualy buy the bricks, its cheaper, but if using it dry the bag is conveinant.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

When you say the web that shows videos you mean youtube right? What if I used excovator with eco earth on one side and on the other, ummm I dunno... washed play sand? would that work?

Ooh, yea,... I should have guessed that. It makes sense.

Yea I saw it! I asked you what the name of the sand was on that other post.

You can link to youtube videos through HC, All you have to do is add them here: Reptile Video Gallery

Once they are reviewed by the staff they will be approved and can be linked to threads.

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~Lacey~

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I am new to keeping Uros, and was curious if there is anything that we can buy, that is closer to what they are on in nature? What do they normally live on? And burrow in? So I will know what to get for mine, when I set up the habitat.
Thank you!

They live in burrows created among rocks and slopes. The burrows are held together by vegetation and moisture often going down past 4 feet of depth. Unfortunately it's not as easy as buying a product that would recreate their living environment. Which is why few Uro owners actually set them up this way.
You need to create a substrate that would dry out and harden on top while holding moisture below. No moisture and the burrows will collapse. You could get away with 12" of dirt mixed with sand and some clay. Then use the excavator product by Zoomed for an inch or so on top. As this product gets a little too hard, you'll need to mix it with some playsand as well. Then you need to monitor the moisture level in the ground. You don't want too much or too little.
It takes some mixing to get the proper levels in the substrate. Once it's all setup it doesn't require much maintenance at all.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you."

Burrowing animals are not going to get killed by 12" of dirt. How do you think hatchlings that are buried deeper than that can dig themselves out after hatching?

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you."