Zoo Med Eco Earth Compressed Coconut Fiber Expandable Substrate - 3 Pack

Very good

We have a custom made tank for our 11" Red Footed Tortoise, it's about 90 gallons. We use all 9 bricks (each pack has 3 bricks, and you get 3 of those packs), and it's the perfect amount. So much cheaper than a bunch of the same bedding that comes loose (not compressed).We empty the tank completely, clean it out using 1:30 bleach:water mixture (or whatever your preference on cleaners). Once all surfaces are rinsed and completely dry, then we put the compressed bricks inside, spread out single stacked. Then we add the amount of water stated on the package. As it absorbs the water, we break it up with our hands and stir it all up so it is evenly wet and distributed throughout the tank. Then we put our tortoise back inside. It is very easy for him to burrow and move the bedding around where he wants it. He loves digging a hole to sleep in. Sometimes he goes in his house and pushes the bedding into the doorway for privacy.We use a pooper scooper to remove solid waste. We thoroughly wet and stir up bedding (everything is out of the tank except the bedding and it's a complete turn over of all the bedding), about every week. We don't let it dry out all the way, keeping it moist allows us to avoid a humidifier. However, if it stays too wet, it will attract little gnats. That's why stirring it up every week or so helps to keep it at an appropriate level of moisture.I recommend total replacement of the bedding every 3-6 months. We never have to add bedding during that time, and we throw away ALL of the bedding at the end of the 3-6 month mark. Then we clean all surfaces and start over. Can't beat the price and low maintenence!

This product comes very compressed and seemed really odd to me at first. But all I had to do was open it over the sink and pour some water on it. I did this in a shallow bowl. As each section of the Coconut Fiber got wet I squeezed the excess water out and spread it on a paper towel to dry out just a little. From what I saw, this product expanded so much that it equaled at least two or three bags of the normal fiber. So it was an easy way to store it and a great way to save money. And the prep work only took a few min. I didn't follow the directions (badme) but it worked anyway. My lizard needed some moist fiber in her hides so I put this stuff in right after I soaked it. This is not an involved process and is way easier that getting my lizard to eat her crickets when it is cooler out (she'd rather sleep than eat but she needs to eat). Anyway, it was great. Happy lizard, happy me. Now we can both take a winter nap.

Out of all other possible substrates you can use for the types of snakes I raise,-(Kingsnakes, Ratsnakes, Milk Snakes, Boa Constrictors, Pythons )- this stuff is the BEST!! I love the way it looks, my snakes love it, they enjoy making burrows in it, (except the pythons n boas dont dig burrows) And it looks SO much more natural and pleasing to the eye than ANY other substrate! (gravel, sand, wood chips, tank 'carpets'). Ive been using this since I first discovered it about 5 or 6 years ago, and have no plans to ever buy any other kind. PLUS, you can actually grow plants in it, and it clumps up on reptile poop and urates, so it makes spot-cleaning easy. It makes it very easy to create a realistic-looking (like a spot in nature that a snake or lizard might actually hang out in),- cool little area for your reptile to feel at home, with plants and wood and rocks and sticks to climb on. Its also very unlikely to mold and never once since ive been buying it has it come with any 'hitchhikers',--(mites or bugs of any sort! -you might be shocked at some reptiles products being sold that are organic in nature, -coming pre-loaded with reptile mites!) And any keeper knows--MITES SUCK, especially if you have multiple reptiles in your home.... This is an all around excellent product. And instead of throwing it out when its dirty, use it in your garden, for fertilizer and topsoil!--- Plants LOVE it :)

This is a wonderful product if you have hermit crabs. it keeps the humidity controlled and never gets moldy. I have 1 hermit crab in a 25-gallon fish tank, with a cover. He has molted approximately 5 times since we got him. This fiber is soft enough for him to bury himself to molt and he loves digging trenches and moving this "soil" to cover the entrance of his coconut home when he needs privacy. I keep about 4 to 6 inches of this product on his tank bottom and honestly only change it 2 times a year. I change it because it makes me nervous that it may have a lot of waste in it, but it never gets smelly or moldy or shows any trace of waste. I do take everything else out of the fish tank every once in a while, water the soil and mix it to keep enough humidity on it. sometimes the crab will spill food from his bowl and it may get moldy after a couple of days but stays on the surface so you just dispose of that pinch of soil.

Really great product. Cheap and last a long time and while it doesn't look like much actually is enough for a larger tank. The only downside I found to using the product for my snake tanks was after a while it becomes matted down to a solid form again and becomes hard to clean. Also it holds al ot of water if you let it. My snake had an issue with soaking in her bowl and soaking the bedding as it overflowed and would take forever to dry out If your creatures are adapt for high humidity then this might be perfect. If your critter is like mine and needs only some humidity and has a habit of soaking it then you may want to look elsewhere. It will mold if it stays wet long enough. If it becomes matted down over a heat pad it will turn rock hard and become extremely to remove.