Hey everyone, I am getting ready to build a new, much larger indoor enclosure for my torts. I have put some serious thought into this build and have come up with a great floor plan and have decided that I would like to make the living environment as close to natural as possible. I have spent the last couple months gathering supplies for this new enclosure. I have gathered live plants that I wish to plant inside the enclosure and transferred them to an organic soil and have them growing very well inside a grow station for now. I have gathered the CHEs and all the UVA/UVB lighting I will need, I have gathered drift woods and river rocks, etc. I had also went and purchased a couple bags of organic top soil to plant my plants in and also thought I would use as a substrate, the problem I noticed is that the organic top soil I got is really clumpy, hard to spread out. I even attempted to dry it out and break it apart and it was still just a clumpy mess and full of like sticks and things. So I went back and got organic potting mix to plant the plants in, which worked fine for that but this wouldn't work for substrate cause it has the little styrofoam balls in it.
I am currently using a 3" layer of damp Eco earth covered with 2" of repti bark, which creates great humidity and keeps things a little cleaner then using the Eco earth alone. Now I do currently have a couple live plants in my enclosures but their potted.
My question is WHAT TYPE OF SUBSTRATE OR SUBSTRATE MIX COULD I USE IN MY NEW ENCLOSURE THAT IS SAFE FOR MY GUYS AND I CAN PLANT LIVE PLANTS IN??
Let me tell you a little about the new enclosure as well. Any suggestions or advise is greatly appreciated.
My new enclosure will be U shaped. The two sides is 8x3 and the bottom (if that's what u would call it) is 7x3 and 36" tall, I plan on using about 6" of substrate throughout (more in some areas) so I was thinking 30" was a safe amount of room for lights and such to be adjusted as needed. I plan on hanging fluorescent lights from the top so it's completely lighted, I also have the high output 10.0 UVB fluorescent lights that will be hung throughout the enclosure and run during the cold months when going outside isn't an option. Of course there will be CHEs for heat, not sure how many or what the best wattage will be just yet, I have a couple 150w gathered up just because that's what I currently use and will more then likely stick with that wattage. I also like to use the bulbs that have a tighter beam of light and produce UVA as my basking bulbs, usually in 100-150w so I can hang them higher up and still reach the 100 degree mark for my guys to bask in.
I plan to create plenty of hiding areas with the driftwood and live plants, I want to have the substrate built up in places to create hills, I gathered large flatter river rock to build caves, hides, and rocky walking areas as well. I will provide a couple humid hides throughout the enclosure as well. I have been using what I call a feeding station(a 18"x18" ceramic tile with a light grit texture placed on top of built up substrate, larger stones surround the edges not against the wall, I put their food and water dish on the tile) in my current enclosures and I find it a really easy way to keep their food and water area cleaner throughout the day and it's so much easier for me to clean and sanitize each morning that I will more then likely have a couple of them in the new enclosure too. The surrounding stones work well to grab belly junk before it gets in their water and in the mornings I simply take the water dish out, pull the tile out, scrub them both with hot water and a tooth brush and put them back, drop in whatever is on the menu for the day and I'm done. It's worked well for me so I will continue using it, I'm still trying to figure out a way to kinda blend it into since it's not the most natural looking item.
I am also thinking about an addition to this new enclosure too. I haven't got to much into this part just yet but I would like to add an area below the enclosure that is same size, same shape, and the entire area below be a grazing area. Have grasses and weeds for them to eat on days we can't go outside and get them. I like the idea but again haven't got any further then that yet.
I also forgot to mention I will b housing an Aldabra hatchling and a Leopard (70g) in this enclosure. I plan on putting in a 12" divider to keep them separate.
I am currently using a 3" layer of damp Eco earth covered with 2" of repti bark, which creates great humidity and keeps things a little cleaner then using the Eco earth alone. Now I do currently have a couple live plants in my enclosures but their potted.
My question is WHAT TYPE OF SUBSTRATE OR SUBSTRATE MIX COULD I USE IN MY NEW ENCLOSURE THAT IS SAFE FOR MY GUYS AND I CAN PLANT LIVE PLANTS IN??
Let me tell you a little about the new enclosure as well. Any suggestions or advise is greatly appreciated.
My new enclosure will be U shaped. The two sides is 8x3 and the bottom (if that's what u would call it) is 7x3 and 36" tall, I plan on using about 6" of substrate throughout (more in some areas) so I was thinking 30" was a safe amount of room for lights and such to be adjusted as needed. I plan on hanging fluorescent lights from the top so it's completely lighted, I also have the high output 10.0 UVB fluorescent lights that will be hung throughout the enclosure and run during the cold months when going outside isn't an option. Of course there will be CHEs for heat, not sure how many or what the best wattage will be just yet, I have a couple 150w gathered up just because that's what I currently use and will more then likely stick with that wattage. I also like to use the bulbs that have a tighter beam of light and produce UVA as my basking bulbs, usually in 100-150w so I can hang them higher up and still reach the 100 degree mark for my guys to bask in.
I plan to create plenty of hiding areas with the driftwood and live plants, I want to have the substrate built up in places to create hills, I gathered large flatter river rock to build caves, hides, and rocky walking areas as well. I will provide a couple humid hides throughout the enclosure as well. I have been using what I call a feeding station(a 18"x18" ceramic tile with a light grit texture placed on top of built up substrate, larger stones surround the edges not against the wall, I put their food and water dish on the tile) in my current enclosures and I find it a really easy way to keep their food and water area cleaner throughout the day and it's so much easier for me to clean and sanitize each morning that I will more then likely have a couple of them in the new enclosure too. The surrounding stones work well to grab belly junk before it gets in their water and in the mornings I simply take the water dish out, pull the tile out, scrub them both with hot water and a tooth brush and put them back, drop in whatever is on the menu for the day and I'm done. It's worked well for me so I will continue using it, I'm still trying to figure out a way to kinda blend it into since it's not the most natural looking item.
I am also thinking about an addition to this new enclosure too. I haven't got to much into this part just yet but I would like to add an area below the enclosure that is same size, same shape, and the entire area below be a grazing area. Have grasses and weeds for them to eat on days we can't go outside and get them. I like the idea but again haven't got any further then that yet.
I also forgot to mention I will b housing an Aldabra hatchling and a Leopard (70g) in this enclosure. I plan on putting in a 12" divider to keep them separate.