You can get sphagnum moss at home depot  they sell it for orchids  in a brick its the same as the Zilla stuff but half the price

I will not pretend that I know anything about gardening/soil .... I know there is a difference between Sphagnum Moss and Sphagnum Peat Moss but I have no idea what it is. Can you enlighten me? =)

I know some have pesticides, some have fertilizers, some are organic .... are there all of these different options for the sphagnum moss?

Sphagnum moss is a wonderful type of moss. Sphagnum peat moss is a light fluffy soil made from decomposed sphagnum moss. You always want to be 100% sure to get organic without fertilizers. Since crested geckos bury their eggs, you want to at the very least get some type of soil like peat moss(though you can put actual moss on top of the soil if you want).

Personally, I use a mix of ground coco fiber and sphagnum peat moss, about 50-50. :)

Thanks, Ihkura (love your avatar by the way!) ....

I'm currently using organic Canadian Sphaghnum Peat Moss (does the Canadian make a difference?) that I purchase at Southern States ... and I'm getting fungus gnats. I already have another "iHerp question" going about this so hopefully it's okay to ask again in this question but this is where my confusion is coming from. When I first started breeding, I read that it's best to use organic to protect the eggs but now I'm reading not to use organic because it attracts the fungus gnats the most. I'm so confused =)

When I was hatching Cresties I used Eco Earth coco fiber. It worked great for me and didn't seem to have mold issues, but any organic bedding should be checked every once in a while for mold. Definitely avoid anything with fertilizers or chemical additives. Better safe than sorry!

When I bred cresties I used Zoo Med's New Zealand Sphagnum Moss.  It's a creamy yellowish whitish color instead of brown/green.  It comes very dehydrated and you have to soak it in water to hydrate it and make it moist and fluffy.  It's not the soil type decompsed stuff, it's the long strands of stuff - which made it very easy to wash out and reuse.  I know you can buy the same stuff at the garden supply store - the white stuff is usually from New Zealand I've noticed, not sure why.  I liked the white color, as it didn't make my geckos dirty, but did make it a tad bit tougher to find eggs.  They LOVED this stuff, and would dig and hide in it constantly.  I never knew if they were digging because they were getting ready to lay, or if they were just digging for fun, because they were always in it.  It doesn't have the fungus chains that the fungus gnats love (it isn't really suitable as a primary planting media because of this) so I never had a problem with them in this media. 

Fungus gnats are attracted to moisture, there's no helping that, but you can lay out your peat moss in a tray, get it nice and damp, and bake it for 15-20 minutes at 350*F. That should kill off anything in there, and once it has cooled it should be fine to reuse. Canada's sphagnum is the same species as most any brand, though I hear they have good moss husbandry practice.

I really like Aimee's suggestion in the other question to get some carnivorous plants to help with the adult gnat issue.

So, Ihkura, do you recommend baking rather than microwaving? In the other question, someone had mentioned microwaving until the substrate is steamy.

I think since I still have some of this organic sphagnum peat moss, I'm going to try again with this but heat it first and then heat it every few days to kill off any new larva. I'm going to try to find some yellow sticky cards too. If this doesn't work, I'll switch to the New Zealand Sphagnum Moss. Thanks everyone for all of your help thus far!!

I do think baking is a more thorough way of clearing substrate of unwanted pests. Ever notice when you microwave frozen foods that sometimes the middle doesn't get fully cooked? In the oven everything gets heated equally.

We use Zoo Med Eco Earth which is a loose coconut fiber substrate for laying boxes here. You can purchase this from Petsmart or Petco in your area.

As for fungus gnats, they can be annoying. If and when they are problematic it normally means you need fresh substrate.

Remember, the lay box should be only slightly moist. It shouldn't be overly damp or wet for best results.

We normally bake organic cypress mulch at 250F when needed for cage substrate. You can purchase large bags at Lowes.

Ooops! I forgot to mention the bake time is 30 minutes. :-)

Also, important to remember. Most ALL types of reptile substrate have bacteria and small life forms that you purchase from pet stores, such as Jungle Earth and Black Walnut mix, etc. Too much moisture and things start to grow quickly!

I am guessing you might have an ALL NATURAL set up there? We have used Giant Black Millipeeds before, but I can't strongly reccomend them.