The little things we do

[DonLisk]

Whites are voracious eaters with big mouthes. After pulling out 5 inches of that moss out of his butt you might want to consider changing out all of the substrate just to be on the safe side. "The things we do for our pets". I'm glad it worked out for him.

I was sure this would be the right thing to do. I just hate ripping down the enclosure to change out the substrate again. Just did the moss recently, since when I had the coco fiber they always looked like they had microscopic bugs on them and it was just the coco.

Looks like a trip to the pet shop again :-)

This time I think I'll try the plantation soil since it worked nicely in my Red Eye's enclosure.

[bshmerlie]

What about just putting leaf litter on top of it? Could that work? That way you wouldn't have to remove it.

[DonLisk]

That just may work. Never used the stuff but I think it lays pretty flat and could use to cover most of the bottom while leaving some small areas exposed to the moss.

Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

[Rocko]

Might I suggest sheet moss or some equivalent? It looks like mini grass comes in easy to place squares and and it's *not* loose like the other mosses to avoid swallowing. My white's looks clean and contented since I put that down. Plus spot cleaning has been much easier.

[1beataway]

I use the "plantation soil" in mine and have never had problems, except it's easier for them to get the soil on them and then into the water. I put some live tropical moss in some areas, and leaf litter in the other areas. By the way, if you have a water bowl, leaf litter under the bowl helps to make sure you don't drip dirt all over your carpet when you change the water.

[DonLisk]

I use the "plantation soil" in mine and have never had problems, except it's easier for them to get the soil on them and then into the water. I put some live tropical moss in some areas, and leaf litter in the other areas. By the way, if you have a water bowl, leaf litter under the bowl helps to make sure you don't drip dirt all over your carpet when you change the water.

Thanks for the suggestions. I stopped and grabbed some plantation soil today and probably need one more block to have enough to do the change.
I'll have to order some leaf litter from Josh's and add that in once received.

I'm also planning to add a bottom layer of clay balls to the bottom since I'll haveit tore down to make the substrate change.

Thanks again for the advice.

As a side note: The poor little guy was skinny as anything today and as I was looking at him his stomach blew up like a balloon after eating a cricket. Good sign I believe.

One of my Whites has decided to sleep next to the ballast on the lamp and today he is so brown its like he got a tan. Thank I'm going to have to keep him off of there so he doesn't look like he had a bad day at the beach :-)

[DonLisk]

What about just putting leaf litter on top of it? Could that work? That way you wouldn't have to remove it.

Ordered some Leaf Litter this morning from Josh.
Hoping it gets here Friday and plan to completely redo the substrate in this enclosure this weekend with Plantation Soil, Clay Balls and the Leaf Litter.

If it doesn't get here I'll still redo it and add the litter later on.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[1beataway]

That's where I bought my leaf litter. Great stuff.

This is the moss I have and I love it: Live Tropical Moss.

Hope the redo goes well, and you never have to do what you did again.

[charlamanda]

I am glad you were able to help you lil guy, very lucky frog.
Don't be ashamed of what we do for our pets if we didn't do these unmentionable things we wouldn't be good pet owners.
True story....I have lots of bunnies and they tend to get obstructions easily. My first and favorite, we won't tell the other ones, got an obstruction and I was devestated, since it is usually certain death for them, even with surgery. I found an online site similar to this one who suggested giving the bunny an enema, yup I did! I wanted to help him, a dwarf named bilbo, so badly I got a ear syringe, mineral oil, and vaseline and gave that poor sick bunny a high colonic and presto! He passed the blockage and lived for a few more years.
You do for your pets the same as for your children, since for most of us have as much love and compassion for them, so let your wife see the parallel and appreciate your paternal instincts.LOL

[gtr319]

I am currently using sheet moss and have absolutely no problem or what so ever. But I still monitor my tree frog eats because from time to time she still gets some moss - large or small piece in her mouth. Although she is really smart of brushing the moss out of her mouth - even when it meant for the cricket to escape from her mouth of death, I still cannot be so sure that she will not swallow that big piece by accident.

[DonLisk]

I have to say I really like the leaf litter after putting it in. It will eventually break down and I'll just add more on top. You can see the changes in the enclosure in my Whites photo album.

Char, your exactly right, I'd definitely do it all again.