What substrate do you use in your himid hide?

[Crunchewy]

I got my coco fiber bricks in. I need to get a clean bucket to use to soak them in. Aftery ou soak a brick, do you dry it out (put it in the sun or something else?) and then put it in plastic bags or bins to store it?

 

[Dimidiata]

....UH WAH?????? no.
You cut the Brick in to the pieces you need as you need them. It comes in a brick for easy storage.

 

[Crunchewy]

Ooooh. So cut it with a knife? I'll need to experiment to see how large of a chunk to cut off.

 

[TranceZ]

Coco Fiber also comes in loose form too.

 

[Dimidiata]

Coco Fiber also comes in loose form too.

Yup, you can get it from most plant selling stores in a bag like spagnum moss.

 

[Pinned27]

so it seems here its between paper towels, coco fiber, and sphagnum moss.
ill have to try all 3, so far paper towels have been my choice since its easier and i have them already at home.
how many times would you spray the coco fiber and sphagnum moss to keep it moist?

 

[Dimidiata]

Maybe once a week, wich is rare in my case, i change it out with each tank cleaning everyweek(as you probably should with all substrates). I just make sure its as moist as possible and then let it be, every now and then it may dry out during the week so i drop some water on it. Thats the other beautiful thing, no spray. Just pour the water slowly and the cocofiber will absorbe a ton of it(ill do an experiment on how much water per cup of fiber, ill get the resaults to ya).

 

[Pinned27]

ah so you dont use a spray bottle to mist it? but can you use one?
ill probably pick some up this weekend and give it a go and see how sprocket likes it.

 

[Dimidiata]

I use a spray bottle, i just take the top off it. The heat from the UTH should make it humid on its own, very fast. I keep my humid hide on the hot side of the tank. Misting it really wont do it any justice, it will make it humid for a little bit but soaking the stuff in water will allow it to give off humidity much much longer then a simple misting, paper towel cant hold as much water so i used to just mist it.

 

[Pinned27]

yea i currently mist my paper towels once in the morning and once at night. i also mist the base of the container (i have it flipped upside down so it would be considered the walls i guess). my gecko likes to lick the water bubbles off of it.

 

[Karah]

I normally would use paper towels, but I decided to give sphagnum moss a try. So far it's working good.

 

[30secondstobob]

I use sphagnum moss. If my girl lays eggs in it, I just take the clump, trim it down a bit, and place it in a deli cup in the incubator. Haven't had any issues yet - been using it for over a year. Bob

 

[Crunchewy]

I just tried the coco fiber for the first time, along with making a larger moist hide. He went in it, lapped up some of the moisture and then came back out. He was in longer than the previous smaller (and paper toweled) one, but it still wasn't long.

Should I be concerned if our gecko doesn't use his humid hide? One thing is I'm using a plastic container with (blue) translucent lid. Should I make something from a less see through container? I originally tried using such a container but it proved to crack apart when I tried to cut it. The plastic was thicker and much less flexible.

 

[TranceZ]

I just tried the coco fiber for the first time, along with making a larger moist hide. He went in it, lapped up some of the moisture and then came back out. He was in longer than the previous smaller (and paper toweled) one, but it still wasn't long.

Should I be concerned if our gecko doesn't use his humid hide? One thing is I'm using a plastic container with (blue) translucent lid. Should I make something from a less see through container? I originally tried using such a container but it proved to crack apart when I tried to cut it. The plastic was thicker and much less flexible.

I think you'll be fine. Some geckos don't use the humid hide that long if it's recently been sprayed down or moistened because it's probably cooler temp then say a dry hide. Give it time and as long as the tupperware container is big enough for the gecko to sit in I wouldn't worry about the colors or overall form of it.

 

[Josh P.]

In a humid hide with vermiculite, how often should the substrate be replaced? Any ideas?