Terrestrial setup care

[eldaldo]

Hi, I recently got some marbled newts, and have been keeping them in my very first terrestrial setup with coco fiber and dried leaves as a substrate. There is a shallow water dish, some terra cotta hides, and some plants. The newts seem content with this and have been eating well. They have also been . . . you know, pooping well. I was wondering how people maintain their terrestrial setups?

In my aquatics I only remove waste when I do my water changes, and I never really clean it all out, but my newts and plants don't seem to care too much. I always kind of think of it as fertilizer for my plants. So what do you do for terrestrials? it seems like it would be much more of a problem to just let it go since it's solid and wont be broken down quickly by aquatic bacteria. but it also seems like a lot of work to personally pick out every piece of newt poop by hand. So any advice? special techniques? Thanks a bunch!

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I "cheat" and use three large mats of live moss for my terrestrial morphs. Weekly, I rotate moss mats. I tied the moss down to some plastic needlepoint mesh for easy transport. I have a plastic tub outdoors where I put the "dirty" moss and let nature do the work for me.

 

[caudatadude28]

Great idea Johnny!

 

[linda]

i spot clean mine everyday.

 

[Jan]

i spot clean mine everyday.

Ditto for me. In small set-ups, I spot clean almost daily. In larger set-ups with few animals, I spot clean a couple of times week.

 

[eldaldo]

well, with only two animals i guess spot cleaning isn't too time intensive. And Johnny's idea is really cool. Where do you buy the trays of moss? If I ever breed marms that would be a good plan. but with only two, I will just have to suck it up and not be lazy. I originally thought I would hate a terrestrial set up, but even though they are more work, I am definitely enjoying mine! I am going to have to buy some moss and ferns to spruce it up! If anyone else has some creative terrestrial techniques let me know!