Critters in the cage

[ridgebax1]

As I was removing the soil from around the plants at the bottom of Omar"s cage I found a surprise, earthworms! I don't know how they got there as the soil I used was packaged topsoil, but somehow they got introduced. Would it hurt to put them back? There were several big ones so they must have been there for a while. I know they are ok for him to eat but he doesn't go down to the bottom of his cage except to poop and he doesn't dig in the dirt.

 

[Rottsko]

I'm not a fan of anything slimy. Id take them bc I don't let my chams eat anything I didn't feed myself and your Cham might eat the worms.

 

[fuzzhc]

If they are in the soil I cannot see any problems with that unless he had to eat one and accidently ingest some soil but even at that, from what I understand is if properly supported and hydrated they should pass it easily enough. Heck the worms will even help keep the soil clean.

 

[Mike Fisher]

I have earthworms in all of my cages, some snails, and lots of springtails. Like a little ecosystem. The only thing I take out is the slugs because they eat all of my plants.

 

[fuzzhc]

I have earthworms in all of my cages, some snails, and lots of springtails. Like a little ecosystem. The only thing I take out is the slugs because they eat all of my plants.

I dont any more in my cham cages cause after changing cages I couldnt be bothered putting them back in lol but I do in my Savannah monitors cage, bio active is the way forward if its possible to do so. Not once have I ever cleaned the enclosure and it smells fresh as daisys

 

[Mike Fisher]

bio active is the way forward if its possible to do so. Not once have I ever cleaned the enclosure and it smells fresh as daisys

Yep. Been doing that since the 90's. Common in Europe, not sure why it is so slow to catch on in USA.

 

[melble68]

I'm not a fan of anything slimy. Id take them bc I don't let my chams eat anything I didn't feed myself and your Cham might eat the worms.

What, you never lost a bet as a young child and got suckered into eating a worm? LOL!!!!! They're not that bad. Ok now i'm going to go and barf.

 

[fuzzhc]

Yep. Been doing that since the 90's. Common in Europe, not sure why it is so slow to catch on in USA.

Btw did you catch the snails or order them from somewhere? Ive been trying to find a site to order from but dont seem to have any luck

 

[ridgebax1]

My cage did not stink either, just smelled like dirt. I put them back in the soil hopefully they will continue to do their job! Pigglett79 has some good info about snails and here is a site that sells them. Apparently you need some kind of license to import them though, I never looked into it because they are just too cute to feed to my cham. Here's the site: http://www.nilesbio.com/subcat340.html they have lots of cool stuff in addition to snails.

 

[fuzzhc]

Thats a cool site. Lots of interesting and cool things on it sorry I forgot to mention I was from the UK though lol those banana slugs growing to 25cm would be a right good meal for my sav, gonna look into those more!!

 

[Mike Fisher]

Btw did you catch the snails or order them from somewhere? Ive been trying to find a site to order from but dont seem to have any luck

They just appeared on their own. Same with the earthworms and springtails.

 

[JacobH]

Springtails are really common to find in potting soil. This is more true with ones containing much peat. I haven't noticed a bunch in bagged coco fiber, but most the soil mixes seem to have them.

 

[fuzzhc]

Lucky for some lol. Yeah theyre common in decaying matter aswell, I got all mine from leaves I gathered in ma garden now I have thousands. Any decaying materials in the enclosure looks as if its alive with them