Constant dry soil

[TxScarlet15]

So I've been trying out a natural setup with my kingsnake for about 6-7 months now. I have about half an inch of sand on the bottom covered with about 1 1/2-2 inches of soil/dirt. I'm probably doing everything wrong, but that was the best I could come up with from reading a couple different sites. For the most part it seems to work fine except that the dirt is constantly dry as a desert, which in turn ends up killing any little critters I put in there (worms, tiny beetles, millepedes, etc.) So what do you guys suggest to help keep the soil at a moderately moist level?

[eminart]

Water it? :D

In my bio setups, I installed pvc pipes that go down to the drainage layer. I can pour water in those and it waters the soil from the bottom up. But, I also water the top sometimes, if it seems to be getting too dry. If you have a full screen top, you might want to cover a lot of it.

[jossh27]

I wouldn't cover the top if its a screen lid because the humidity might get to high for a kingsnake. Just water it more... Do you have any plants in it?

[prairiepanda]

Making the substrate a bit deeper would help too. You can try mixing in some sphagnum moss to help it retain moisture as well. If you haven't got any plants in there, adding plants would also help keep moisture in the soil.

[jarich]

All of the above really. You can cover a good amount of the top without worrying about the humidity, but making the substrate deeper will help. Water it at least once a week, and add leaf litter to the top of the soil so that soil has a 'cover' layer. This will also give the invertebrates more micro habitats to live in.

[TxScarlet15]

I do have some leaves in there, I think I'm going to add some more though and I'll probably put more dirt as well while I'm at it. I don't have any plants in it, not sure how to go about that, but I'm thinking on trying to get some grass to grow.

[jarich]

The minimum Id recommend is about 4" of soil, more if possible.

[prairiepanda]

I grew cat grass in some of my tarantula enclosures by mistake. Should be easy. Pothos plants are also pretty easy to grow in terrariums.

[TxScarlet15]

Been really busy lately and got sidetracked from this project, so I don't have any updates. But now that I'm getting back to it I've got a couple more questions. First off, is there any place I could find a pothos plant aside from Home Depot or Lowe's? Just want to explore my options there. Second, I would really like to try and get some sort of grass to grow. Prairiepanda, how did the cat grass grow in your enclosures? Was it from seeds? I've been trying to figure out if I should just buy a small bag of bird seed or something and toss some in, but I'm unsure of what types of seeds are usually in bird food. Would I be better off buying some grass in pots?

[TxScarlet15]

Another question regarding the sphagnum moss. Would I break it up and mix it into the soil, leave it whole and put it under the soil, or put it on top of the soil? I feel like I might be over thinking things a little bit, so I apologize for all the questions, I just want to make sure I do it right.

[prairiepanda]

Mixing the moss into the soil usually works best. You can also put some on top and in various places for decoration, if you'd like.

The cat grass I had growing was from seeds that a kid threw into the enclosure. It grows fairly fast. But it just looks like lawn grass, really. You can get cat grass seeds or lawn seeds(without any weird coatings) if you want to grow regular grass like that, or transplant some ornamental grass from a nursery pot if you want something nicer to look at. Bird seed isn't a good idea because the different species mixed in there generally don't grow well together(and many wouldn't like being in a terrarium either). I think it would be hard to grow anything besides grasses from seed anyway when there is a snake messing around constantly.

If you don't want to shop at Home Depot or Lowes, you can try a google search for plant nurseries in your area. They will generally have a better idea of how the plants were raised and what treatments they may have had. They might also have a wider selection of sizes. I would expect the ones from Home Depot to be safe, though, if that's more convenient for you.

[Jim Smith]

I don't know if this would work or not, but I use a system for rooting plants in a half barrel that works great for me. For your application, you would put about 3/4 to 1 inch of washed pea stone in the bottom of the enclosure. You can put a PVC standpipe with holes drilled in the end of it somewhere in the enclosure if you want. (I'll explain the benefit of this in a minute.) Cover the pea stone with a piece of burlap cloth (to prevent the soil from filling in between the stones. Then add about 2 inches of clean potting soil. Make sure that the potting soil does not contain any fertilizer or weed control agents. Once you're all set, add water via the PVC pipe which allows it to go directly into the pea stone without disturbing the soil or your setup. Fill the water up just to the level of the burlap. The burlap will constantly wick the water into the soil and keep it just slightly moist with no effort at all from you. You just add water when you see the water level in the pea stone drop too low. You shouldn't have to add water more than once every 2-3 weeks. I use this setup with half 30 gallon barrels and 12 inches of pea stone and six inches of sand as rooting barrels for plants like roses, azaleas, camellias etc. Works great. Might be worth a try. I don't know why it wouldn't make an excellent live viv set up as well. Just a thought...