# Ackie Substrate



## PhilK (Mar 5, 2012)

Hey guys,

My two ackies have been on play sand for the past two or so years. It is fine as a substrate but after 2 years of soiling it has become very smelly. I do spot clean it but urine etc soaks into the sand and after a long time they really stink. It also gets into the runners of the glass doors, and into the water dish and is beginning to get on my nerves so I am getting rid of it. I am thinking of replacing it with a natural kitty litter but am wondering what your thoughts are on substrates for them.

There is a few types of kitty litter that are natural - compressed wood shaving pellets, lucerne pellets and newspaper pellets come to mind. It won't look as good as sand but it will stop the place stinking which is good, and will be easier to deal with.

Thoughts?

EDIT: my sandswimmers won't get any but I will probably give it to my diamonds too.


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## Sinners121 (Mar 5, 2012)

play sand isnt very expensive maybe try spot cleaning and do a full throwout of substrate more often


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## PhilK (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks for the reply.

I am asking about what kitty litters would be good, not whether or not I should change (my mind is made up about changing). The sand smells even with spot cleaning, and gets everywhere and it annoys me


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## Ramsayi (Mar 5, 2012)

No substrate will stop smells if it doesn't get changed for ages.As far as sand getting into the runners goes maybe a strip of timber dam in the front of the cage may stop it happening.I think any of the softer substrates wont help with sheds on toes etc which may become a problem.


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## Sinners121 (Mar 5, 2012)

have a look at coir-peat then. i dont know how well it will work for ackies but i use it for my snake and it is cheap.


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## Frozenmouse (Mar 5, 2012)

You should never keep the same substrate for 2 years spot clean daily and full replacement every couple of weeks/months depending on enclosure size and stock levels. Sand is best for them they have a tendency to eat kitty litter ext and as mentioned it is a better abrasive for their toes and belly when shedding. Kitty litter will jam up your glass tracks just as badly as sand will.


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## PhilK (Mar 5, 2012)

Righto thanks guys. Good points to think about


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## Robo1 (Mar 5, 2012)

I know what you mean Phil, I've been toying with the same idea for a little while now. I've been thinking of trying something like tea tree mulch because I've read about people using it for other Varanus species. Unfortunately, I haven't really had a chance to do a lot of reading about it yet. Maybe sand with a layer of mulch on top will stop it getting kicked around as much?


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## PhilK (Mar 5, 2012)

Yeah that's not a bad idea but what about odour? Kitty litter is made to neutralise odour... the clinic cat at work uses lucerne kitty litter and it never smells. 

I don't think that the sand really plays that big a part in shedding - plenty of other lizards shed fine when they are off sand. In fact I have heard sand is bad for toe and tail tips due to drying them out (makes sense as I have seen lots of goannas on sand that are missing these parts). There is lots of other abrasive stuff in my enclosure so I don't think it's a big deal.


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## Red-Ink (Mar 5, 2012)

Kritter crumble seems to minimise odour.... there's also breeders choice kitty litter. They are the two "litter" type substrate I use.


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## JrFear (Mar 5, 2012)

id stick to sand and just replace more ofter like every 2 - 6 months!
as with kitty litter you could try breeders choice? or theres even a clay like litter that is abit bigger than sand but not sure how that would go with reptiles!


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## Robo1 (Mar 5, 2012)

I had similar troubles with smell and I was replacing the sand about every 6-9 months (I use about 200kg of bagged sand, ie wet, in my enclosure). About a year ago, I made a scoop to spot clean with. Works a treat, removes a lot more waste than I'm able to by hand and the enclosure is only just starting to faintly smell now (just past the year mark).

I'm not too sure on the shedding issue, but I think that shouldn't pose too much of a problem. From what I've read, people seem to have a lot of trouble when they keep them too wet rather than too dry. So as long as the substrate is allowed to dry out properly it should be ok. I'd keep a close eye on it though.


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## Scleropages (Mar 5, 2012)

I have had my RTMs on red sand for over 5 years and there is no smell ( its fully changed every 6 months tho) it's a pain in the tracks but not hard to cope with.


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## PhilK (Mar 5, 2012)

Fair enough.. good to see everyone's point of view but I'm still keen to try something new. Personally cannot abide red sand as it stains my animals... I do have a scoop but I just musn't get to it enough... or maybe years of only spot cleaning was a stupid choice haha and the smell has caught up


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## Klaery (Mar 5, 2012)

I use sand for all mine and only change around the 6 month mark. No smell, though I have always had fairly low stock numbers/animal size compared with enclosure size.

It is also really cheap if you just take some buckets or a ute down to your local landscaping place.


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## Frozenmouse (Mar 8, 2012)

bunnings has washed sand 20kg bags for $6 pretty cheap substrate . 1200x600x600 cage would require 3 bags for good cover thats $18 every 3-6 months.


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## disintegratus (Mar 8, 2012)

I use a mix of play sand and coco-peat for my water dragons, because I heard plain sand can cause blockages, plus I like the look of it. I've found it really good, but it doesn't smell coz they poop in the water anyway. My only problem so far is that the sand sinks to the bottom of the water which is fine, but the peat is a lot lighter, so it finds its way into my filter intake and clogs up the filter. I've found the mix tends to not cause so much of a mess, but admittedly my enclosure is just an old aquarium, so no tracks to worry about.

forgot to add: this is also the substrate I intend to use for my water monitor when he moves into his bigger tank.


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## Frozenmouse (Mar 8, 2012)

My large spencers alway poops in his water bowl too.


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## El_Lagarto (Mar 8, 2012)

I've always used coir peat for my ackies. It's cheap, looks great and is nowhere near as messy as sand. The coir also absorbs moisture and smells a lot better than sand does. The other advantage is that it is easier to maintain correct humidity levels with coir peat as it absorbs a lot of moisture with misting.


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## spongebob (Mar 8, 2012)

Washed sand and coir peat in any combination work well, but like anysubstrate need changing every so often. I tend to use a shallow substrate with lots of hiding places. I dont spot clean just throw the substrate out as needed. If you use just coir peat it's a good idea to place tiles underneath (the 'wrong way up' ie rough surface exposed) to help with nails -these can grow too long otherwise.I dont use water bowls and I dont mist. Occasionally I'll plash water in the enclosure and there's a lay box of damp sand in breeding season. Never had a problem with shedding.
To get over the sand in tracks issue I use the big black Bunnings tubs. make great enclosures and really easy to clean by tipping the substrate out rather than having to scoop, sweep up etc.


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## disintegratus (Mar 8, 2012)

I remember reading in some other thread that someone keeps a dust buster around and uses that to get the sand out of the tracks. sounds like a good idea to me. i've got one and i use it mostly to vaccuum up the last of the substrate when i clean it out, then wipe out with wet paper towel, works a treat.


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## saximus (Mar 8, 2012)

I just bought a piece of 5mm balsa from the craft section at bunnings and put that on the inside track and it almost entirely fixed the problem. There is still a little bit that gets in but it's not enough to stop the door sliding.
I also use a coir peat and sand mixture. It's due for a change pretty soon but even now it only really smells if I stick my head right in the tank


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## SA_Goannas (Mar 11, 2012)

saximus said:


> I just bought a piece of 5mm balsa from the craft section at bunnings and put that on the inside track and it almost entirely fixed the problem. There is still a little bit that gets in but it's not enough to stop the door sliding.



great idea, thanks.


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