Wrong pet shop info?

i was at a pet shop last week looking to get either a red thick tail or desert hairy. well they were out of reds so i was looking at the desert ones and there was about three of them and they were all in what looked to be soil. obviously something with the name with "desert" in it you would think sand would be involved and when i asked the pet shop guy he said they do just fine in the soil like stuff. is that true? it just didnt seem right to me

was the soil stuff wet, if its wet its bad if its bone dry it shouldnt harm them but they might find it a bit uncomfy sand is the best to use for desert species or either a mix of sand and dry "soil stuff" the soil stuff is most likely coco fibre, AKA coir, coconut husk eco earth etc.

desert species should do fine in dry coco fibre. that is, if they don't burrow...

Yeah, as long as the humidity is low enough, they should be fine.

Some substrates just don't hold burrows well, so if it was Hadrurus arizonensis, packed wetted (then dried) sand would be best.

Of course, when was the last time you saw a pet store keeping their arthropods properly?

Mr. Mordax wrote:

Of course, when was the last time you saw a pet store keeping their arthropods properly?

oh so true!

LadyRiotControl wrote:

Mr. Mordax wrote:

Of course, when was the last time you saw a pet store keeping their arthropods properly?

oh so true!

I second that, the one i worked in at soem point had everything except the Ts done wrong, mouldy tabnks, food animals that are way to big or small for the animal, improper conditions n tank size etc, i fixed it all when i worked there, when i got fired a month later i go back and everythings back the way it was ¬_¬

That's harsh, man.

And on top of that i told them a million times that T sponges harbour all sorts of bacteria n they never lsitened to me ¬_¬ anywyas ill stop hijackin the thread now

I keep my dessert hairy in packed down soil. It's a mix of sand and soil it's been living fine for years.

yeah it did look pretty dry. if i were to get a desert species and picked up sand from like home depot or menards or something and baked it, would it be okay to use?

yep.. most people use play sand for their scorps.