Terratlantis Jungle Bark Terrarium Substrate, Size S - 20 L

Terratlantis Jungle Bark Terrarium Substrate, Size S - 20 L is a 20 litre bag of small pine bark chips for tropical and rainforest terrariums, which has to be kept moist.

Key Features

• Pine bark chips in the small grade: Size S, the small grade, which suits a smaller enclosure and a smaller animal.
• Made from Pinus maritima grown in Portugal: The brand names the species and the origin, which is more than most substrate suppliers do.
• For tropical and rainforest setups: It holds humidity, which is the brand's stated reason for the product and the right use for it.
• It must be kept moist, and that is a safety instruction: Terratlantis states this plainly: dry bark can injure a reptile. See below - this is the most important line on the page.
• Looks like a forest floor: Which is not nothing. A naturalistic substrate gives an animal something to move through and dig into.

Keep It Damp, Because The Brand Says Dry Bark Can Injure An Animal

• This is Terratlantis's own warning and it belongs at the top of the page rather than the bottom: the bark must always be moist, and a reptile moving over dry bark can be injured by it.
• Dry bark chips are harder and sharper at the edges than damp ones, and a soft-bellied animal pushing across them takes the damage. Damp bark is softer and gives.
• The brand also notes that the bark naturally absorbs humidity, and warns you to keep it moist anyway. Both are true: it will take up moisture, and in a dry air-conditioned room it will still dry out from the top down. Check it by touch rather than by looking.
• Mist it rather than soaking it, and check the lower layer as well as the surface. A crust of dry chips over damp bark is the usual state and the crust is the part the animal walks on.

Damp Substrate Needs Managing, Not Just Buying

• A substrate that holds humidity is doing its job when it is damp. It is also, in a warm enclosure, the most likely place for mould to appear.
• Spot-clean waste as you see it, turn the substrate over occasionally, and replace it rather than topping it up indefinitely. If it starts to smell sour or shows white or coloured growth, change it.
• Springtails and woodlice are what experienced keepers add to a damp setup to deal with mould and waste before it becomes visible. Ask us about a bioactive setup if that interests you.
• How damp depends entirely on the species. A humidity gauge in the enclosure is the only way to know whether you are at 50 per cent or 90, and the difference matters.

Loose Substrate And Feeding, The Risk Worth Knowing

• An animal that strikes at an insect sitting on loose substrate swallows some of the substrate with it. A little passes through. A lot, over time, or in a dehydrated animal, can block the gut, and that is a surgical problem rather than a wait-and-see one.
• The fix is simple and it is not to stop using substrate: feed from a dish, or feed in a separate container. A terrarium feeding dish costs less than one vet consultation.
• The risk is higher for juveniles, for species that feed on the ground, and for any animal kept too dry or too cool to digest properly.

Good To Know

• Bark chips are larger than coir, which cuts both ways: easier to spot-clean, and a bigger piece to swallow. If your species feeds on the ground, feed it from a dish.
• Not a substrate for an arid species. This is a rainforest floor and a desert animal kept on damp bark gets skin and shell problems rather than the opposite.
• The Terratlantis coconut litter is the other substrate in this range, also for humid setups. Coir holds a burrow better; bark drains better and looks more like a forest floor. Tell us the species and we will say which.