# bugs in bedding what do i do!?



## goblinandmrturtle (Apr 26, 2012)

I just cleaned out mr turtles tank, hes a russian tortoise and I use alfalfa pellets bedding. I only use half a bag at a time and these bugs weren't in the first half when I cleaned his tank the time before. These weird small mite like bugs are on the second half of the bedding and im not sure what to do. 

I dont have any extra bedding that was the last I had for the moment. I dont have a car or time to get to a pet store till Saterday. Will mr turtle be ok with the bugs till than? I'm really worried and dont know what to do. 

I also read somewhere that mites dont like Cedar bedding can I use that for bedding or will that be harmful to mr turtle?


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## Kristina (Apr 27, 2012)

OH no no no no... Cedar bedding is bad bad bad bad! It is bad for ALL animals, I don't even know why they still sell it! The oils are VERY toxic, especially to reptiles! It could actually kill him!

Alfalfa bedding is bad, too, and you really shouldn't use it. I'll come back to that.

As far as the bugs - your Russian tortoise most likely originally came from the wild. There are plenty of bugs outside  When I set up a new enclosure (I use plain organic soil as bedding in mine) I actually inoculate the soil with pill bugs, snails, slugs, millipedes, and other creatures that thrive in a humid, planted environment. Bugs won't hurt your tortoise - but, we really should address the problem of the alfalfa bedding. It is a bad choice of bedding. 

Here is a little clip from my article for beginner owners-



> Substrate
> 
> Once you have chosen your enclosure, you need something for the tortoise to dig in, and defecate, urinate, and walk on.
> 
> ...



Please give the whole thing a read, and ask any more questions that you may have.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ive-or-Beginner-Tortoise-Owners#axzz1tEmhaoP5


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## Yvonne G (Apr 27, 2012)

Hi goblinandmrturtle:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?


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## DesertGrandma (Apr 27, 2012)

Hello and welcome to the forum. I use cypress substrate and have the same little tiny bugs in it. They don't hurt anything and only come out when there is leftover food. Not to worry.


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## goblinandmrturtle (Apr 28, 2012)

thank you everyone for the helpful tips! being a new tortoise owner still trying to figure out the quarks. i got scared because i dont want anything to happen to him. 

im getting him a new tank tomorrow thats a bit bigger anyway so ill check the cyprus bedding i keep being reffered too. i think he'll like that quit a bit more anyway. itll give me an opportunity to look at new hide boxes for him. i tinkered around with a few other kinds of bedding and i dont think he liked some of what we tried in the past. and the alfalfa bedding was what they used in the petstore. i didnt like it though and had tried a few other things that i dont think he liked the other things. and when i saw the bugs i just flipped and didnt know what to do or if theyd be harmful to him. 

thank you everyone again for your tips. they were super helpful. ill try to put some pictures up of him soon.


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