H.arizonensis substrate ?

Hi I'm recently splitting a 15gal long tank into 2 for my male and the female I will be getting shortly anyway question is can I do a 70/30 mix with play sand and coir will this still make for a stable burrowing substrate rather than buying excavation clay thanks

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can I do a 70/30 mix with play sand and coir will this still make for a stable burrowing substrate rather than buying excavation clay thanks

By coir i guess you mean cocopeat and if so i don't really see how this would be stable enough to dig burrows in because the medium would have to be dry ... although, yeh, i could be wrong. I've never tried it myself.

If you don't want to buy excavation clay then you can make your own quite simply. All you need to do is buy a small packet of modelling clay (available from most florists and hobby shops) which is really quite cheap.
You would then get a, lets say 10 liter bucket and fill it a third with water. Break small pieces of modelling clay into the water and work them with your fingers until it has dissolved and you have muddy looking water.
A piece of modelling clay half the size of your hand will be fine for a 10 liter bucket with 3 liters of water in it.
Once you've dissolved the modelling clay simply add your sand and mix it through well. Wring out the access water and deposit the damp sand in your enclosure. Don't pack it down to hard otherwise you might risk it being to hard for your scorp to burrow in when it's dry.

Place the enclosure in a warm well ventilated spot to dry out and viola .. job done..

I use this method with all my desert burrowing species and it's works fabulously.

Thankyou I will have a look into modelling clay , I think I can recall somewhere people were using coco fibre/coir mix with sand but can't remember how successful it was .

Do you have to have to have clay in the tank?

deserthairyscorpion1 wrote:

Do you have to have to have clay in the tank?

Well, yes. The clay acts as a binder. When mixed with sand and moistened and allowed to dry, it forms a semi hard substrate that will hold burrows and tunnels without collapsing. This is what you want for a Desert Hairy. They are an obligate burrower and love to dig tunnels.

What other clay can i use?

In the end I went for playsand and lucky reptile sand bedding mixed at 60/40 ish and since doing so I only see my pair at night if im lucky lol so must be happy Enough