A closely debated matter on each the keeper and veterinarian entrance I’ve seen in reptile husbandry is the usage of unfastened substrate in enclosures. This text plans to discover the advantages and potential dangers of sure substrates and easy methods to use it appropriately to make sure the well being of your animal. Earlier than we start we have to outline what unfastened substrate means. Free substrate is any sort of soil, coconut coir, or sand that’s utilized because the bedding for a reptile enclosure. The choice to unfastened substrate contains sterile substrates similar to paper towels, newspapers, reptile carpets, tile, and the like.
Each unfastened and sterile substrate choices have their place within the husbandry of a reptile relying on the animal’s well being.
Free substrates present many advantages for captive reptiles. It permits for enrichment, as burrowing species are capable of tunnel into it and create burrows, permitting them to have interaction in pure behaviors. This train that unfastened substrates present helps cut back ailments like weight problems. A lot of these substrates additionally assist preserve humidity in enclosures, which may help with dysecdysis—a typical drawback I typically see reptiles current for—and supply the microclimates obligatory for reptiles to keep up hydration (many reptiles can draw moisture from humid air). Moreover, offering substrate on the applicable temperatures could enable feminine reptiles to put their eggs as an alternative of retaining these follicles and affected by follicular stasis or worse egg yolk coelomitis.
Nevertheless, unfastened substrate just isn’t a benign addition to an enclosure. Free substrates by their very nature pose a threat for impaction if ingested in adequate portions, which might result in life threatening points that may require emergency surgical procedure to take away and even trigger dying.
Care additionally must be taken when selecting the proper substrate, and upkeep of stated substrate. On the whole, play sand alone just isn’t an appropriate substrate for many reptiles- the exceptions that come to thoughts are animals similar to Kenyan sand boas, sandfish skinks, and Peter’s banded skinks. I additionally discourage the usage of substrates with calcium, as that is made up of the identical materials as calcium dietary supplements, which makes animals extra more likely to ingest the sand and will increase their probability of impaction.
Different poor substrate choices embody pine shavings, walnut shells, and chemically handled soils. Free substrate must be correctly maintained, as in any other case it may well function a potent breeding floor for micro organism, fungi, and parasites. This turns into much more prudent if an contaminated animal resides in a bioactive arrange, as it may be extraordinarily troublesome to clear infections from each the animals, clear up crew, and surroundings. If unfastened substrates are always damp, this will additionally predispose reptiles to bacterial and/or fungal pores and skin infections.
For these and different causes, sterile substrates are viable choices for reptiles in sure situations. If there are any wounds, regardless whether or not they had been trauma-induced or from a surgical procedure, it’s crucial to maintain these animals in a sterile surroundings to make sure that 1) extreme particles doesn’t enter the wound, and a pair of) you monitor the surgical procedure website for any modifications similar to oozing, bleeding, or any discharge. Sterile substrates are additionally necessary for set ups the place a reptile’s fecal and urate output must be fastidiously monitored, similar to in a hospitalization arrange or in a quarantine arrange.
General, each unfastened and sterile substrate choices have their place within the husbandry of a reptile relying on the animal’s well being.
Eric Los Kamp, DVM is an unique animal and wildlife veterinarian at Winter Park Veterinary Hospital in Winter Park, FL who has aspirations to board certify in reptile/amphibian medication. Along with being a member of the Affiliation of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV), he’s an avid ackie monitor keeper.
