is there anything other then reptile dirt and the reptile woodchips we can use as a substrate for our lil elvis? we keep the tank clean but its still attracting bugs..
Woodchips are not a good choice. I prefer the eco-earth stuff, and organic potting soil is a great choice also!
i dont think that they are actually woodchips thats just what i call them cuz i can never remember the name.. :-P we have some sort of soil in there and thats our problem.. :-(
Any idea what kind of soil you have? Organic potting soil is usually great, i've never had problem with any bacterias with it. How often are you changing the substrate?
i dont remember what the soil is called (as usual!) i can tell you that we did get it at our local petsmart in the reptile isle it comes in a block and you have to add water and let it sit for 20 mins or so before putting it in your tank. grr.. i cant remember. its changed normally once every 2 weeks but this past time it hasnt gotten done due to me being in and out of the drs and dan working alot of hours due to the holidays
Yea, the expandable stuff is probably the eco-earth or the bed-a-beast. Its probably because you havent changed it much lately that your getting a lot of the bugs, so heres an idea.. If you are able to keep the humidity levels up with paper towels, you can use them. They are a lot safer all round, bugs cant hide, dead crickets and poop can be taken care of quicker etc, all you need to do is make sure that you can keep the humidity levels up.
ok cool! i spray his tank every 2 mins it feels like! we are in the process of look for a new spot to put his tank hes right buy the slider door and his humidity levels are constantly dropping so im always checking on him and spraying him due to the cold weather.. we will try the paper towels tomorrow! its probably like you said alot easier and considering im pregnant i need easier right now! haha. thanks luke ur the best!!
I'm always here to help Wow, i never knew you were pregnant, how far gone are you? Do you know what you're having? Good luck anyway!!
I'll answer for her since I popped in to check out the responses She is due Feb 25th and we're having a little boy! This will be her first, I have a daughter from my ex-wife so we're pretty excited for sure. She forgot to mention the kind of bugs we're having a problem with. It seems we have a gnat problem or maybe they're more like fruit flies. I never see any in the anoles tank which is why I question whether it's coming from there or not. We've gone around the apartment checking where they would be coming from but just can't figure it out so this is the only other thing we could think of. Has anyone else ever had a problem with the dirt producing gnat/fruit fly type bugs?
The only kind of substrate I've had problems with bugs are reptile bark and the zoo med forest floor substrate and I've found zero bugs on trex jungle bed.
Congratulations, coors! As for the bugs, are they black or white? Im assuming black as you say they're like fruit flies? Have you ever fed fruit flies to your anole? They do breed with ease and lay eggs in the shortest amount of time, i'm wondering if maybe thats your problem?
thanks luke! dan had gotten ur post just didnt have the time before work to reply! no we never fed him fruit flies, we tried crickets and he wouldnt even eat them, he likes his meal worms! we did have the reptile bark in there for him, but thanks to luke we disposed of it and are now using the paper towels. the tank looks alot nicer that way as well! and the lil guy is as happy as can be!
humidity levels have been good except for today i was out all day and dan was at work, and i had left the kitchen window open for some fresh air in the house and the bedroom window cracked alittle bit.. so i still gotta get used to the lil guy being in the bed room where its normally very very warm! but hes doing much much better! alot more active again! thanks again for all ur help luke much appriciated!!
