I when to Petsmart and they had two types nearly identicle types 1( Exquisicat Litter Pearls 50/50 in an 8lb bag, and 2) Exquisicat Pearl Fresh in a 7.2lb bag.

Someone here mentioned an 8lb bag, but no mention of 50/50, whatever that means. Which one am I looking for?

Okay, not every pet store will carry the right version of Exquisicat silica based cat litter. You want the kind that is completely clear, and not with the odor reducing crystals, nor do you want the track free kind. The following is a link to the Litter Pearls brand that I use.

Link to Litter Pearls 8lb bag


If you go for the Exquisicat, make sure it is completely white round crystals, and not with the blue odor reducing crystals.

This should be the Exquisicat type that you need:
Equisicat cat litter

Make sure that the Exquisicat crystal are not the flatter type that some stores are now carrying. I ordered my Litter Pearls online because the pet stores here did not carry the proper type.

Hope this helps

Mike

I've been happy with ExquisiCat Pearl Fresh round beads. 7.2 lbs in a plastic jug. I think it cost me about $14 at PetSmart.

Thanks for the link, that helps me out. I was looking for the pearls, not the crystals. I'm pretty sure I saw that one. On my list for tomorrow.

I went back and bought the 8lb of Crystals, but now I realize they are not the same as the picture; these have blue crystals intermixed with the clear crystals. I guess I'll just return it and order of the net.

One more question. Do these change color to indicate changing is needed? Seeing how much extra we have, do you just replace it every so often?

Awwwww, I thought this thread was about a cute Disney cartoon...

The only color changing they do is from off white to a semi clear when they have absorbed water. As they release the moisture, they turn back to the off white state. As the silica degrades over time, you will see it break apart, and you may have to add more, or change it, but not because it has changed colors. If it changes to yellow, you better find out who pi$$ed in your humidor.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Bluesky5553:
The only color changing they do is from off white to a semi clear when they have absorbed water. As they release the moisture, they turn back to the off white state. As the silica degrades over time, you will see it break apart, and you may have to add more, or change it, but not because it has changed colors. If it changes to yellow, you better find out who pi$$ed in your humidor.

Mike

Mike, I just picked up the 7.2lbs Exquisicat Pearl Fresh from Petsmart. I also have some of the Heartfelt (65%) beads for visual comparison. Upon inspection of the two, the Exquisicat is not as uniformaly round as the Heartfelt beads and they are about four to six times larger in size. Do I have the right Exquisicat product (they don't have the blue pearls and are definitely not round)? Assuming I have the right Exquisicat...do you have a formula (like Heartfelt) for different volume humidors? What sort of relative humidity do your pearls maintain? Do I treat them just like the Heartfelt beads?

The Exquisicat and Litter Pearls will be bigger in diameter than the heartfelt beads. Follow the same setup that heartfelt reccommends in their web site.

Silica is silica...no matter what size or how you make it...sand and water. Its basicly the same thing in silica gel packs. It absorbs and releases moisture..thats all.

If you'll read up a couple of posts, you'll see I use 2-2 ounce cups in the bottom corners of my 300 count table style humidor, with a one ounce tube in each tray. This maintains 63-68% RH for more than a month without spraying the beads again. In my 96 quart marine cooler that I made into a coolerdor, I use a full pound of beads in an open tupperware container...works very nicely. Experiment on your own. You'll find out how long the beads will hold, and how much distilled water you will have to add to them, nothing is a given in this since every humidor is different, but you will find the beads are much better than foam type humidifiers. I do reccommend using a spray bottle to moisten the beads though, since soaking them is not called for.

Do a search on heartfelt or coolerdor for more info.

Mike