Emerald Swift

[seddleman]

We have just recently gotten an emerald swift.I read that it should have sand as a substrate.What type of sand so I need to use.I have been leary of putting the sand in there because we had a beardie that became impacted.I just want to make sure I am not going to mess up by putting the sand in there.
Also, how many things do they need to climb on?The guy at the pet store must have known nothing about these because he even told me that they cannot climb or jump.I found out very quickly that this was not true LOL
Thanks for your help. :)

[Manitoban Herps]

Well playground sand if your best bet, and yes cn jump..I had a 3 foot cage it it could get up there without a problem.

[M_surinamensis]

Gah!

Emerald Swifts are NOT desert dwellers and don't belong on sand. I have no problems with the appropriate use of sand for a species which naturally encounters a lot of it in nature but these guys simply don't. The area they come from is a middling elevation semihumid forested area... The ground covering they'll encounter most is a soil with some fairly dense leaf detritus, this will have some sandy patches and sand in it, but it's nothing even close to straight sand.

I'd personally reccomend a good pesticide free potting soil mixed with some orchid litter or bark substrates- it'll hold humidity and stay loose enough for some digging without being composed of a particulate that's likely to cause irritation.

[bistrobob85]

M Surinamensis is right, you've read the wrong caresheet!!! emerald swifts belong to humid and a little jungle-like environment! I've had a client at my job who used to breed them ( they're not egg layers ) and they need about 60-65% humidity... Correct me if i'm wrong, but before, read a few other caresheets, ones that have not been based on the one you just read!!"!

phil.

[Double J]

Instead of potting soil.. which I find to be crap for the most part...... use coconut husk fiber aka eco-earth/aka bedabeast. It is cheap, holds humidity better, and will not get clumpy when moistened. Mix it with fir bark/orchid bark... but stay away from those orchd mixes with crap like perlite and fetilizers in them. Zoo-med's reptibark is a fine subsitute for orchid bark, and is reasonably priced. You can fine coco-husk fiber in bricks at most garden centers for very cheap. It is often packaged in nurseries as millennium coir fiber. It is the same thing.

Good luck

[seddleman]

Thanks so much! Now I know why it didn't make sense that he needed so much humidity if it was a desert type!I just really do not want to screw this up.My son watched as his beardie slowly went down in health after it had a gotten impacted which led to calcium deficiency and he eventually died all because of sand.Thanks again :)

[Cronus]

I personally use Repti bark alone....I just got the little fella a few days ago. Whats a good way to tell if its a male or female?